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BY 




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ARCHiEOLOGIA GR^ECA; 



OR, 

THE ANTIQUITIES 

OF 

GREECE: 

BY JOHN "POTTER, D.D., 

LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
WITH NUMEROUS NOTES AND IMPROVED INDICES, 

BY JAMES BOYD, LL.D., 

OXK OF THE MASTERS" OF THE HIGH SCHOOL. EDINBURGH; EDITOR OF 
" ADAM'S ROMAN ANTIQUITIES," ETC. 

illustrated bp ttptoartrs of 150 £ngvabtnss on tooofc antr steel. 



FOURTH EDITION. 



THOMAS TEGG, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON; 

BLACKIE & SON, QUEEN STREET, GLASGOW ; 
AND SOUTH COLLEGE STREET, EDINBURGH. 

MDCCCXXXIX. 



GLASGOW: 
PRINTED BY W. G. BLACKIE & CO. 
VILLAFIELD. 




>: ft • ; • TO 

Sir DANIEL K. SANDFORD, Knight, D.C.L,, 

PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, 

THE ILLUSTRIOUS SUCCESSOR OF DUNLOP, MOOR, AND YOUNG, 
THIS EDITION OF THE 

ARCHIOLOGIA GRJECA 

OF 

ARCHBISHOP POTTER 
3te te.spcctfullg tretrtcatetr, 

by an admirer of his talents and learning, 
and a Delighted observer of the success which has attended his stuenuous 
and enlightened efforts to promote the cause of 

(Sreefe Utteratuve. 

High School, Edinburgh, \2th January, 1-37, 



♦ 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



In this edition — which the Publishers have been induced 
to undertake by the success of a previous attempt to 
render more popular Dr Adam's excellent 6 Summary of 
Roman Antiquities' — much additional and valuable matter 
has been introduced, in the form of notes and appendices, 
from the writings of Heeren, Boeckh, Cramer, Leake, 
Mitchell, Sandford, Cardwell, Muller, and others, and from 
several anonymous sources; plans and illustrations have 
been borrowed from Meyrick, Moses, Montfaucon, Hope, 
Stuart, and Revett, and other works of acknowledged 
merit ; the style of the Author has in numerous instances 
been altered, and, it is hoped, improved; many of the 
authorities have been verified by a reference to the best 
editions of the classics; the Indices have been enlarged; 
and the two volumes of the original have been reduced, by 
the use of a smaller type, and by the omission or curtail- 
ment of the quotations with which they were overloaded, 
to one cheap and portable volume. 

With what measure of taste and judgment these altera- 
tions and additions have been made it is not for the Pub- 
lishers to say. They trust that they have at least succeeded, 
by the reduction of the size and price of the work, in 
removing what have hitherto been the great obstacles to 
its admission into many of our classical Institutions. 



Steel Utoflfabtngs, 



Frontispiece — The Acropo- 
lis of Athens (restored), with 
the Panathenaeic procession. 

Vignette Title— Temple of 



Jupiter Olympius, and Acro- 
polis of Athens. 

Grecian Deities (two plates). 

Principal Buildings of Athens. 

Plan of Athens. 



Plan of Sparta. 
Plan of Olympia. 
Map — Grajcia Antiqua una 
cum insulis circumjaqeutibus. 



3li3&coti iSnsvabinfig. 



Plan of the Gymnasium at 
Ephesus, . . 

Theatre 

Ports of Athens, . . 
Sacrificing, . . .:3 
Altars, ] 
Priest, . . . . / 
Priestess, 

Tripods, . . .5 

Bacchantes, . , < 

Golden crown, - . , i 
Throwing the Discus, 4 
Boxing, .... 
Wrestling, . . . < 
Pancratium, . . . i 
Chariot used in the games, < 
Pythian crown, . . 4 

Isthmian crown, . . 4 
Warrior descending from 

his Chariot, . . .4 
Currus falcatus, . . l . 
Elephant and Tower, . k 
Fisrures in armour, . L . 
Helmets, . . 9 A 

Warriors armed, . { 

Macedonian helmet, 



Page Page 
Thorax, . . . 456 
Ocreae, . 458 
Aspis, .... 
Shield showing the rt\a/.i.a>t>, 

Shields 460 

Clubs, 

Spear heads, 
Swords, . . , 

ILXe* £lf 464 

Bow and quivers, . 
Javelins and dart heads, 467 
Slinger and bullets, . . 468 

Flutes 495 

Pipe 

Tortoise, .... 
Vineaa, yeppa t 

Ram, ...» 
Tower, .... 
0&.pe\ tSt . . . .506 
A.0 o /?oAo S , 

Trophy, . . . .516 
"OX^aj 525 

Ka>7r»;p?7, . . . . ib. 

Sections of galleys, . 527 
Howell's galley, . . 528 
War galley, . . 529 



Galley prow, . . . { 
Galley stern, . . I 

Oar I 

Galley with sails, . . I 
Woman playing on adouble 

flute, ... . f 
Aj7wv0oj, . . . . ! 
Vases, . . . . f 
Lamps, i 
Electra mourning for 

Orestes, . . . . I 
Paterae, t 
Lady going to perform 

funeral rites, . . . { 
Bride in Doric tunic, 
Couches, . . . . 
Lyre, . ... 
Tazzas, . . . 
Lady and >O o»oy, 
Bacchanalian and Klismos, 
Lady in full dress, 
Drinking cups, 
Woman playing on a double 
flute, 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 

Page 



Chap. I. Of the state of Athens till Cecrops . • 1 

II. Of the state of Athens, from Cecrops to Theseus 5 

III. Of the state of Athens, from Theseus to the Decennial 

Archons ...... 9 

IV. Of the state of Athens, from the Decennial Archons to 

Philip of Macedon . . . . 12 
V. Of the state of Athens, from Philip of Macedon to its 

Delivery by the Romans . . . 18 
VI. Of the state of Athens, from its Confederacy with Rome 

to Constantine the Great ... 22 

VII. Of the state of Athens from Constantine the Great 26 

VIII. Of the City of Athens, and its Walls, Gates, Streets, &c. 28 
IX. Of the Citizens, Tribes, &c, of Athens . 50 

X. Of the Sojourners and Servants in Athens 61 

XI. Of the Athenian Magistrates . . 77 

XII. Of the Nine Archons, &e. . . SO 

XIII. Of the Athenian Magistrates . 84 

XIV. Of the same .... 86 
XV. Of the same ... 90 

XVI. Of the Council of the Amphictyones . 96 

XVII. Of the Athenian 'Eaa^W«, or Public Assembly 98 

XVIII. Of the Senate of Five Hundred . 104 

XIX. Of the Senate and Court of Areopagus . 109 

XX. Of some other Courts of Justice . . 114 

XXI. Of some other Courts of Justice, their Judicial Process, &c. 118 

XXII. Of the Ticrirot^Kfiovrix, and Aiourwrcct . . 128 

XXIII. Of the Public Judgments, Actions, &c. . . 129 

XXIV. Of the Private Judgments, Actions, &c. . 132 
XXV. Of the Athenian Punishments and Rewards . 135 



XXVI. Of the Athenian Laws, 142. Laws relating to Divine Wor- 
ship, Temples, Festivals, and Sports, 149. Laws concerning those 
who officiate in Holy Rites, 151. Laws relating to the Laws, 152. 
Laws referring to Decrees of the Senate and Commonalty, 1 54. Laws 
concerning native and enfranchised Citizens, ib. Laws appertaining 
to Children, legitimate, spurious, or adopted, 155. The Oath to be 
taken by the Ephebi, ib. Laws belonging to Sojourners, 157. Laws 
relating to Slaves and Freed Servants, ib. Laws relating to the 
Senate of Five Hundred, 158. Laws which concern Magistrates, ib. 
A Psephism, 159. The Oath, ib. The Examination, and Interro- 



X 



CONTENTS. 



gatory Disquisition of the Archons, 160. The Archon's Oath, ib. 
The Oath of the ^r^ar^ycj, 161. Laws respecting orators, ib. An 
Inspection into the Orators' Lives, ib. Laws treating of Duties 
and Offices, 162. Laws about the Refusal of Offices, 163. Laws 
concerning Honours to be conferred on those who have deserved well 
of the Commonwealth, ib. Laws referring to the Gymnasia, 164. 
Laws relating to Physicians and Philosophers, ib. Laws concerning 
Judges, ib. Of Laws relating to Lawsuits, 165. Laws respecting 
Preparatories to Judgments, ib. A Form of the Oath taken by Judges 
after Election, ib. Laws referring to Judgments, ib. Laws concern- 
ing Arbitrators, 166. A Law about Oaths, ib. Laws treating of 
Witnesses, ib. Laws touching Judgments already past, 167. Laws 
concerning Punishments, ib. Laws referring to Receivers of Public 
Revenues, the Exchequer, and Money for shows, 169. Laws about 
Limits and Landmarks, ib. Laws respecting Lands, Herds, and 
Flocks, 170. Laws relating to Buying and Selling, ib. Laws ap- 
pertaining to Usury and Money, 171. Laws about Wares to be im- 
ported to, or exported from Athens, ib. Laws respecting Arts, 172. 
Laws concerning Societies, with their Agreements, ib. Laws be- 
longing to Marriages, 173. Laws touching Dowries, 174. Laws 
referring to Divorces, 175. Laws belonging to Adulteries, ib. Laws 
relating to the Love of Boys, Procurers, and Strumpets, 176. Laws 
appointed for the drawing up of Wills, and right Constitution of Heirs 
and Successors, 177. Laws appertaining to Guardianship, 178. Laws 
about Sepulchres and Funerals, ib. Laws against Ruffians and Assas- 
sins, 179. A Law relating to Accusations, 182. Laws concerning 
Damages, ib. Laws belonging to Theft, ib. Laws restraining Re- 
proaches, 183. Laws about the Management of Affairs, ib. Laws 
referring to Entertainments, ib. A Law relating to Accusations con- 
cerning Mines, ib. A Law appertaining to the Action E<V«yy£A/«, 
ib. Military Laws, 184. Of Military Punishments and Rewards, ib. 
.Miscellany LaAvs, 185. 



BOOK II. 

Page 



hap. I. Of the first authors of Religious Worship in Greece 187 

II. Of their Temples, Altars, Images, and Asyla . 189 

III. Of the Grecian Priests and Offices . . 206 

IV. Of the Grecian Sacrifices, Sacred Presents, and Tithes 213 
V. Of the Grecian Prayers, Supplications, and Imprecations 236 

VI. Of the Grecian Oaths . . . .242 

VII. Of the Grecian Divination, and Oracles in general 254 

VIII. Of the Oracles of Jupiter . . . . 258 

IX. Of the Oracles of Apollo . . . 264 

X. Of the Oracle of Trophonius. . . . 278 

XI. Of other Grecian Oracles . . . 283 

XII. OfTheomancy ..... 288 

XIII. Of Divination by Dreams . . . 292 

XIV. Of Divination by Sacrifices . . . 298 
XV. Of Divination by Birds . . 303 



CONTENTS. 



XVI. Of Divination by Lots . . . 313 

XVII. Of Divination by Ominous Words and Tilings . 316 

XVIII. Of Magic and Incantations . . . 325 
XIX. Of the Grecian Festivals in general . . 334 

XX. Grecian Festivals ..... 336 
XXI. Of the Public Games in Greece, and the principal Exer- 
cises used in them . . 409 
XXII. Of the Olympian Games . . 4\7 

XXIII. Of the Pythian Games , . . 422 

XXIV. Of the Nemean Games .... 425 
XXV. Of the Isthmian Games . . . 426 

XXVI. Of the Greek Year . . . . 42S 

BOOK III. 

Chap. I. Of the Wars, Valour, Military Glory, &c, of the ancient 

Greeks . . . . . 435 

II. Of their Levies, Pay, &c, of Soldiers . . 439 

III. Of the different Sorts of Soldiers . . 442 

IV. Of the Grecian Arms and Weapons, with their Military 

Apparel ..... 450 

V. Of the Officers in the Athenian and Lacedemonian 

Armies . . . . . 470 
VI. Of the several Divisions and forms of the Grecian Army 

with other Military Terms . . . 474 
VII. Of their manner of making Peace, and declaring War, 

their Ambassadors, &c. . . . 483 
VIII. Of their Camps, Guards, Watches, and Military Course 

of Life . . . . . 4SS 
IX. Of their Battles, the Generals' Harangues, the Sacrifices, 
Music, Signals, Ensigns, the Word, and Way of ending- 
Wars by Single Combat, &c. . . . 490 
X. Of their Sieges, with the most remarkable of their Inven- 
tions and Engines used therein . . . 499 
XI. Of the Slain and their Funerals . . 50S 
XII. Of their Booty taken in War, their Gratitude to their gods 

after Victory, their Trophies, &c. . . . 512 

XIII. Of their Military Punishments and Rewards, with their 

Manner of conveying Intelligence . . 517 

XIV. Of the Invention, and different Sorts of Ships . . 521 
XV. Of the Parts, Ornaments, &c, of Ships . . 530 

XVI. Of the Tackling and Instruments required in Navigation 454 

XVII. Of the Instruments of War in Ships . . 539 
XVIII. Of the Mariners and Soldiers . . .541 

XIX. Of Naval Officers .... 545 
XX. Of their Voyages, Harbours, &c. . . . 54S 

XXI. Of their Engagements, &c. by Sea . . 551 

XXII. Of the Spoils, Military Rewards, Punishments, &c. . 554 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK IV. Pa ? e 
Chap. I. Of the Care the Greeks had of Funerals, and of Persons 

destitute thereof . .. . . 556 

II. Of the Ceremonies in Sickness and Death . . 563 

III. Of the Ceremonies before the Funeral . . 566 

IV. Of their Funeral Processions . . . 570 
V. Of their Mourning for the Dead . . . 574 

VI. Of their Manner of Interring and Burning the Dead 580 
VII. Of their Sepulchres, Monuments, Cenotaphia, &c. . 586 
VIII. Of their Funeral Orations, Games, Lustrations, Entertain- . 
ments, Consecrations, and other Honours of the Dead, 
&c. .591 
IX. Of their Love of Boys .... 600 
X. Of their Customs in expressing their Love, their Love- 
Potions, Incantations, &c. . . . 603 

XI. Of their Marriages .... 610 

XII. Of their Divorces, Adulteries, Concubines, and Harlots 629 

XIII. Of the Confinement and Employments of their Women 638 

XIV. Of their Customs in Child-bearing and Managing Infants 645 
XV. Of their different sorts of Children, Wills, Inheritances, 

the Duties of Children to their Parents, &c. . 655 
XVI. Of their times of Eating .... 666 
XVII. Of the several sorts of Entertainments . . 668 

XVIII. Of the Materials whereof the Entertainments consisted 671 

XIX. Of the Customs before Entertainments . . 679 

XX. Of the Ceremonies at Entertainments . . 687 
XXI. Of the manner of Entertaining Strangers . • 714 

APPENDICES. 

No. I. History of Greek Literature . . . 721 

II. Manners and Institutions of the Spartans . 775 

III. Grecian Weights, Measures, and Monies . 786 



ARCHJEOLOGIA GR.ECA; 



OR, THE 

ANTIQUITIES OF GREECE. 



BOOK I. — CHAP. I. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS TILL CECROPS. 

All ages have had a great esteem and veneration for antiquity ; and not 
only of men, but of families, cities, and countries, the most ancient have 
always been accounted the most honourable. Hence arose one of the 
first and most universal disputes that ever troubled mankind; almost 
every nation, whose origin was not very manifest, pretending to have 
been of an equal duration with the earth itself. Thus the Egyptians, 
Scythians, and Phrygians, fancied themselves to be the first race of man- 
kind; and the Arcadians boasted that they were tfgoaikwoi, or before the, 
moon. The want of letters contributed not a little to these opinions; for 
almost every colony and plantation, wanting means whereby to preserve 
the memoiy of their ancestors, and deliver them down to posterity, in a 
few generations forgot their mother nation, and thought they had inhabited 
their own country from the beginning of the world. 

Our Athenians, too, had their share in this vanity, and made as great 
and loud pretensions to antiquity as the best of their neighbours: they 
gave out that they were produced at the same time with the sun, 1 and. 
assumed to themselves the honourable name (for so they thought it) of 
aIt'o^g**:, wilich word signifies persons produced out of the same soil that 
they inhabit ; for it was an old opinion, and almost everywhere received 
among the vulgar, that in the beginning of the world, men, like plants, 
were, by some strange prolific virtue, produced out of the fertile womb of 
one common mother, earth; and therefore the ancients generally called 
themselves sons of the earth? Alluding to the same original, 

the Athenians sometimes styled themselves Tsmysj, grasshoppers ; and 
some of them were grasshoppers of gold, binding them in their hair, as 
badges of honour, and marks to distinguish them from others of later 
duration and less noble extraction, because those insects were believed to 
be generated out of the ground. 3 Without doubt the Athenians were a 
very ancient nation, and it may be, the first that ever inhabited that 

1 Menander Rhetor. 3 Tlracvd. i. Enstath. in his poem entitled tebat dente cicadae,' 

2 Hesrch. in roce ad Iliad, y. Vir^ii has Ciris : line 123. 
yryevtl?. mentioned this custom 1 Cecropias tereti nec- 

A 



2 



GHECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



country ; for while Thessaly and Peloponnesus, and almost all the fertile 
regions of Greece, changed their old masters every year, the barrenness 
of Attica secured its inhabitants from foreign invasions. Greece at that 
time had no constant and settled inhabitants, but there were continual 
removes, the stronger always dispossessing the weaker; and therefore they 
lived, as we say, from hand to mouth, and provided no more than what 
was necessary for present sustenance, expecting every day when some 
more powerful nation should come and displace them, in the same manner 
as they themselves had done their predecessors. 1 Amidst all these troubles 
and tumults, Attica lay secure and unmolested, being protected from 
foreign enemies by means of a craggy and unfruitful soil, that could not 
afford fuel for contention ; and secured from intestine and civil broils by 
the quiet and peaceable dispositions of its inhabitants ; for, in these golden 
days, no affectation of supremacy, nor any sparks of ambition, had fired 
men's minds, but every one lived full of content and satisfaction in the 
enjoyment of an equal share of land, and other necessaries, with the rest 
of his neighbours. 

The usual attendants of a long and uninterrupted peace, are riches and 
plenty ; but in those days, when men lived upon the products of their own 
soil, and had not found out the way of supplying their wants by traffic, 
the case was quite contrary, and peace was only the mother of poverty 
and scarceness, producing a great many new mouths to consume, but 
affording no new supplies to satisfy them. 2 This was soon experienced 
by the Athenians ; for in a few ages they were increased to such a num- 
ber, that their country, being not only unfruitful, but confined within very 
narrow bounds, was no longer able to furnish them with necessary pro- 
visions. This forced them to contrive some means to disburden it ; and 
therefore they sent out colonies to provide new habitations, which spread 
themselves in the several parts of Greece. 3 . 

This sending forth of colonies was very frequent in the first ages of the 
world, and several instances there are of it in later times, especially 
amongst the Gauls and Scythians, who often left their native countries in 
vast bodies, and, like general inundations, overturned all before them. 
Meursius reckons to the number of forty plantations peopled by Athenians ; 
but, amongst them all there was none so remarkable as that in Asia 
Minor, which they called by the name of their native country, Ionia. 

1 Thucyd. i. rify,and where strangers yond what their territo- vourable to population- 

2 Attica grew popu- of character, able, by ries could maintain. I apprehend that these 
]ous, not only through their wealth or their in« But this opinion, far first settled countries, so 
the safety which the na- genuity,to support them- from being supported, is far from being overstock- 
fives thus enjoyed, but selves and benefit the rather contradicted by ed with inhabitants, 
by a confluence of s'ran- community, were easily the general appearance were rather thinly peo- 
gers from other parts of admitted to the privi- of things in that early pled ; and that the same 
Greece: for, when either lege of citizens. Mitford, time; when, in every causes which occasioned 
foreign invasion or intes- i. 55. country, vast tracts of that thinness, occasioned 
tine broil occasionedany 3 Many writers !ma- lands were suffered to also those frequent mi- 
where the necessity of gine that these migra- lie almost useless in mo- grations whicn make so 
emigration, the principal tions, so common in the rasses and forests. Nor large a part of the first 
people commonly resort- primitive times, were is it indeed more coun- history of almost all nar 
ed toAthens, as the only caused by the prodigious tenanced by the ancient tions. — Burke t \. 180. 
place of permanent secu- increase of people be- modes cf life no way fa« 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



s 



For the primitive Athenians were named Iones, and Iaones ; x and hence 
it came to pass, that there was a very near affinity between the Attic and 
old Ionic dialect, as Eustathius 2 observes. And though the Athenians 
thought fit to lay aside their ancient name, yet it was not altogether out 
of use in Theseus' reign, as appears from the pillar erected by him in the 
isthmus, to show the bounds of the Athenians on the one side, and the 
Peloponnesians on the other ; on the east side of which was this inscrip- 
tion ; 8 ' This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia ;' and on the south side this : 
' This is not Ionia, but Peloponnesus/ This name is thought to have 
been given them from Javan, winch bears a near resemblance to 'lotuv % and 
much nearer, if (as grammarians tell us) the ancient Greeks pronounced 
the letter a, broad, like the diphthong ecu, as in our English word all ; and 
so Sir George Wheeler reports the modern Greeks do at this day. This 
Javan was the fourth son of Japheth, and is said to have come into 
Greece after the confusion of Babel, and seated himself in Attica. And 
this report receives no small confirmation from the divine writings, where 
the name of Javan is in several places put for Greece. Two instances 
we have in Daniel ; 4 ' And when I am gone forth, behold, the Prince of 
Grsecia shall come.' 5 * He shall stir up all against the realm of Grsecia.' 
And again in Isaiah, ' And I will send those that escape of them to the 
nations in the sea in Italy, and in Greece.' Where the Tigurine version, 
with that of Geneva, retains the Hebrew words^ and uses the names of 
Tubal and Javan, instead of Italy and Greece. But the Grecians them- 
selves having no knowledge of their true ancestor, make this name to be 
of much later date, and derive it from Ion the son of Xuthus. This 
Xuthus (as Pausanias reports) having robbed his father Deucalion of his 
treasure, conveyed himself, together with his ill-gotten wealth, into 
Attica, which was at that time governed by Erechtheus, who courteously 
entertained him, and gave him his daughter in marriage, by whom he 
had two sons, 6 Ion and Achseus, the former of which gave his name to 

1 Herodot. i. Strabo cording to them, Ion followers ever came, are thones, and likewise Io- 
Geogr. ix. JEschylus was a son of Apollo and acknowledged by all the nians. Among their 
Persis. Xuthus, an Achaean, and Grecian writers to have brethren, the other Ar- 

2 Iliad, i, son of /Eolus. The been Ionian, and of the gives who dwelt in the 

3 Piutarch. Theseo. meaning of this evident- same race with the level country, the inter- 

4 Dan. x. 20. ly is, that Xuthns, an Athenians. But the mingling with Pelasgi, 

5 Dan. xi. 2. iEolian, came to Athens strongest argument a- Danaides, and finally 

6 It is not true that with a band of Achaeans, gainst the theoiy that we Achaji had nearly eftac- 
Ion gave his name to the and that he took with are combating, and the ed the original peculi- 
Ionians. They were call- him a band of Ionians, clearest proof in favour arity of character and 
ed Iones long before his from Attica, together of the position that the dialect: it remained, on 
time: it was their ori- with his own forces, in Ionians existed as ana- the other hand, pure 
ginal appellation. In the order to obtain settle- tion long before the and uncorrupted among 
first place, we may be ments in Peloponnesus, time when the Hellenes the Cynurii, who had 
sure that no people, even He established himself began to send out colo- been driven by succes- 
in the earliest ages.ever in iEgialea, the north- nies into southern sive invaders to the 
changed a previous name em coast of the penin- Greece, and consequent- mountains in the wes- 
for the purpose of assum- sula, but did not extend ly long before the time tern and southern parts 
ing one derived from that his authority over a large when Xufhus's son Ion of Argolis, so that in 
of some prince or leader, part of the country, existed, if indeed he historical ages they were 
The probability is that founding merely the city were not a mere fabled still known as Ionians. 
the exact reverse was of Helice; and yet all the personage, is to be found Of the other communi- 
the case. In the next other cities along this in the Cynurii, a branch ties which occupied the 
place, the old Athenian coast, to which the of the original inhabi- Peloponnesus, the Arca- 
traditinns contradict the power of Ion never tants of Areolis in the dians,Elians, Laconians, 
accounts we have just reached, and whither, in Peloponnesus. Herodo- we are told indeed by no 
been considering. Ac- fact, neither he nor his tus styles them A utoch- one that they were of Io- 

A 2 



4 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the lonians, the latter to the Achseans. It is not improbable that Ion 
himself might receive his name from Javan, it being a custom observable 
in the histories of all times, to keep up the ancient name of a forefather, 
especially such as had been eminent in the times he lived in, by reviving 
it in some of the principal of his posterity. 

From the first peopling of Attica till the time of king Ogyges, we have 
no account of any thing that passed there ; only Plato 1 reports, they had 
a tradition, that the Athenian power and glory were very great in those 
days ; that they were excellently skilled both in civil and military affairs, 
were governed by the justest and most equitable laws, and lived in far 
greater splendour than they had arrived to in his time. But of the 
transactions of these and the following ages till Theseus, or the Trojan 
war, little or nothing of certainty must be expected ; partly, because of 
the want of records, in rude and illiterate ages ; partly, by reason of the 
vast distance of time, wherein those records they had (if they had any) 
were lost and destroyed ; and partly through the pride and vain-glory of 
the ancient Greeks, who, out of an affectation of being thought to have 
been descended from some divine original, industriously concealed their 
pedigrees, and obscured their ancient histories with idle tales, and poetical 
fictions. To use the words of Plutarch, 2 ' As historians in their geogra- 
phical descriptions of countries, crowd into the farthest part of their maps 
those things they have no knowledge of, with some such remarks in the 
margin as these : 6 all beyond is nothing but dry and desert sands, or 
Scythian cold, or a frozen sea:' so it may very well be said of those things 
that are so far removed from our age ; all beyond is nothing but monstrous 
and tragical fictions ; there the poets, and there the inventors of fables 
dwell ; nor is there to be expected any thing that deserves credit, or that 
carries in it any appearance of truth.' 

However I must not omit what is reported concerning Ogyges, or 
Ogygus, whom some will have to have been king of Thebes, some of 
Egypt, some of Arcadia, but others of Attica, which is said to have been 
called after his name Ogygia. 3 He is reported to have been a very potent 
prince, ana. the founder of several cities, particularly of Eleusis; and 
Pausanias tells us farther, that he was father to the hero Eleusis, from 
whom that town received its name. He is said to have been contemporary 
with the patriarch Jacob; about the sixty-seventh year of whose age he is 
supposed to have been born ; 4 others bring him as low as Moses. 5 His 
reign is the utmost period the Athenian stories or traditions ever pretended 
to reach to ; and therefore when they would express the great antiquity 
of any thing, they call it tvyvytos, of this we have a great many instances 

rian origin. And yet we Elis we find none other were heard of-, they must 2 Theseo. 

know with certainty, than Grecian inhabi- therefore belong to a 3 Stephan. Byzantin. 

that the Arcadians, ac- tants- in Laconia. it is stock of whose existence de Urb. et Pop. 

cording to their own ac- true, the Leleges settled, no one knows any thing, 4 Hieronym. Chron. 

knowledgment, were a but then by the side of or they must be lonians. Easeb. 

native race, not a people them we find a Grecian Ant)ion. 5 Ju stin. Mart. Orat, 

Avho had emigrated into race. All these existed i Timseo. ad Gentes. 

southern Greece. In before the Hellenes 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



5 



in the ancient writers : but I shall only give you one out of Nicander's 
Theriaca, 

And in allusion to the great power he is supposed to have been possessed 
«f, they call any thing great or potent, uyvyios, as two learned gramma- 
rians inform us: Hesychius, 'tiyuyiou* vraXaiov, ug%xtov, (jciyaXov <r«vy. 
Suidas, 'Qyvyiov' vra.'kuih, % uirsgftsyttes. And therefore ayuyicc xuxu, are 
great and insupportable evils ; and &>yvyios zvnhTa, in Philo, extreme folly 
and stupidity. He reigned two-and- thirty years (for so Cedrenus com- 
putes them) in full power and prosperity, and blessed with the affluence 
of all things that fortune can bestow upon her greatest favourites : but the 
conclusion of his life was no less deplorable than the former part of it had 
been prosperous ; for in the midst of all his enjoyments, he was surprised 
with a sudden and terrible inundation, which overwhelmed not Attica 
only, but all Achaia too, in one common destruction, 1 

There is frequent mention made in ancient authors of several kings 
that reigned in Attica between the Ogygian flood and Cecrops I.: as 
of Porphyrion, concerning whom the Athmonians, a people in Attica, 
have a tradition, that lie erected a temple to Venus Olivia, in their 
borough. 2 Also of Coloenus; 3 and of Periphas, who is described by 
Antonius Liberalis, 4 to have been a very virtuous prince, and at last 
metamorphosed into an eagle. Isaac Tzetzes, in his comment upon 
Lycophron, speaks of one Draco, out of whose teeth, he tells us, it was 
reported that Cecrops sprung; and this reason some give for his being 
called AtQvns. Lastly, Pausanias and Stephanus speak of Actaeus, or 
Actseon, from whom some will have Attica to have been called Acte ; and 
this name frequently occurs in the poets, particularly in Lycophron, a 
studious affecter of antiquated names and obsolete words. 

But small credit is to be given to these reports ; for we are assured by 
Philochorus, an author of no less credit than antiquity, as he is quoted by 
Africanus, that Attica was so much wasted by the Ogygian deluge, and 
its inhabitants reduced to so small a number, that they lived a hundred 
and ninety years, from the time of Ogyges to Cecrops, without any king 
at all; and Eusebius 5 concurs with him in this opinion. 



CHAP. II. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM CECROPS TO THESEUS. 

It is agreed almost on all hands, that Cecrops was the first that gathered 
together the poor peasants who were scattered here and there in Attica ; 

1 Varro places the de- This would refer it to a 2349, there being only 27 2 Pausanias. 

luge of Ogyges 400 years period of 2376 years be- years difference. This 3 Idem, 

before Inachus, and con- fore Christ, and the de- testimony of Varro is 4 Metam. Vi, 

sequently,1600 years be- luge of Noah, according mentioned by Censori- 5 Ghronico. 
fore the first Olympiad, to the Hebrew text, is mis, de Die Nat, c. 21. 

A 3 



6 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and having united them into one body (though not into one city, for that 
was not effected till many ages after), constituted among them one form 
of government, and took upon himself the title of king. 

Most nations at the first were governed by kings, who were usually 
persons of great worth and renown ; and for their courage, prudence, and 
other virtues, promoted to that dignity by the general consent and elec- 
tion of the people, who yielded them obedience out of willingness rather 
than necessity, out of advice rather than by compulsion: and kings 
rather chose to be obeyed out of love, and esteem of their virtues, and 
fitness to govern, than by the force of their arms, or from a slavish fear 
of their power. They affected no uncontrollable dominion, or absolute 
sway, but preferred the good of their people, for whose protection they 
knew and acknowledged themselves to have been advanced, before any 
covetous or ambitious designs of their own. They expected no bended 
knees, no prostrate faces, but would condescend to converse familiarly, 
even with the meaner sort of their subjects, as oft as they stood in need 
of their assistance. In short, they endeavoured to observe such a just 
medium in their behaviour, and all their actions, as might neither expose 
their authority to contempt, nor render them formidable to those, whom 
they chose rather to win by kindness into a voluntary compliance, than 
to awe by severity into a forced subjection. They proposed to themselves 
no other advantage than the good and welfare of their people ; and made 
use of their authority no farther, than as it was conducive and necessary 
to that end. Their dignity and office consisted chiefly in these things: 

1. In doing justice, in hearing causes, in composing the divisions, 
and deciding the differences that happened among their subjects; in con- 
stituting new laws, and regulating the old, where they had any j 1 but the 
people generally reposed such confidence in the justice and equity of 
their prince, that his will and pleasure passed for law amongst them. 2 

2. In leading them to the wars; where they did not only assist 
them by their good conduct and management of affairs, but exposed their 
own persons for the safety and honour of their country, pressing forward 
into the thickest of their enemies, and often encountering the most 
valiant of them in single combat. And this they thought a principal part 
of their duty, judging it but reasonable, that they who excelled others in 
honour, should surpass them too in valour ; and they that had the first 
places at all feasts and public assemblies, should be the first also in under- 
taking dangers, and exposing themselves in the defence of their country ; 
(thus the hero in Homer argues the case with one of his fellow-princes : 

TXxvXif vZl'i TiTlfti/XZoSol [JMkl(T?(X. fi. T. A. ) 3 

3. The performance of the solemn sacrifices, and the care of divine 
worship, was part of the king's business. The Lacedemonian kings 
at their coronation were consecrated priests of Jupiter Ov^&vio;, and 



1 Cic. de Offic. ii. 13. 



2 Justin. Hist. i. 1. 



3 Iliad, 310. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



7 



executed that office in their own persons. No man can be ignorant of 
Virgil's Anius, who was both king and priest : 

Rex Anius, rex idem hominum, Phoebique sacerdos. 1 

We seldom meet with -a sacrifice in Homer, but some of the heroes, and 
those the chief of all then present, are concerned in the performance of 
the holy ceremonies ; and so far was it from being thought an act of con- 
descension, or any way below their dignity and grandeur, that they 
thought it an accession to the rest of their honours ; and the inferior wor- 
shippers were no less careful to reserve this piece of service for them, 
than they were to give them the most honourable places at the banquets, 
with which they refreshed themselves after the sacrifices w r ere ended. 

Let us now return to Cecrops, whom, as soon as he had established 
himself in his new-raised kingdom, we shall find employed in laying the 
model of a city, which he designed for the seat of his government and 
place of his constant residence. And at the most commodious place in 
his dominions for this purpose, he pitched upon a rock, strongly fortified 
by nature against any assaidts, and situated in a large plain near the 
middle of Attica, calling both the city, and the territory round it, after 
his own name, Cecropia. Afterwards, when the Athenians increased in 
power and number, and filled the adjacent plains with buildings, this was 
the acropolis or citadel. 

Then, for the better administration of justice, and the promotion of 
mutual intercourse among his subjects, he divided them into four tribes, 
the names of which were, 1. Ks^asr/?. 2. Aut^»». 3. 'A^ra/a. 
4. ITa^aA/a. And finding his country pretty well stocked with inhabi- 
tants, partly by the coming in of foreigners, partly by the concourse of 
people from every corner and lurking hole in Attica, where they had 
before lain, as it were, buried in privacy, he instituted a poll, causing 
every one of the men to cast a stone into a place appointed by him for 
that purpose ; and upon computation, he found them to be in number 
twenty thousand, as the scholiast upon Pindar reports out of Philochorus. 2 

But the soil being in its own nature unfruitful, and the people unskilled 
in tilling and improving it to the best advantage, such multitudes could 
not have failed of being reduced, in a short time, to the greatest extremi- 
ties, had not Cecrops taught them the art of navigation, and thereby 
supplied them with corn from Sicily and Africa. 3 

Besides this, he was the author of many excellent laws and constitu- 
tions, especially touching marriage, which, according to his appointment, 
was only to be celebrated betwixt one man and one woman, whereas be- 
fore promiscuous mixtures had been allowed amongst them. 

~2'j£vyr/;; ocXvroio trvvai^a Zl^vya Ki;s£<J\l'.* 

Nor did he only prescribe rules for the conduct of their lives, with 



1 JEa. ill- 80. 2 Olympionic. Od. ix. 3 J, Tzetzes in Hesiodi r E»y, d. 4 Nonnus Dionys. ix. 



8 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



respect to one another, but he was the first that introduced a form of 
religion, erected altars in honour of the gods, and instructed his people in 
what manner they were to worship them. 

In the reign of Pandion, the fifth king of Athens, Triptolemus is said 
to have taught the Athenians how to sow and manure the ground, and to 
have enacted several useful and necessary laws, three of which we find 
quoted by Porphyry 1 out of Xenocrates: — 1. Honour your parents. 2. 
Make oblations of your fruits to the gods. 3. Hurt not living creatures. 

Cecrops, the second of that name, and the seventh king of Athens, 
divided his dominions into twelve cities, or large boroughs, compelling 
his subjects to leave their separate habitations, and unite together for the 
replenishing of them. 2 Their names were these, as they are delivered 
by Strabo in his description of Attica: 3 Cecropia, Tetrapolis, Exacria, 
Decelea, Eleusis, Aphidnse, Thoricus, Brauron, Cytheris, Sphettus, Ce- 
phissa, and Phalerus. But Cecropia still continued the chief seat of the 
empire, though each of these cities (they are the words of Sir George 
Wheeler, who refers this division to Cecrops I., led thereunto by 
the authority of Eusebius and some others) had distinct courts of judica- 
ture, and magistrates of their own; and were so little subject to their 
princes, the successors of Cecrops, that they seldom or never had recourse 
to them, save only in cases of imminent and public danger; and did so 
absolutely order their own concerns, that sometimes they waged war 
against each other without the advice or consent of their kings. 

In this state continued Attica, till the reign of Pandion, the second of 
that name, and eighth king of the Athenians, who was deprived of his 
kingdom by the sons of his uncle Metion ; who themselves did not long 
possess what they had thus mijustly gotten, being driven out of it by the 
more powerful arms of Pandion's four sons, viz. iEgeus, Lycus, Pallas, 
and Nisus. These having expelled the Metionidse, divided the kingdom 
amongst themselves, as Apollodorus reports. But others are of opinion 
that Pandion himself being restored to the quiet possession of his kingdom 
by the joint assistance of them all, by his last will and testament divided 
it into four parts, bequeathing to each of them his proportion. And 
though it is not agreed amongst ancient writers, which part fell to each 
man's lot ; yet this much is consented to on all hands, that the sovereignty 
of Athens was assigned to iEgeus, for which he was extremely envied by 
his brethren ; and so much the more, because, as most think, he was not 
the begotten, but only adopted son of Pandion ; and for this reason it was 
(says Plutarch), that iEgeus commanded iEthra, the mother of Theseus, 
to send her son, when arrived at man's estate, from Troezen, the place 
where he was born, to Athens, with all secrecy, and to enjoin him to 
conceal, as much as possible, his journey from all men, because he feared 
extremely the Pallantidre, who continually mutinied against him, and 
despised him for his want of children, they themselves being fifty bro- 



1 De Abstinent, ab Animal, iv. 



2 Etymolog. 



3 Geograph. ix. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



9 



thers, all tne sons of Pallas. However, as the same author tells us, they 
were withheld from breaking out into open rebellion, by the hopes and 
expectation of recovering the kingdom, at least after iEgeus' death, 
because he was without issue ; but as soon as Theseus appeared, and was 
acknowledged rightful successor to the crown, highly resenting, that first 
iEgeus, Pandion's son only by adoption, and not at all related to the 
family of Erechtheus, and then Theseus, one of another country, and a 
perfect stranger to their nation, should obtain the kingdom of their ances- 
tors, they broke out into open acts of hostility ; but were soon overcome 
and dispersed by the courage and conduct of Theseus. 

Theseus having delivered the country from intestine seditions, pro- 
ceeded in the next place to free it from foreign slavery. The Athenians 
having barbarously murdered Androgeus, the son of Minos, king of 
Crete, were obliged by his father to send a novennial, or septennial, or, 
according to others, an annual tribute of seven young men, and as many 
virgins, into Crete, where they were shut up within the labyrinth, and 
there wandered about, till finding no possible means of making their 
escape, they perished with hunger, or else were devoured by the Minotaur, 
a terrible monster, compounded of the different shapes of man and bull. 
The time of sending this tribute being come, Theseus put himself 
amongst the youths that were doomed to go to Crete, where, having 
arrived, he received of Ariadne, the daughter of king Minos, who had 
fallen in love with him, a clew of thread, and being instructed by her in 
the use of it, which was to conduct him through all the windings of the 
labyrinth, escaped out of it, having first slain the Minotaur, and so re- 
turned with his fellow-captives in triumph to Athens. 

On his return, through an excess of joy for the happy success of his 
voyage, he forgot to hang out the white sail, which should have been the 
token of their safety to iEgeus, who sat expecting them upon the top of a 
rock; and as soon as their ship came in view w r ith a black, and as it 
were, mourning sail, knowing nothing of their success, he threw himself 
headlong into the sea, and so made way for Theseus' more early succes- 
sion to the crown, than could otherwise have been expected. And to 
this time, from the reign of Cecrops I., the government and state of 
Athens continued with little alteration. 



CHAP. III. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM THESEUS TO THE DECENNIAL ARCHONS. 

Theseus, being by the forementioned accident advanced to the regal 
sceptre, soon found the inconvenience of having his people dispersed in 
villages, and cantoned up and down the country. * Therefore, for the 



10 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



remedy of this evil, he framed in his mind (saith Plutarch) a vast and 
wonderful design, of gathering together all the inhabitants of Attica into 
one town, and making them one people of one city, that were before dis- 
persed, and very difficult to be assembled upon any affair, though relating 
to the common benefit of them all. Nay, often such differences and 
quarrels happened among them, as occasioned bloodshed and war ; these 
he, by his persuasions, appeased, and going from people to people, and 
from tribe to tribe, proposed Iris design of a common agreement between 
them. Those of a more private and mean condition readily embracing so 
good advice ; to those of greater power and interest, he promised a com- 
monwealth, wherein monarchy being laid aside, the power should be in 
the people ; and that, reserving to himself only to be continued the com- 
mander of their arms, and the preserver of their laws, there should be an 
equal distribution of all tilings else among them; and by this means he 
brought most of them over to his proposal. The rest, fearing his power, 
which was already grown very formidable, and knowing his courage and 
resolution, chose rather to be persuaded, than forced into a compliance. 

' He then dissolved all the distinct courts of justice, and council-halls, 
and corporations, and built one common prytaneum, and council-hall, 
where it stands to this day. And out of the old and new city, he made 
one, which he named Athens, ordaining a common feast and sacrifice to 
be for ever observed, which he called Panathemea, or the sacrifice of all 
the united Athenians. He instituted also another sacrifice, for the sake 
of strangers that woidd come to fix at Athens, called MtreUiu, which is 
yet celebrated on the sixteenth day of Hecatombason. Then, as he had 
promised, he laid down his kingly power, and settled a commonwealth, 
having entered upon this great change, not without advice from the gods. 
For, sending to consult the Delphian oracle, concerning the fortune of his 
new government and city, he received this answer: 

Alyei'o'j Qr,atv, llnQritioi Inyove xovpvs, The settled periods and fixed fates 

HoXXaXy toi -aokltisat narr>p epos lyKari9r]Kt, Of many cities, mighty states. 

Tspfta-a ie K\a>arr](.as S» v^trkf.^ vrdhtiBfug But know thou neither fear nor pain, 

'AXXa ij.t)ti ireirovnfxkvos 'ivcoQt Svp'ov Disquiet not thyself in vain; 

'BovXtvsi.v, Acricbs yap ev olcfiau izovro-noptva-g. For like a bladder that does bide 

The fury of the angry tide \ 

Hear, Theseus, Pittheus' daughter's son, Thcu from high waves unhurt shalt bound, 

Hear what Jove for thee has done *, Always toss'd, but never drown' d. 
In the great city thou hast made, DUKE. 
He has, as in a storehouse, laid 

Which oracle, they say, one of the Sibyls, a long time after, did in a 
manner repeat to the Athenians in this verse : 

'A7*oy ^arrrifj?, ivvai 6i toi ol lorl. Thou, like a bladder, may'st be wet, but never sink. 

Farther, yet designing to enlarge his city, he invited all strangers to 
come and enjoy equal privileges with the natives; and some are of 
opinion, that the common form of proclamation in Athens, AiuS In, 
srawj Xs<y, Come hither, all ye people, were the words that Theseus caused 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



II 



to be proclaimed, when lie thus set up a commonwealth, consisting, in a 
manner, of all nations. 

4 For all this he suffered not his state, by the promiscuous multitude 
that flowed in, to be turned into confusion and anarchy, and left without 
any order or degrees, but was the first that divided the commonwealth 
into three distinct ranks, EwwaT^/Sa/, Twgyoiy A'/ipiovgyo), i. e. noblemen, 
husbandmen, and artificers. To the nobility he committed the choice of 
magistrates, the teaching and dispensing of the laws, and the interpreta- 
tion of all holy and religious things; the whole city, as to all other mat- 
ters, being as it were reduced to an equality, the nobles excelling the 
rest in honour, the husbandmen in profit, and the artificers in number. 
And Theseus was the first who, as Aristotle says, out of an inclination to 
popular government, parted with the regal power; which Homer also 
seems to intimate in his catalogue of the ships, where he gives the name 
of Ariftos, or people, to the Athenians only.' 

In this manner Theseus settled the Athenian government, and it con- 
tinued in the same state till the death of Codrus, the seventeenth and last 
king, a prince more renowned for his bravery than fortune. For Attica 1 
being invaded by the Dorians, or Spartans, or Peloponnesians, or as some 
will have it, by the Thracians, the oracle was consulted about it, and 
answer made, that the invaders should have success if they did not kill 
the Athenian king; whereupon Codrus, preferring Ins country's safety 
before his own life, disguised himself in the habit of a peasant, and went 
to a place not far from the enemy's camp, where picking a quarrel with 
some of them, he obtained the death which he so much desired. The 
Athenians being advertised of what had happened, sent a herald to the 
enemy to demand the body of their king, who were so much disheartened 
by this unexpected accident, that they immediately broke up their camp, 
and left off their enterprise without striking another blow. 

The Athenians, out of reverence to Codrus' memory, would never 
more have any governor by the name or title of King, but were governed 
by Archontes, whom they allowed indeed to continue in their dignity as 
long as they lived, and when they died, to leave it to their children ; and 
therefore most writers reckon them rather amongst the kings, than the 
archontes that succeeded them, who were permitted to rule only for a 
certain time ; yet they differed from the kings in this, that they were in a 
manner subject to the people, being obliged to render an account of their 
management when it should be demanded. The first of these was Med on, 
the eldest son of Codrus, from whom the thirteen following archontes 
were surnamed Medontidce, as being descended from him. During their 
government the Athenian state suffered no considerable alteration, but 
was carried on with so great ease and quietness, that scarce any mention 
is made of any memorable action done by any of them, and the very 
names of some of them are almost quite forgotten. 



1 Cic. Tuec. Ousest. Justin, ii. Vel. Patcrc. ii. Eusebius, 



12 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Thus I have endeavoured to give you a short account of the Athenian 
state, whilst it was governed by kings, who were in all thirty, and ruled 
Athens for the space of seven hundred and ninety-four years, as the 
learned Meursius has computed them ; to which, if you add the two-and- 
thirty years of O gy ges, and the interval of a hundred and ninety years, in 
which no trace of any government is to be found, the number will amount 
to one thousand and sixteen years. 



A CATALOGUE OF THE ATHENIAN KINGS. 

Years. Years. Years. 

Ogyges 32 Theseus 30 Thersippus 41 

Interregnum 190 Mnestheus 23 Phornas 30 

Cecrops 1 50 Demophoon 33 Megacles 28 



Cranaus , 
Amphyction . 

Erichthonius 50 Thymoetes . 

Pandion 1 40 Melanthius . 



Oxyntes 12 Diognetus 

Aphidas 1 Pherecles 19 

8 Ariphron 20 

37 Thespicus 27 

Erechtheus 50 Codrus 21 Agamestor 17 

Cecrops II 40 Medon 20 ^Eschylus 23 

Pandion II 25 Acastus 36 Alcmaon 2 

JEgeus 48 Archippus 19 



CHAP. IV. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM THE DECENNIAL ARCHONS TO PHILIP 
OF MACE DON. 

The people of Athens continually got ground of their superiors, gaining 
something by every alteration that was made in the state, till at length, 
by little and little, the whole government came into the hands of the 
commonalty. Theseus and Medon made considerable abatements in 
their power ; but what remained of it, they kept in their own hands as 
long as they lived, and preserved the succession entire to their posterity. 
But in the first year of the seventh Olympiad, both the power and succes- 
sion devolved upon the people, who, the better to curb the pride and 
restrain the power of their archons, continued them in their government 
only for ten years ; and the first that was created in this manner was 
Charops, the son of iEschylus. But they would not rest contented here ; 
for about seventy years after, that the archons might be wholly dependent 
on the citizens' favour, it was agreed that their authority should last but 
for one year, at the end of which they were to give an account of their 
administration; and the first of these was Cleon, who entered upon his 
charge in the third year of the twenty-fourth Olympiad. 1 

In the thirty-ninth Olympiad, Draco was archon, and was the author 
of many new laws, chiefly remarkable for their cruelty and inhumanity, 
punishing almost every trivial offence with death; insomuch that those 

1 Clemens Stromat. i. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



13 



that were convicted of idleness were to die, and those that stole a cabbage 
or an apple, to suffer as the villains that committed sacrilege or murder ; 
and therefore Demades is remarked for saying that Draco's laws were not 
written with ink but blood: and he himself being asked, why he made 
death the punishment of most offences? replied, small crimes deserve 
that, and I have no higher for the greatest. 

But all these, that only excepted which concerned murder, were re- 
pealed in the third year of the forty-sixth Olympiad, in which Solon, 
being archon, was intrusted with the power of new-modelling the com- 
monwealth, and making laws for it. They gave him power over all their 
magistrates, says Plutarch, their assemblies, courts, and senates ; that he 
should appoint the number, times of meeting, and what estate they should 
have that could be capable of being admitted to them, and to dissolve or 
continue any of the present constitutions, according to his judgment and 
discretion. 1 

Solon finding the people variously affected, some inclined to a monarchy, 
others to an oligarchy, others to a democracy, the rich men powerful and 
haughty, the poor groaning under the burden of their oppression, endea- 
voured, as far as was possible, to compose all their differences, to ease 
their grievances, and give all reasonable persons satisfaction. In the 
prosecution of his design, he divided the Athenians into four ranks, 
according to every man's estate. Those who were worth five hundred 
medimns of liquid and dry commodities, he placed in the first rank, 
calling them Ilsvrcixotrioft&ipvot. The next were the horsemen, called 
'Lrsra^a rtXovvns, being such as were of the ability to furnish out a horse, 
or were worth three hundred medimns. The third class consisted of those 
that had two hundred medimns, and were called Zivy~<ru.t. In the last, 
he placed all the rest, calling them ®n<rsg, and pronounced them incapable 
of bearing any office in the government, but suffered them to give their 
votes in all public assemblies ; which, though at the first it appeared in- 
considerable, was afterwards found to be a very important privilege ; for, 
it being permitted any man after the determination of the magistrates to 
make an appeal to the people assembled in convocation, it happened that 
causes of the greatest weight and moment were brought before them. 
And thus he continued the power and magistracy in the hands of the rich 
men, and yet neither exposed the inferior people to their cruelty and 
oppression, nor wholly deprived them of having a share in the govern- 
ment. Of this equality he himself makes mention : 



&VfJf>> pev yap 'iSui/ea. r&aov icpajos oaonv e-nrapKsT, 
Tigris ovt' &<pe\uiv ovr' enope%dp.evos, 

0? <5' tlxov, Svvafiiv, Kai %prjfj,a(Tiv rioav ayr.rol, 
Kai toZs Itypaaafiriv /xriilv demes Ifsev 

"E<ttt)v &' afi(pLj3a.\uiv Kparspov aanos a.ju.(poripoitJt 



What power was fit, I did on all bestow, 
Nor raised the poor too high, nor sunk too low; 
The rich that ruled, and every office bore, 
Confin'd by laws, could not oppress the poor : 
Both parties I secur'd from lawless might, 
That none should e'er prevail against another's 
right. Creech. 



1 Plutarch, in Solone. 



14 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Not many years after, the city being divided into factions, Pisistratus, by 
a stratagem, seized upon the government: for having, on purpose, wounded 
himself, he was brought into the market-place in a chair, where he ex- 
posed Ins wounds to the people, assuring them that he had been so dealt 
with by the adverse party for Ins affection to their government. The 
unthinking multitude were easily drawn by so specious a pretence into 
the compassion of his misfortunes, and rage against his enemies; and 
upon the motion of one Ariston, granted him fifty men armed with clubs 
to guard his person. The decree being past, Pisistratus listed the num- 
ber of men that were allowed him, and besides them as many more as he 
pleased, no man observing what he was a doing, till at length, in requital 
of the city's kindness and care of him, he seized the citadel, and deprived 
them of their liberty. After this Pisistratus lived thirty years, during 
seventeen of which he was in possession of the government of Athens ; 
but the state continued all that time unsettled, and in continual motions, 
the city-party sometimes prevailing against him and expelling him, 
sometimes again being worsted by him, and forced to let him return in 
triumph. 

He was succeeded by his sons Hipparchus and Hippias, whom Hera- 
clides calls Thessalus ; the former of whom was slain by Aristogeiton, and 
the latter, about three or four years after, compelled by Clisthenes, who 
called to his assistance the banished Alcmseonidae and the Lacedtemoni- 
ans, to relinquish his government, and secure himself by dishonourable 
flight. Being thus banished his country, he fled into Persia, where he 
lived many years, persuading Darius to the enterprise upon Athens, 
which at length, to his eternal shame and dishonour, he undertook. For 
levying a numerous host of men, he entered the Athenian territories, 
where both he and his whole army were totally defeated by an inconsi- 
derable number of men, under the conduct of Miltiades, in the famous 
battle of Marathon. This victory was obtained twenty years after Hip- 
pias's expulsion. And thus the Athenians recovered their laws and 
liberties, about sixty-eight years after they had been deprived of them by 
Pisistratus. 

After this success, they continued in a flourishing condition for three 
and-thirty years ; but then the scene changed, and reduced them almost 
to the lowest ebb of fortune. Xerxes, in revenge of his predecessor's 
defeat, invaded their territories with an army (as some say) of seventeen 
hundred thousand men, and forced them to quit their city, and leave it a 
prey to the insulting barbarians, who took it without any considerable 
resistance, and laid it in ashes; and in the year following, his lieutenant 
Mardonius, in imitation of his master's example, burned it a second time. 
But these storms were soon blown over, by the wisdom and courage of 
Themistocles and Aristides, who totally defeated the Persian fleet at 
Salamis, and seconded that victory by another of no less importance over 
Mardonius at Plattea, whereby the barbarians were quite driven out of 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



15 



Greece, and Athens restored to her ancient government, arising out of 
her ruins more bright and glorious than ever she had been before. 

But the state suffered some alterations ; for, first, Aristides, a person 
(as Plutarch assures us) of mean extraction and meaner fortune, being, in 
consideration of his eminent virtues, and signal services to the common- 
wealth, preferred to the dignity of an archon, repealed Solon's laws, by 
which the 0*?rs;, or lowest order of people, were made incapable of bear- 
ing any office in the government; and after him, Pericles, having lessened 
the power of the areopagites, brought in a confused ochlocracy, whereby 
the populace and basest of the rabble obtained as great a share in the 
government as persons of the highest birth and quality. 

Notwithstanding these alterations at home, all things were carried on 
with great success abroad. The Athenians, by the help of their fleet, on 
which they laid out their whole strength, when Xerxes forced them to 
quit their city, became sole lords of the sea, and made themselves masters 
of the greater part of the iEgean islands; and having either forced the 
rest of the Greeks into subjection, or awed them into a confederacy, 
went on conquerors to the borders of Egypt, and had (as Aristophanes 
reports) a thousand cities under their dominions. 

But afterwards, things succeeding ill in Sicily under the command of 
Nicias, and some other troubles arising in the commonwealth, the princi- 
pal men of Athens, being wearied with the people's insolency, took this 
opportunity to change the form of government, and bring the sovereignty 
into the hands of a few. To which purpose, conspiring with the captains 
that were abroad, they caused them to set up an aristocracy in the towns 
of their confederates ; and in the mean time, some that were most likely 
to oppose this innovation, being slain at Alliens, the commonalty were so 
dismayed, that none durst open his mouth against the conspirators, whose 
number they knew not; but every man was afraid of his neighbour, lest 
he should have a hand in the plot. In this general consternation, the 
government of Athens was usurped by four hundred, w^ho, preserving in 
show r the ancient form of proceeding, caused all matters to be propounded 
to the people, and concluded upon by the greater part of the voices ; but 
the things propounded were only such as had been first agreed upon 
among themselves: neither had the commonalty any other liberty than 
only that of approving and giving consent; for whosoever presumed to 
take upon him any farther, was quickly dispatched out of the way, and no 
inquiry made after the murderers. By these means many decrees were 
made, all tending to the establishment of this new authority, which, 
nevertheless, endured not long: for the fleet and army, which were then 
at the isle of Samos, altogether detesting these tyrannical proceedings of 
the four hundred usurpers, recalled Alcibiades from his banishment ; and 
partly out of fear of him, partly because they found the citizens incensed 
against them, the tyrants voluntarily resigned their authority, and went 
into banishment. 

b2 



16 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Yet was not this alteration of government a full restitution of the 
sovereign command to the people, or whole body of the city, but only to 
five thousand, whom the four hundred (when their authority began) had 
pretended to take to them as assistants in the government ; herein seem- 
ing to do little or no wrong to the commonalty, who seldom assembled in 
a greater number: and therefore no decrees were passed in the name of 
the four hundred, but all was said to be done by the five thousand ; and 
the usurpers were called (says Plato 1 ) H&vTotxtff%ikiot, rtrguxoffioi ol ovns, 
five thousand, though they did not exceed four hundred. But now, when 
the power was come indeed into the hands of so many, it was soon agreed 
that Alcibiades and his friends should be recalled from exile by the citi- 
zens, as they had before been by the soldiers ; and that the army at Samos 
should be requested to undertake the government, which was forthwith 
reformed according to the soldiers' desire. 

This establishment of affairs at home was immediately seconded with 
good success from abroad ; for, by the help of Alcibiades, they in a short 
time obtained several veiy important victories: but the giddy multitude 
being soon after incensed against him, he was banished a second time. 2 
His absence had always before been fatal to the Athenians, but never so 
much so as at this time ; for their navy at iEgos-Potamos, through the 
carelessness of the commanders, was betrayed into the hands of Lysander, 
the Lacedaemonian admiral, who took and sunk almost the whole fleet; 
so that, of two or three hundred sail of ships, there escaped not above 
eight. 

After this victory, Lysander joining his own forces with those of Agis 
and Pausanias, kings of Sparta, marched directly to Athens, which was 
surrendered to them upon terms, whereby the Athenians obliged them- 
selves to pull down the long walls, by which the city was joined to the 
Piraeus or haven, and deliver up all their naval forces, only ten, or, as 
some say, twelve ships excepted. Nay, there was a consultation held, 
whether the city should be utterly destroyed, and the land about it laid 
waste ; and Agis had carried it in the affirmative, had not Lysander 
opposed him, urging, that one of the eyes of Greece ought not to be 
plucked out. However, he forced them to alter their form of government, 
and change their democracy into an oligarchy, a state ever affected by the 
Lacedaemonians. 

In compliance, therefore, with the commands of their conquerors, the 
people of Athens chose thirty governors, commonly called The thirty 
tyrants, the names of whom you may see in Xenophon. These were 
chosen with a design to compile a body of their laws, and make a collec- 
tion of such ancient statutes as were fittest to be put in practice in that 
juncture of affairs, which were called xuivo) vouoi, or new laws. And to 
this charge was annexed the supreme authority; and the whole govern- 
ment of the city intrusted in their hands. At first they seemed to pro- 



1 Alcibiade. 



2 Diod. Sic xii. Xenoph. Hist. Gr»c. ii. Justin, v. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



17 



ceed with some show of justice ; and apprehending such troublesome 
fellows as were odious to the city, but could not be taken hold of by the 
laws, condemned them to death. But having afterwards obtained a guard 
from the Spartans to secure the city, as was pretended, to their obedience, 
they soon discovered what they had been aiming at; for they sought no 
more after base and detested persons, but invaded the leading and princi- 
pal men of the city, sending armed men from house to house, to dispatch 
such as were like to make any head against their government. And to 
add the greater strength to their party, and colour to their proceedings, 
they selected three thousand of such citizens as they thought fittest for 
their purpose, and gave them some part of the public authority, disarming- 
all the rest. Being confirmed with this accession of strength, they pro- 
ceeded in their bloody designs with more heat and vigour than before, 
putting to death all that were possessed of estates, without any form of 
justice, or so much as any the least pique or grudge against them, only 
that their riches might fall into their hands. Nay, so far were they 
transported with cruelty and covetousness, that they agreed that every 
one of them should name his man, upon whose goods he should seize, by 
putting the owner to death; and when Theramenes, one of their own 
number, professed his detestation of so horrid a design, they condemned 
him forthwith, and compelled him to drink poison. This Theramenes 
was at the first a mighty stickler for the tyrants' authority; but when 
they began to abuse it, by defending such outrageous practices, no man 
more violently opposed it than he; and thus he got the nick-name of 
KoQogvos, or Jack of both sides, (o ya,i> x,'o§o£vo$ a^uorruv jth rots vrotrtv 
a/xQorigois hxit,) from cothurnus, which was a kind of shoe that fitted 
both feet. 

At length the Athenians, to the number of seventy, that had fled to 
Thebes, going voluntarily into banishment to secure themselves from the 
tyrants, entered into a conspiracy against them, and, under the conduct 
of Thrasybulus, seized upon Pyle, a strong castle in the territory of 
Athens: and increasing their strength and numbers by little and little, 
so far prevailed against them, that they were forced to retire to Sparta, 
and then all their laws were repealed, and the upstart form of government 
utterly dissolved. Thus the Athenians regained their liberty, and were 
re-established in the peaceable enjoyment of their lands and fortunes, in 
the fourth year of the 94th Olympiad. And to prevent all future jealou- 
sies and quarrels amongst themselves, they proclaimed an 9 Afiv9i<rria 9 or 
act of oblivion, whereby all that had been concerned in the outrages and 
barbarities committed during the sovereignty of the tyrants, were admitted 
to pardon. 

Thrasybulus having thus freed his country from the heavy yoke of the 
Lacedaemonians, Conon established it in all its ancient privileges and 
immunities, by another signal victory at C nidus, wherein he gave a total 
defeat to the Lacedaemonian fleet. Having by this means regained the 
b3 



IS 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



sovereignty of the seas, they began again to take courage, and aimed now 
at nothing less than the restoration of Athens to her ancient glory: and 
fortune was not wanting in some measure to further their great design ; 
for they not only reduced the isle of Lesbos, Byzantium, Chalcedon, and 
other places thereabouts to their former obedience, but raised Athens 
once more to be the most potent, and the principal city in all Greece. 

In this state she continued for some years, till the Thebans, who had 
been raised from one of the most inconsiderable states in Greece to great 
power, by the wise conduct and great courage of Epaminondas, disputed 
the sovereignty with her. But this contest was soon decided by the 
hasty death of Epaminondas, at the famous battle of Mantinea, which put 
an end to the Theban greatness ; which, as it was raised and maintained, 
so it likewise perished with that great man. So great alterations are the 
wisdom and courage of one man able to effect in the affairs of whole 
kingdoms. 

The death of Epaminondas proved no less fatal to the Athenians than 
the Thebans ; for now there being none whose virtues they could emulate, 
or whose power they could fear, they lorded it without a rival; and being 
glutted with too much prosperity, gave themselves over to idleness and 
luxury. They slighted the virtue of their ancestors; their hard and 
thrifty way of living they laughed at; the public revenues, which used to 
be employed in paying the fleets and armies, they expended upon games 
and sports, and lavishly diffused them in sumptuous preparations for 
festivals ; they took greater pleasure in going to the theatre, and hearing 
the insipid jests of the comedian, than in manly exercises and feats of 
war; preferred a mimic, or a stage-player, before the most valiant and 
experienced captain: nay, they were so besotted with their pleasures, 
that they made it a capital crime for any man to propose the re-establish- 
ing their army, or converting the public revenues to the maintenance of 
it, as Libanius observes. 1 

This degenerate disposition of theirs, and the rest of the Greeks, who 
were also drowned in the same security, gave opportunity and leisure to 
Philip, who had been educated under the discipline of Epaminondas and 
Pelopidas, to raise the Macedonians from a mean and obscure condition 
to the empire of all Greece and Asia; 2 — a design projected and begun by 
Philip, but achieved and perfected by his son, Alexander the Great. 



CHAP. V. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM PHILIP OF MACEDON TO ITS DELIVERY BV" 
THE ROMANS. 

The Athenians, and the rest of the Greeks, made some resistance 
against the victorious arms of Philip, but were overthrown in a pitched 



1 Argument, ad Olynthiao. 1. 



2 Justin. Histor. vi. 9. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



19 



battle at Chaeronea, in the third year of the 110th Olympiad. This 
defeat put an end to the Grecian glory, and in a great measure to their 
liberty, which, for so many ages, and against the most puissant monarchs, 
they had preserved entire till that time, but were never again able to 
recover. However, Philip, that he might be declared captain-general of 
Greece against the Persians without any further trouble, and strengthen 
his army by the accession of their forces, was content to forbear any 
farther attempt upon the Athenians, and to permit them to enjoy a show 
of liberty. 

No sooner was Philip dead, than they revolted, and endeavoured to free 
themselves from the Macedonian yoke ; but were easily brought into sub- 
jection by Alexander, and as easily obtained pardon of him, being then 
very eager to invade Persia, and unwilling to be diverted, by taking 
revenge upon those petty states, from a more noble and glorious enterprise. 
And during his life they continued quiet, not daring to move so much as 
their tongues against him. Only towards the latter end of his reign, 
when he was busied in the wars with remote countries, and not at leisure 
to take notice of every little opposition, they refused to entertain the 
banished persons, whom Alexander had commanded should be restored in 
all the cities of Greece. However, they durst not break out into open 
rebellion ; but gave secret orders to Leosthenes, one of their captains, to 
levy an army in his own name, and be ready whenever they should have 
occasion for him: Leosthenes obeyed their commands, and as soon as 
certain news was brought that Alexander was dead in Persia, being joined 
by some others of the Grecian states, they proclaimed open war against 
the Macedonians, in defence of the liberty of Greece. But being in the 
end totally defeated by Antipater, they were forced to entertain a garrison 
in Mimychia, and submit to what conditions the conqueror pleased to im- 
pose upon them. He therefore changed their form of government, and 
instituted an oligarchy, depriving all those that were not worth two 
thousand drachms of the right of suffrage ; and the better to keep them 
quiet, all mutinous and disaffected persons he transplanted into Thrace. 
By this means the supreme power came into the hands of about nine 
thousand. 

About four years after, Antipater died, and the city fell into the hands 
of Cassander, who succeeded in the kingdom of Macedon. From him 
they made many attempts to free themselves, and regain their beloved 
democracy, but were in the end forced to submit, in the third year of 
the 115th Olympiad, and accept of a garrison like that which Antipater 
had imposed upon them, to live under the same form of government, and 
obey any person that the conqueror should nominate to the supreme power 
in it. The man appointed to be their governor was Demetrius the 
Phalerean, who, as 1 Diogenes Laertius reports, was of the family of Conon, 
and studied philosophy under Theophrastus. He used them with all 



1 Demetrius. 



20 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



possible kindness and moderation, enlarged their revenues, beautified their 
city with magnificent structures, and restored it almost to its former 
lustre ; and they, in requital of these favours, bestowed on him all the 
honours which in so poor a condition they were able to give, erecting to 
him three hundred statues, according to the number of days in the Attic 
year, most of which were on horseback. 1 But all this was the eflect of 
flattery and dissimulation, rather than any real respect to him; all his 
moderation, all the benefits he had conferred on them, could not beget in 
them any sincere affection for him ; they still hated him, though they had 
no other reason for it than that he was set over them by Cassander; and 
though their power was gone, yet their spirits were still too high to brook 
any thing that savoured of tyranny. And this in a few years was made 
manifest ; for when Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, took up 
arms, as was pretended, in defence of the liberty of Greece, they received 
him with loud acclamations, and all possible expressions of joy ; compelled 
the Phalerean to secure himself by flight, in his absence condemned him 
to die, and lay in wait to apprehend him, and bring him to execution ; 
and when they could not compass his person, vented then' rage and 
malice upon his statues, which they pulled down with the greatest detes- 
tation and abhorrence, breaking some to pieces, selling others, and casting 
others into the sea ; so that of three hundred there were none left re- 
maining, except only one in the citadel, as the fore-mentioned author has 
reported. 

Demetrius Poliorcetes having got possession of the city, restored to the 
Athenians their popular government, bestowed upon them fifteen thousand 
measures of wheat, and such a quantity of timber as would enable them 
to build a hundred galleys for the defence of their city, and left them in full 
possession of their liberty, without any garrison to keep them in obedience. 
So transported were the Athenians with this deliverance, that by a wild 
and extravagant gratitude, they bestowed upon Demetrius and Antigo- 
nus, not only the title of kings, though that was a name they had 
hitherto declined, but called them their tutelar deities and deliverers ; 
they instituted priests to them ; enacted a law, that the ambassadors whom 
they should send to them, should have the same style and character with 
those who were accustomed to be sent to Delphi, to consult the oracle of 
the Pythian Apollo, or to Elis to the Olympian Jupiter, to perform the 
Grecian solemnities, and make oblations for the safety and preservation of 
their city, whom they called Qua^o't. They appointed lodgings for 
Demetrius in the temple of Minerva, and consecrated an altar in the 
place where he first alighted from his chariot, calling it the altar of 
Demetrius the A lighter, and added infinite other instances of the most 
gross and sordid flattery, of which Plutarch 2 and others give us a large 
account ; for, says a learned modem author, the Athenians having for- 
gotten how to employ their hands, made up that defect with their tongues, 



1 Piinii Hist. &c. 



2 Demetrius. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



21 



converting to base flattery that eloquence which the virtues of their 
ancestors had suited into more manly arguments. 

But afterwards, when Demetrius 's fortune began-to decline, he was no 
longer their god, or their deliverer, but in requital of all his former 
kindnesses, they basely deserted him, denied him entrance into their 
city, and, by a popular edict, made it death for any person so much as to 
propose a treaty or accommodation with him. Then the city being em- 
broiled in civil dissensions, one Lachares seized the government; but 
Upon the approach of Demetrius, was forced to quit his new usurped 
authority, and preserve himself by a timely flight. 

Thus they were a second time in possession of Demetrius, who, 
notwithstanding their former shameful ingratitude, received them again 
into favour, bestowed upon them a hundred thousand bushels of wheat, 
and to ingratiate himself the more with them, advanced such persons to 
public offices as he knew to be most acceptable to the people. This un- 
expected generosity transported them so far beyond themselves, that at 
the motion of Dromoclides an orator, it was decreed by the unanimous 
suffrage of the people, that the haven of Piraeus, and the castle of 
Munychia, should be put into the hands of Demetrius, to dispose of them 
as he pleased. And he having learned by their former inconstancy, not 
to repose too much trust in such humble servants, put strong garrisons 
into those two places, and by his own authority placed a third in the 
Museum, to the end, says Plutarch, that those people who had showed so 
much levity in their dispositions might be kept in subjection, and not by 
their future perfidies be able to divert him from the prosecution of other 
enterprises. 

But all this care was not sufficient to keep a people, restless and impa- 
tient of any thing that savoured of servitude, in obedience ; for Deme- 
trius's power being again diminished by divers bad successes, they made 
another revolt, expelled his garrison, and proclaimed liberty to all 
Athenians ; and to do him the greater disgrace, they displaced Diphilus, 
who was that year the priest of two tutelar deities, that is, Antigonus 
and Demetrius, and by an edict of the people restored the priesthood to 
its ancient form. Again, Demetrius having recovered himself a little, 
and being justly enraged against them, for their repeated perfidies, laid 
close siege to the city, but by the persuasion of Craterus, the philosopher, 
was wrought upon to quit it, and leave them once more in possession of 
their freedom. 

Some time after this, Demetrius died, and was succeeded by Antigo- 
nus Gonatus, who again recovered Athens, put a garrison into it, and left 
it in the hands of his successor: but upon the death of Demetrius, the son 
of Gonatus, the Athenians made another attempt to regain their liberty, 
and called in Aratus to their assistance, who, though he had been signally 
affronted by them, and lain a long time bed-rid of an infirmity, yet 
rather than fail the city in a time of need, was carried thither in a litter, 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and prevailed with Diogenes the governor, to deliver up the Piraeus, 
Munychia, Salamis, and Sunium, to the Athenians, in consideration of a 
hundred and fifty talents, whereof Aratus himself gave twenty to the city. 
Of all these changes and successes we have a large account in Pausanias, 
Plutarch, and Diodorus. 

Not long after this re-establishment, they quarrelled with Philip, king 
of Macedon, who reduced them to great extremities, laid waste their 
country, pulled down all the temples in the villages round Athens, 
destroyed all their stately edifices, and caused Ins soldiers to break in 
pieces the very stones, that they might not be serviceable in the reparation 
of them ; all which losses, with a great many aggravations, are elegantly 
set forth in an oration of the Athenian ambassadors to the iEtolians, in 
Livy. 1 But the Romans coming to their assistance, Philip was forced 
to forsake Ins enterprise, and, being afterwards entirely defeated, left the 
Greeks in full possession of then* liberty, which, at least some show of it, 
they enjoyed many years, under the Roman protection. 



CHAP VI. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM ITS CONFEDERACY WITH ROME TO 
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 

The Greeks, and others that put themselves under the Roman protec- 
tion, though they gilded their condition with the specious name of liberty, 
yet were no farther free than it pleased those in whose power they were. 
They were governed indeed by their own laws, and had the privilege of 
electing their own magistrates ; yet their laws were of small force, if they 
seemed any way to oppose the Roman interest and good pleasure ; and in 
the election of magistrates, and ordering public affairs, though every man 
might give his voice winch way he pleased, yet if he thwarted the Roman 
designs, or was cold in his affection to them, or (winch was the same) 
but warm in the defence of the liberties and privileges of his country, he 
was looked upon with a jealous eye, as a favourer of rebellion, and an 
enemy to the Romans. 

For no other reason, a thousand of the most eminent Achaeans, without 
any charge, or so much as suspicion of treachery, were sent prisoners to 
Rome ; where, notwithstanding all the testimonies of their innocence, and 
the solicitations of their country, which never ceased to importune the 
senate for their liberty, they endured an imprisonment of seventeen years ; 
which being expired, to the number of thirty of them were released, 
amongst whom was Polybius, from whose impartial history we have an 
account of all these proceedings, which their own historians endeavour to 



1 Liv. xx\. 31. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



23 



palliate, though the/ cannot deny them. All the rest either died in 
prison, or, upon attempting to make their escape, suffered as malefactors. 

By these and such like means, whilst some sought by flatter}' and com- 
pliance to insinuate themselves into the favour of the Romans, others out 
of fear and cowardice resolved to swim with the stream, and those few 
that had coinage and resolution to appear for their country, were little 
regarded. Every thing was carried on according to the desire of the 
Romans ; and if any thing happened contrary to it, their agents presently 
made an appeal to the senate, which reserved to themselves a power of re- 
ceiving such like complaints, and determining as they thought convenient ; 
and those that would not submit to this decision were proceeded against as 
enemies, and forced by power of arms into obedience. No war was 
to be begun, no peace to be concluded, nor scarce their own country to be 
defended, without the advice and consent of the senate: they were obliged 
to pay what taxes the senate thought fit to impose upon them: nay, the 
Roman officers sometimes took the liberty of raising contributions of 
their own. accord. And though in the Macedonian war, upon several just 
complaints made against them, the senate was forced to put forth a 
decree, that no Greek should be obliged to pay any contribution besides 
such as was levied by their order ; yet if any man refused to answer the 
demands of any Roman officer, he was looked upon as an encourager of 
sedition, and in the end fared little better than those that broke out into 
open rebellion. 

In this state stood the affairs of the Athenians mider the Roman 
government: and, whether in consideration of the easiness of this yoke, 
if compared with that which the Macedonians imposed upon them, or 
through meanness of spirit, contracted by being long accustomed to 
misfortunes, or for want of power to assert their liberty, or for all these 
reasons, they patiently submitted themselves, seeming satisfied with the 
enjoyment of this slavish freedom, which in a few ages before they would 
have rejected with the greatest indignation, and endeavoured to deliver 
themselves from, though their lives and their fortunes should have been 
hazarded in the enterprise. 

From this time to the war with Mithridates, they continued without 
any remarkable alterations ; but either by the persuasions of Ariston the 
philosopher, or out of fear of Mithridates's army, they had the bad fortune 
to take his part, and receive Archestratus, one of his lieutenants, within 
their walls; at which Sylla being em-aged, laid siege to the city, took it, 
and committed so merciless a slaughter, that the very channels in the 
streets flowed with blood. At this time the Pineeus and Munychia 
were burned to the ground, their walls demolished, their ancient monu- 
ments destroyed, and the whole city so defaced, that it was never able to 
recover its former beauty till the time of Adrian. 1 

The storm being blown over, they lived in peace till the time of the 



1 Plutarch. SjH. Strabo, ix. Lucius Florus, Ki. 6. App ianus in Mithrid. 



24 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



civil war between Caesar and Pompey, in which they sided with Pompey, 
and were very closely besieged by Q. Fusius Calenus, Caesar's lieutenant, 
who spoiled and destroyed all the adjacent country, and seized upon the 
Piraeeus, being at that time unfortified, and a place of little strength. 
But news being brought that Pompey was totally routed, they yielded 
themselves into the hands of the conqueror, who, according to his wonted 
generosity, received them into favour, and this he did out of respect to 
the glory and virtue of their ancestors, giving out that he pardoned the 
living for the sake of the dead. 1 

But it seems they still retained some sparks, at least, of their old love 
for popular government ; for when Caesar was dead, they joined them- 
selves to Brutus and Cassius, his murderers ; and besides other honours 
done to them, placed their statues next to those of Harmodius and Aris- 
togeiton, two famous patriots, that defended the liberty of their country 
against the tyranny of Pisistratus's sons. 

Brutus and Cassius being defeated, they went over to Antony, who 
behaved himself very obligingly towards them and the rest of the Gre- 
cians, being fond, saith Plutarch, 2 of being styled a lover of Greece, but 
above all in being called a lover of Athens, to which city he made con- 
siderable presents ; and, as others tell us, gave the Athenians the domi- 
nion of the islands of Tenus, iEgina, Icus, Sciathes, and Peparethus. 

Augustus having overcome Antony, handled them a little more 
severely for their ingratitude to his father ; and besides some other privi- 
leges, as that of selling the freedom of the city, took from them the isle 
of iEgina. 3 Towards the latter end of his reign they began to revolt, 
but were easily reduced to their former obedience ; and notwithstanding 
all the cruelties, ravages, and other misfortunes they had suffered, Strabo, 
who flourished in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, tells us they enjoyed many 
privileges, retained their ancient form of government, and lived in a 
flourishing condition in his days. 4 And Germanicus, the adopted son of 
Tiberius, making a journey that way, honoured them with the privilege 
of having a lictor, who was an officer that attended upon the chief magis- 
trates at Rome, and was accounted a mark of sovereign power. 

In this condition they remained, with little alteration, till the reign of 
Vespasian, who reduced Attica and all Achaia to be a Roman province, 
exacting tribute of them, and compelling them to be governed by the 
Roman laws. 

Under Nerva, some shadow, at least, of liberty was restored to them ; 
but they were still under the government of a proconsul, and received 
most of their laws from the emperor, who also nominated the professors 
in their public schools, and appointed them archons: and hence it came 
to pass, that Adrian, before his advancement to the empire, was invested 
in that office. In the same state they continued in Trajan's time, as 
appears from an epistle of Pliny to Maximus, who was sent to govern 



1 Dion Cass. xlii. 2 Antonio. 3 Dion Cassius. 



4 Geosr. is. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



25 



Achaia, wherein he advised him to use his power with moderation, and 
tells him in particular of the Athenians, that it would be a barbarous 
piece of inhumanity to deprive them of that shadow and name of liberty 
which was all that remained to them. 1 

But notwithstanding the peace and privileges they enjoyed under these 
and other emperors of Rome, they were never able to repair those vast 
losses they had suffered under Sylla, till the reign of Adrian, who, in the 
time of his being archon, took a particular affection to this city ; and when 
he was promoted to be emperor, granted them very large privileges, gave 
them just and moderate laws, bestowed on them a large donative of 
money, and annual provisions of corn, and the whole island of Cephalenia; 
repaired their old decayed castles, restored them to their ancient splen- 
dour, and added one whole region of new buildings at his own charge, 
which he called Adrianopolis, and New Athens, as appears as well from 
other records, as also from an inscription upon an aqueduct, begun by this 
emperor, and finished by his successor Antoninus : 

IMP. C^SAR. T. MLIUS. ADRIAN ITS. ANTONINUS. 
AUG. PIUS. COS. III. TRIB. POT. II. P. P. 
Av2U^EDUCTUM. IN. NO VIS. ATHENIS. CCEPTUM. A. DIVO. 
ADRIANO. PATRE. SUO. CONSUMMAVIT. DEDICAVITQUE.2 

The meaning of which is, that Antoninus had finished the aqueduct in 
New Athens, that had been begun by his father and predecessor Adrian. 
And from another of Gruter's inscriptions it appears that they acknow- 
ledged him to be the second founder of their city: 

AI A EI2 A0HNAI 0H2EP.2 H ITPIN IIOAI2 
AI A EI2 AAPIANOT K OTXI 0H2EH2 IIOAI2. 3 
The substance of which is, that Athens was formerly the city of Theseus, 
but New Athens belongs to Adrian. Many other privileges this emperor 
granted them, which were continued and enlarged by his successors 
M. Antoninus Pius, and M. Antoninus the philosopher, the latter of 
whom allowed them stipends for the maintenance of public professors in 
arts and sciences, and was himself initiated amongst them. 

But Severus having received some affront from them when he was a 
private person, and studied in Athens, was resolved to pay them home as 
soon as he was emperor ; and for no other reason, as it is thought, deprived 
them of a great part of their privileges. 4 

Valerian was more favourable to them, and permitted them to rebuild 
their city walls, which had lain in rubbish between oOO and 400 years., 
from the time that Sylla dismantled them. 5 

But these fortifications could not protect them from the fury of the 
Goths, who under Gallienus, as Zosimus, or Claudius, as Cedrenus re- 
ports, made themselves masters of it ; but were soon driven out of their 
new conquest by Cleoclemus, who, having escaped the fury of those bar- 



1 Pan; vii. ep. 2-1. 2 Gruter. p. 177, 3 Giutar. p. 178. 4 sp^tianus. 5 Zosim.is. 
C 



go 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



barians, and got together a considerable number of men and ships, de- 
feated part of them in a sea-fight, and forced the rest to quit the city, 
and provide for their safety by an early flight. 1 One thing remarkable 
Cedrenus reports of the Goths, that when they had plundered the city, 
and heaped up an infinite number of books, with a design to burn them, 
they desisted from that purpose for this reason, viz. that the Greeks, by 
employing their time upon them, might be diverted from martial affairs. 



CHAP. VII. 

OF THE STATE OF ATHENS FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 

Towards the declination of the Roman greatness, the chief magistrate of 
Athens was called by the name of ^r^ar^yos, i. e. Duke; but Constan- 
tine the Great, besides many other privileges granted to the city, honoured 
him with the title of Msya? ff<r£arwyo;, or Grand Duke. 2 Constantius, 
at the request of Proasresius, enlarged their dominions, by a grant of 
several islands in the Archipelago. 

Under Arcadius and Honorius, Alaric, king of the Goths, made an 
incursion into Greece, and pillaged and destroyed all before him ; but, as 
Zosimus reports, was diverted from his design upon Athens by a vision, 
wherein the tutelar goddess of that city appeared to him in armour, and 
in the form of those statues which are dedicated to Minerva the Protec- 
tress, and Achilles, in the same manner that Homer represents him 
when, being enraged for the death of Patroclus, he fell with his utmost 
fury upon the Trojans. 3 But the writers of those times make no mention 
of any such thing: on the contrary, they tell us, that Athens suffered the 
common fate of the rest of Greece : 

— Fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres, &c. —Griping chains enslaved the Athenian dames. 4 

And Synesius, who lived in the same age, tells us, there was nothing 
left in it splendid or remarkable, nothing to be admired, except the 
famous names of ancient ruins ; and that, as in a sacrifice, when the body 
is consumed, there remains nothing of the beast but an empty skin; so it 
was in Athens, where all the stately and magnificent structures were 
turned into ruinous heaps, and nothing but old decayed outsides left 
remaining. 5 

Theodosius II. is said to have favoured the Athenians, upon account of 
his queen Eudosia, who was an Athenian by birth. Justinian also is 
reported to have been very kind to them - but from his reign, for the 
space of about seven hundred years, either for want of historians in ages 

1 Zonaras. cephorus Gregorius, Hi. 3 Zosimus, v. num, ii. 186. 

2 Juhan. Orat. i. Ni- Rom. ii. 4 Claudi an. in Ruffi« 5,-Synesius, Ep. £35 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



£7 



so rude and barbarous, or because they lived in peace and obscurity, 
without achieving or suffering anything deserving to be transmitted to 
posterity, there is no account of anything that passed between them till 
the thirteenth century. 

At that time, Nicetas tells us, Athens was in the hands of Baldwin, 
and was besieged by one of the generals of Theodorus Lascares, who was 
then the Greek emperor, but he was repulsed with loss, and forced to 
raise the siege. Not long after, it was besieged by the Marquis Bonifa- 
cius, who made himself master of it. 1 

It was afterwards governed by one Delves, of the house of Arragon ; 
and after his death fell into the hands of Bajazet, emperor of the Turks. 2 
Afterwards it was taken by the Spaniards of Catalonia, under the com- 
mand of Andronicus Pakeologus the elder. 3 And these are the same that 
Chalcocondylas calls KsX<r//3»jgs$, and reports, tfiey were dispossessed of it 
by Reinerius Acciaiolo, a Florentine, who, having no legitimate male 
issue, left it by his last will and testament to the state of Venice. 

The Venetians were not long masters of it, being dispossessed by 
Antony, a natural son of Reinerius, who had given him the sovereignty 
of Thebes and Bceotia; and from this time it continued some years under 
the government of the Acciaioli: for Antony was succeeded by one of his 
kinsmen, called Nerius. Nerius was displaced by his brother Antony for 
his insufficiency, and unfitness to govern ; and after Antony's death, 
recovered it again ; but leaving only one son, then an infant, was suc- 
ceeded by his wife, who, for her foily, was ejected by Mahomet, upon 
the complaint of Francus, the son of Antony II., who succeeded her; 
and having confined her some time in prison, put her to death, and was 
upon that score accused by her son to Mahomet II., who sent an army 
under the conduct of Omares to besiege him. Francus, upon this, made 
his application to the Latins; but they refused to grant him any assistance, 
unless he would engage his subjects in all things to conform to the 
Romish superstition, and renounce all those articles, wherein the Greek 
church differs from them ; which he not being able to do, was forced to 
surrender it to the Turks, in the year of our Lord 1455, 4 and in their 
hands it continues to this day. 5 

1 Nicetas Choniates in vita Towards the close of the Great laid the foundation of a 
Baldiuni. seventeenth century, the Vene- plan for assisting them ; and the 

2 Laonic. Chalcocondylas, iii. tians invaded Greece, took A- empress Catherine, following 

3 Niceph. Greg. vii. thens from the Turks, and ex- the views of her predecessor, in 

4 Chaicocond. vi. et ix. tended their power over a great 1769, with a fleet of twenty sail, 

5 Since the period mentioned part of the continent, and some took possession of several islands, 
ahove, the history of Greece pre- of the islands; but the Vene- attacked lhe Turkish fleet, and 
sents an almost unvarying pic- tians were not able to keep long succeeded in destroying it- The 
ture of the despotic sway of its possession of these, and at the cail to the Greeks, on this occa- 
conquerors, and cf the noble beginning of the eighteenth cen- sion, to arm themselves and 
struggles of its people to regain tury, the Turks again became shake off the yoke, was instantly 
their lost independence — strug- masters of Greece, and made the obeyed, and an insurrection took 
gles wh ch have been at length inhabitants feel the weight of place throughout the Morea, and 
crowned with success, by the their iron sceptre. The inter- also in many of the islands of 
breaking of the Turkish yoke, ference of Christian powers, the Archipelago. The Russian 
and the establishment of a mo- especially of Russia, only served fleet, however, was recalled, 
narchy under the protection of to increase the miseries and and the Greeks left to suffer the 
the British, French, and Rus- aggravate the bondage of the vengeance of the infuriated 
sian governments. unhappy Greeks. Peter the Turks. The country was va- 



28 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. VIII. 



OF THE CITY OF ATHENS, AND ITS WALLS, GATES, STREETS, 
BUILDINGS, &C. 

The city of Athens, when it flourished in its greatest splendour, was one 

of the fairest and largest cities of all Greece, being, says Aristides, a 

vaged, and a great number of and was very instrumental in Napoli di Romania was taken by 

the inhabitants carried off into bringing about the last Greek capitulation, and the seat of the 

slavery. It was even proposed revolution. In 1821, at the time government transferred to that 

to massacre indiscriminately all when the Neapolitan states were city from Tripolizza. The cam- 

the Christians in the Morea, and invaded by an Austrian army, a paigns of 1823 and 24 were 

this horrid design was only revolt of the Greeks burst forth equally inglorious and disastrous 

abandoned on the consideration in Moldavia, Wallachia, the to the Turks. In 1825, Ibrahim, 

that the Ottoman Porte would Morea, and the Grecian islands, son of the viceroy of Egypt, took 

lose the benefit of the karateh or This insurrection wae headed by possession of Navarin, and with 

capitation-tax if the inhabitants many members of the Hetaeria, this fierce and warlike chief the 

were extirpated. The rise of who expected to be supported by Greeks maintained a bloody and 

Ali Pacha rendered the situation the Russian cabinet. The re- desolating struggle for the Pen- 

of the Greeks more hopeless than volutions in Spain and Piedmont insula, until their devoted hero- 

ever. That ferocious chief ex- having, however, then broken ism roused the sympathies of 

tinguished the last remains of out, Alexander of Russia con- Europe, and the combined fleets 

Christian freedom in Epirus, and sidered the Greek insurrection of Britain, Russia, and France, 

his vicinity to the Morea gave to be nothing but a political swept the Grecian seas of the 

him the power at all times of fever caught from these, and Turkish fleet, and relieved the 

overwhelming it with his bar- would give it no countenance. Morea of its invaders. Previous 

barons hordes. _ The Greeks, notwithstanding, to this, a treaty had been signed 

In 1800, the Servians, exas- declared their independence, and by these powers, requiring from 

perated by the oppiession of the continued to struggle for it with the belligerents an immediate 

Turks, made a general insur- various success. At first, they armistice, as a preliminary step 

rection, headed by their cele- suffered several severe defeats to an amicable reconciliation, 

brated chief, Czerni George, from the Turks. Jusuff Pacha and it was the violation of the 

Under him they obtained several defeated them on the 13th of demanded armistice in the pre- 

victories, but were eventually May, 1821, at Galatz, and on the sence of the combined fleets sent 

driven into the heights and 19th of June, the sacred batta- to enforce it, which led to the 

fastnesses of the country. In lion, as it was called, with its collision between the combined 

1807, Russia declared war against brave leader, Jordaki, was ex- and Turkish forces in the Bay of 

the Porte, and hostilities con- terminated at Rimnich, while the Navarin. A treaty was finally 

tinued until 1812, when a treaty heroical chief, prince Alexander negotiated by the three powers, 

of peace was negotiated, in Ypsilanti, was obliged to take by which Greece was effectually 

which the Servians were not refuge within the Austrian do- separated from the sovereignty 

included, but left to their fate, minions, where he was most un- of Turkey, and pronounced a 

In consequence of this, the justly arrested and sent to the monarchical and independent 

Turks, in 1813, overran the fortress of Munhatch. In the state. The boundary of Greece, 

country with an army of 100.000, Morea and the islands, the by the protocol of Feb. 3, 1830, 

and committed many excesses. Greeks had better success. On was settled as follows: On the 

The Servians, however, were the 23d September, 1821, they north, beginning at the mouth of 

not entirely subdued, but con- took Tripolizza, the capital of the Aspropotamos (Achelous), it 

tinued to harass their oppressors, the Morea, and on the 4th of runs up the southern bank to 

until the Porte, at length wea- November, a constitution was Angelo Castro ; thence through 

ried out, entered into a negotia- published at Missolonghi for the the middle of the lakes Sacaro- 

tion, by which it was agreed western continent of Hellas, vista and Vrachori to mount 

that Milosh, brother-in-law to comprehending Acarnania, Mto- Artoleria; thence to mount Ax- 

Czerni George, should be prince lia, and Epirus. On the 11th of iros, and along the valley of 

of Servia, that the sum of the same month, the constitution Culouri and the top of (Eta to 

L.10(),000 should be annually for the eastern continent, com- the gulf of Zeitun. Acarnania 

paid to the Turks, whose garri- prehending Attica, Eoeotia, Eu- and a great part of iEtoHa and 

sons in the fortresses of the boea, Pliocis, Locris, Doris, and Thessaly were thus excluded 

Danube were to be limited, and the freed parts of Thessaly and from the Greek state, and a 

that the prince should have a Macedonia, was published at Sa- Turkish barrier interposed be- 

native force for the internal lona ; and on the 1st of Decern- tween Greece and the Ionian 

regulation of the country. ber, the constitution of the Pelo- islands. Candia, Samos, Psarra, 

But amid all their treaties, ponnesus. A month after, the &c, are not included, 

the Turks and Greeks never political existence and indepen- Before Greece was declared a 

ceased to look with hostile eyes dence of all Greece was pro- monaichy, Count Capo D'lstrias 

on each other: the relation of claimed, and the outline of a had been for two years president, 

conquerors and conquered could provisionary constitution pub- As his line of policy seems to 

never be forgotten. In 1814, a lished, which was subsequently have been calculated for estah- 

number of young Greeks formed adopted by the national assembly lishing despotic authority, a 

themselves into a society at St at Astro, in April, 1823. Mean- very general discontent towards 

Petersbur S h, called the Hetaeria, while, the Greeks gained signal him prevailed. At length, the 

the object of which was at first naval victories over the Turks Mainotes, the Hydriotes, the 

literary, but which eventually at Mitylene and in the Gulf of Syriotes, and Pariotes, revolted 

asEuiaed a political character, Patras ; and in December, 1822, against him, and he was assassi- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



SO 



day's journey in compass. 1 But according to the most exact computa- 
tion, the whole circuit of it contained about 178 stadia, that is, something 
above two-and-twenty Roman miles. 2 

But many were the changes of government and fortune which it under- 
went before it arrived to this pitch of greatness; for at the first, that 
which was afterwards the citadel was the whole city, and was called 
Cecropia, from its first founder Cecrops, who, they say, was the first that 
invented the manner of building cities ; and therefore the Athenians, 
proud of every little pretence to antiquity, used to call it by way of emi- 
nence "Affrv, and IloXis, as being the first city. 3 Afterwards it changed 
its name of Cecropia, and was called Athens in Erichthonius's reign; for 
which several reasons are given ; but the most common is, that the name 
is taken from Minerva, whom the Greeks call 'AQnvn, because she was the 

nated in Napoli on the 9th Cc- and Mycale had averted all dan- more than 10,000 houses, which, 

tober, 1831. The prompt move- ger of invasion, Athens, restored at the rate of twelve persons to 

ments, however, of the party of to peace and security, soon rose a house, would give 120,000 for 

the president secured their from its state of ruin and desola- the population of the city. (Xen. 

power, and his brother Count tion. And, having been fur- Mem. in. 6, 14. (Econ. 8, 22. — 

Augustine assumed the reins of nished by the prudent foresight Cinton's Fasti Hell. Append, 

government. and energetic conduct of The- Population of Ancient Greece, 

Meanwhile, the three powers mistocbswith the military works p. 395.) 
offered the crown of Greece to requisite for its defence, it at- From the researches of Col. 
Prince Leopo d (now king of tained, under the subsequent Leake and Mr Hawkins, it ap- 
Belgium.) Leopold, though at administrations of Cimon and pears that the former city con- 
first anxious to secure it, even. Pericles, to the highest pitch siderably exceeded in extent the 
tually declined it, for reasons of beauty, magnificence, and modern Athens, and though lit- 
not fully devuiged, and the strength. The former is known tie remains of the ancient works 
choice at last fell upon Otho, a to have erected the temple of to afford certain evidence of 
Bavarian prince, who accepted Theseus, the Dionysiac theatre, their circumference, it is evident 
the trust under very favourable the Stoae, and Gymnasium, and from the measurement furnished 
conditions, and who is therefore also to have embellished the by Thucydides, that they must 
at present king of Greece, his Academy, the Agora, and other have extended considerably be- 
crown beinff pronounced hence- parts of the city at his own ex- yond the present line of wall, 
forth hereditary, in the order of pense. (Plut. Vit. Cimon.) Pe- especially towards the north, 
primogeniture. — ED. ricles completed the fortifica- Col. Leake is of opinion that on 

1 Panathen. tions which had been left in an this side the extremity of the 

2 We have little or no infor- unfinished state by Themistocles city reached to the foot of n ount 
mation respecting the size of and Cimon ; he likewise rebuilt Anchesmus, and that to the 
Athens under its earliest kings; several edifices destroyed by the westward its walls followed the 
it is generally supposed, how- Persians, and to him his country small brook which terminates in 
ever, that even as late as the was indebted for the temple of the marshy ground of the Aca- 
time of Theseus the town was Eleusis, the Parthenon, and the demy, until they met the point 
almost entirely confined to the Propylaea, the most magnificent where some of the ancient foun- 
acropolis and the adjoining hill buildings, not of Athens only, da tions are still to be seen near 
of Mars. Subsequently to the but of the world. the gate Dipylum •, while to the 
Trojan war, it appears to have It was in the time of Pericles eastward they approached close 
increased considerably, both in that Athens attained the summit to the llissus, a little below the 
population and extent, since of its beauty and prosperity, both present church of the Mologi- 
Homer applies to it the epithets with respect to the power of the tades, or confessors. The same 
of tv/crlfievos and svpvayvios. These republic and the extent and mag- antiquary estimates the space 
improvements continued proba- nificence of the architectural de- comprehended wi'hin the walls 
bly during the reign of Pisistra- corations with which the capital of Athens, the longomural enclo- 
tus, and as it was abie to stand a was adorned. sure, and the peribolus of the 
siege against the Lacedaemoni- At this period the whole of ports, to be more than sixteen 
ans under his son Hippias, it Athens, with its three ports of English miles, without reckon- 
must evidently have possessed Peirseus, Munychia, and Phale- ing the sinuosities of the coast 
walls and fortifications of sufli- rum, connected by means of the and the ramparts; but if these 
cient height and strength to en- celebrated long walls, formed are taken into the account, it 
sure its safety. one great city enclosed within a could not have been less than 

The invasion of Xerxes, and vast peribolus of massive fortifi- nineteen miles. (Top. of Athens, 
the subsequent irruption of cations. The whole of this cir- p. 362. et seq.) — We know from 
Mardonius, effected the entire cumference, as we collect from ancient writers that the extent 
destruction of the ancient city, Thucydides, was not less than of Athens was nearly equal to 
and reduced it to a heap of ruins; 174 stadia. Of these, forty-three that of Rome within the walls of 
•with the exception only of such must be allotted to the circuit of Servius (Dion. Hal iv. p. 670.) 
temples and bui, dings as were the city itself-, the long wails Plutarch (Vit. Nic.) compares it 
enabled, from the solidity of taken together supply seventy- also with that of Syracuse, 
their materials, to resist the five, and the remaining fifty-six which Strabo estimates at 180 
action of fire and the work of are furnished by the peribolus of stadia, or upwards of twenty- 
demolition. When, however, the three harbours. Xenophon two miles. — Cramer's Greece. 
the battles of Salamis, Platccu, reports that Athens contained 3 Stephanus, v. AGrji-a*. 

c 3 



so 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



protectress of the city : indeed almost all towers and citadels were sacred 
to this goddess, who is therefore by Catullus called, 

— Diva tenens in summis urbibus arces. —Goddess that in citadels doth dwell. 

Eustathius has remarked the same upon Homer's sixth Iliad, where he 
tells us, Minerva's temple was in the Trojan citadel: 

'A^vat^j y\avici>Trt5os sv ir6\ei S.Kpy.1 Minerva's temple in the citadel. 

Cecropia was seated in the midst of a large and pleasant plain, upon 
the top of a high rock; for, as the forementioned author observes, it was 
usual for the first founders of cities in those ages to lay the foundations of 
them upon steep rocks and high mountains; and this they did, partly 
because such places were a good defence against invaders, but more espe- 
cially because they hoped to be secured by them from inundations, 2 which 
the people of those times exceedingly dreaded, having heard and experi- 
enced the sad effects of them under Ogyges and Deucalion. Afterwards, 
when the number of inhabitants was increased, the whole plain was filled 
with buildings, which were called, from their situation, C H xareo tfo\t$, 
or the lower city; and Cecropia was then named 'H avu <xoXis, or 'Azgo- 
noXis, the upper city. 

The circuit of the citadel was three score stadia: it was fenced in with 
wooden pales, or, as some say, was set about with olive trees ; and there- 
fore, in Xerxes's invasion, when the oracle advised the Athenians to 
defend themselves with walls of wood, some were of opinion they were 
commanded to enter into the Acropolis, and there receive the enemy; 
which some of them did, but after a desperate resistance, were over- 
powered by numbers, and forced to suffer the sad effects of their fond 
interpretation.3 

It was fortified with a strong wall, one part of which was built by 
Cimon, the son of Miltiades, out of the spoils taken in the Persian war, 
and was called Kipauov <n7%os, being on the south side of the citadel. 4 

The north wall was built many ages before, by Agrolas, says Pausanias, 
or, accoiding to Pliny, by Euryalus and Hyperbius, two brothers, who 
first taught the Athenians the art of building houses, whereas, till that 
time, they lived in caves. They were Tyrrhenians born ; and by that 
nation all sorts of building are said to have been first begun in Greece ; 
and from them walls and castles were called T^<rs/?. 5 This wall was 
named Tlz\u<Tyixov } or n.i\a,oyixo V) because the founders of it were called 
Pelasgi, from their continual wandering, and removing from one country 
to another, in the manner of storks, which the Greeks call UiX^yoi 6 
Thucydides tells us there was an execration laid upon any that should 
build houses under this wall; because the Pelasgi, whilst they dwelt 
there, entered into a conspiracy against the Athenians. 7 And Pollux 



1 Pag. 483, edit. Ba- 3 Syrianus in Herm. mone. 56. et Pausanias Atticis. 
6*d- Cornel. Nep. 5 Phavorin. v. Typcr*?. 7 Thucydides eiueq. 

2 Iliad, i\ p. 384, i Plutarch, in Ci- 6 Strabo, ix. Plin. vii. Scholiast, ii. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



31 



adds, that it was unlawful to make ditches, or sow corn here ; and if any 
man was taken offending, he was apprehended by the nomothetse, and 
brought before the archon, who was to lay a fine of three drachms upon 
him. 1 It was beautified with nine gates, and therefore it is sometimes 
called 'Evvgd-rvkov : but though there were many lesser gates, yet the 
citadel had but one great fore-gate, or entrance, to which they ascended 
by steps covered with white marble ; and it was built by Pericles, with 
such magnificence, that the expenses of it amounted to above a thousand 
drachms. 2 

The inside of the citadel was adorned with innumerable edifices, sta- 
tues, and monuments, wherein all the ancient stories were described at 
large, insomuch that Aristides tells us it looked like one continued orna- 
ment. 3 The description of all these would be tedious, and is already 
performed by Meursius, who hath, with vast industry, collected into one 
body all the relics of antiquity which lay dispersed here and there in 
ancient authors. The most remarkable of them were these: 

The temple of Minerva, called n/^j?, or Victory, in which the goddess 
was represented, having a pomegranate in her right hand, and a helmet 
in her left, and without wings, in memory of Theseus's good success in 
Crete, the fame whereof had not reached Athens before his arrival ; but 
in other places Victory was usually represented with wings. 4 It was 
placed at the right hand of the entrance of the citadel, and was built with 
white marble. 

About the middle of the citadel was the stately temple of Minerva, 
called Parthenon ; because that goddess preserved her virginity pure and 
inviolate, or because it was dedicated by the daughters of Erechtheus, 
who were peculiarly called n.a.g0&vos 9 5 virgins. It was called also 'E^arc^- 
vrshv, because it was a hundred feet square. It was burned by the Per- 
sians, but restored again by Pericles, and enlarged fifty feet on each side* 
Sir George Wheeler reports, that it is two hundred and seventeen feet 
nine inches long, and ninety-eight feet six inches broad; and consists 
altogether of admirable white marble, and both for matter and art is the 
most beautiful piece of antiquity remaining in the world. 7 

1 Pollux, viii. 9. of the kind, and was constructed Greece. We learn from Pausa- 

2 Plutarchus Pericle. Pansan. entirety of Pentelic marble. The nias, that those which decorated 
Atticis. Harpocrat. et Suidas, v. architect was Ictinus. (Strab. the pediment in front related to 
JlporrvXata.. ix. p. 396.) Those, who have the birth of Minerva, and those 

3 Aristides in Panathenaica. studied its dimensions inform us behind to the contest between 

4 Suidas et.Harpocrat. that it consisted of a cell, sur- the goddess and Neptune for 

5 Hesychius. rounded with a peristyle, having Attica. The statue of Minerva 

6 Pausanias. eiizht Doric columns in the two was of ivory and gold. On the 

7 The Parthenon, or temple fronts, and seventeen in the summit of the helmet was placed 
of Minerva, was placed on the sides. These were six feet two a sphinx, with griffins on each of 
summit of the acropolis, being inches in diameter at the base, the sides. The statue itself was 
far elevated above the Propykea and thirty-four feet in height, erect, and clothed in a robe 
and the surrounding edifices, standing upon a pavement, to reaching to the feet. On the 
It occupied apparently the site which there was an ascent of breast was a head of Medusa 
of an older temple called Hec.i- three steps, the total elevation of wrought in ivory, and a figure 
tompedon, also dedicated to Mi- the temple being 65 feet from of Victory about four cubits 
nerva, and which had been de- the ground - , the length was 228, high. She held a spear in her 
stroyed in the Persian invasion, and the breadth 102 feet. It was hand, ard a shield lay at her 
(Hesych. et Harpocr. v. 'E'tari/i' also enriched both within and feet; near the spear was a ser- 
-rreiov.) In beauty and grandeur without with matchless works of pent, which mi^ht be supposed 
it surpassed all other buildings art by the first sculptors of to represent that of Erichtho- 



32 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

The temple of Neptune, surnamed Erechtheus, which was a double 
building, and, besides other curiosities, contained the salt spring called 
'Egz^rif';, which was feigned to have burst out of the earth from a stroke 
of Neptune's trident in his contention with Minerva. This part was 
consecrated to Neptune. The other part of the temple belonged to 
Minerva, surnamed UoXtu;, i. e. protectress of the city $ and Ukvo^oo-os, 
from one of Cecrops's daughters of that name. Here was the sacred 
olive produced by Minerva ; and the goddess's image, which was said to 
have fallen from heaven in Erichthonius's reign. It was kept by one or 
two dragons, called o\kou^o) o<pug, and had a lamp always burning with oil, 
and an owl placed before it. 1 Both of them remain to this day ; and the 
lesser edifice, which is an entrance to the other, is twenty-nine feet long, 
and twenty-one feet three inches broad ; the larger is sixty-three feet and 
a half long, and thirty-six feet broad. The roof is supported by Ionic 
pillars channeled ; but the chapiters seem to be a mixture between that 
and the Doric order. 2 

On the back side of Minerva's temple was the public treasury, called 
'rom its situation 'Omff0o&ofiog 9 wherein, besides other public money, a 
thousand talents were laid in store, against any very urgent occasion ; but 
if any man expended them upon a trivial account, he was to be put to 
death. Also the names of all that were indebted to the commonwealth 
were entered in a register in this place ; and therefore such persons were 
called lyytypctfAfiivot h 7$ 'Axfovfau : as on the contrary, when they had 
discharged their debt, they were named eg 'Ax£o*oteus i%a\v}\i/ifitvot. 
The tutelar gods of this treasury were Jupiter 2«th£, or the Saviour ; and 
Plutus, the god of riches, whom they represented with wings, and (which 
was unusual in other places) seeing. 3 Afterwards this building was 



mas. According to Pliny the 
figure was twenty-six cubits 
high. The whole was executed 
by Phidias, who had further con- 
trived that the gold with which 
the statue was encrusted might 
be removed at pleasure. (Plin. 
xxxvi. 5. Thuc. ii. 13.) The 
sculpture on the pedestal repre- 
sented the birth of Pandora. 
Pausanias also notices the sta- 
tues of Iphicrates, Pericles, and 
his father Xantippus, Anacreon, 
and a brazen Apollo, by Phidias. 
On thp southern wall were sculp- 
tured the war of the giants who 
inhabited Pallene, and the buttle, 
of the Athenians and Amazons ; 
also that of Marathon, and the 
defeat of the Gauls in Mysia, 
presented by Attalus. Here was 
likewise the statue of Olympio- 
dorus, who freed the Athenians 
from the Macedonian yoke in the 
time of Cassander. (Pausan. 
Attic. 25.)— Cramer' a Greece. 

1 Apollodor. iii. Plut. Symp. 
lx. q. 6. 

2 On the northern side of the 
acropolis stood the Erechtheium, 
or temple of Erechtheus, a build- 



ing of great antiquity, since it is 
alluded to by Homer, (II. (3'. 546.) 
and adjoining it was the temple 
of Minerva Polias, the tutelary 
deity of the city, whose statue 
is said to have be^n a common 
offering of the demi before they 
were collected into one metro- 
polis by Theseus. The lamp 
which was suspended in the 
sanctuary was never suffered to 
be extinguished. Another part 
of this compound building was 
the Pandrosium, or chapel sacred 
to Pandrosos, one of the daugh- 
ters of Cecrops. The Erech- 
theium contained the olive tree, 
and the well of salt water, pro- 
duced by Minerva and Neptune 
during their contest for Atlica, 
(Herod, viii. 55.) also the ser- 
pent of Erichthonius. (Plut. 
Themist. Philostr. Icon. ii. 
Etym. M. v. Ap«at>Aos.) In the 
temple of Minerva Polias was a 
wooden Hermes, said to have 
been presented by Oernps, a 
chair, made by Daedalus, and 
some spoils of the Medes, such 
as the silver-footed seat of 
Xerxes, the sword of Mardonius, 



and the breastplate of Masistias. 
(Demosth. in Timocr. Pausan. 
Attic. 27. And a description of 
the remains of the Erechtheium, 
and the other buildings connected 
with it, in Stuart's Antiquities, 
vol. ii., and Leake's Topogr. of 
Athens, p. 257 ) Cecrops was 
said to have been buried in the 
acropolis ; and it is probable that 
a chapel was consecrated to him 
under the name of Cecropium. 
(Clem. Alex. Cohort, ad Gent, 
p. 13. And an inscription quoted 
by Col. Leake, p. 264 ) We are 
informed by Xenophon that the 
temple of Minerva was burned 
in the twenty third year of the 
Peloponnesian war, (Hell. i. 6.) 
but it is not known by whom it 
was subsequently restored. 

3 Aristoph. Schol. Plut. Ety. 
mologus. Thucyd. ii. Philos- 
trat. SIkov. ii. Demosth. Schol. 
Orat. ii. in Timocrat. (Aristo- 
phanes has taken notice of the 
statues of both these gods, in 
the latter end of his Plutus, 
where he introduces Carion very 
busy in placing that god, after 
the recovery of his sight, next 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



33 



burned to the ground by the treasurers, who having embezzled the public 
money, secured themselves by that means, and prevented the city from 
calling them to account. 1 There were also several other remarkable 
edifices in the citadel; among others, the chapels of Jupiter Sarwg, and 
of 3 Minerva Swrg/^as; the temple of Agraulos, the daughter of Cecrops, 
or rather of Minerva, worshipped by that name, in the front and steep 
side of the rock; 3 and the temple of Venus "l^oXvrua, consecrated by 
Phaedra when she was in love with Hippolytus. 4 

The lower city, containing all the buildings which surrounded the 
citadel, with the fort Munychia, and the two havens, Phalerum and 
Piraeus, was encompassed with walls of unequal strength, being built at 
different times, and by different hands. 5 The chief parts of them were 
the Max^a ru%9i, which joined the haven of Pirseeus to the city, being 
about five miles in length; and therefore Plutarch calls them Mecxoa 
ffx'iXyi, long legs, 6 and Propertius, brachia longa, long arms. They con- 
sisted of two sides, one of which lay towards the north, and was built by 
Pericles, 7 with vast expense, containing forty stadia ; the other lay to the 
south, and was called Nar/ov t rt7^oe i or &i<tov n't%vi 9 or Nor/av qrag» 

fAitrou rii%os 9 to distinguish it from the south wall of the citadel; some- 
timetimes n~%os $xZ.ypt%ov, because it took in the port Phalerum. It 
was built by Themistocles, of huge square stones, not cemented together 
by mortar, but fastened by iron and lead. The height of it was forty 
cubits, and yet was but the half of what Themistocles designed; the 
length of it was thirty-five stadia. Upon both of them was erected a 
great number of turrets, which were turned into dwelling-houses when 
the Athenians became so numerous that the city was not large enough to 

to the statue of Jupiter the /3opeZov relx°s\ i ts length was eleven years after which, Conon 

Saviour: forty stadia. The other was rebuilt them with the assistance 

„ >T> ,,, , . „ called the Phaleric, or southern of Pharnabazus. (Hell. iv. 8, 10. 

I'> 7r KaX<us r P r, wall > and measured thirty five Isocr. Paneg. c. 33. p. 65. D. 

e«s*.Ay. k. t. A. line 1188.) (Xhuc . j/. 13 . P1 / t de D iog. Laert. ii. o9 ) In the siege 

1 Demosth. ejusq. Schol. Orat. Repub. iv. t. ii. p. 440.) The of Athens by Sylla, they were 
in Timocrat. intermediate wall, tiafMsaov rel- again broken down, and almost 

2 Lycurg. Orat. in Leocratera. %os, spoken of by some ancient entir-ly destroyed. (Appian. 

3 Herodot. viii. writers, may have been that por- Eel. Mithrid. c. 30.) Col. Leake 

4 Euripid. Schol. inHippolyto. tion which was enclosed between informs us that some vestiges of 

5 The celebrated long walls the two longomural arn;s. (Plat, this great work are still to be 
•which connected Athens with its loc. ci'c. Harpocr. v. 6iant<rov rei- seen. "They are chiefly re- 
feveral ports were first planned x ov S' And the remarks of Col. markable towards the lower end, 
ind commenced by Themistocles Leake on this subject, p. 354.) where they were connected with 
after the termination of the Per- In the Peloponnesian war, we the fortifications of Pirasus and 
6ian war. His object was evi- learn from Thucydides that the Phalerum. The modern road 
dently to prevent any invading exterior, or Piraic wall alone from Athens to the port Drako, 
army from intercepting the com- was guarded, as that was the at something less than two miles 
munication between the city and only direction in which the ene- short of the latter, comes upon 
the Piraeus •, but he did not live my could advance, there being the foundations of the northern 
to terminate this great under- no passage to the south and east long Avail, which are formed of 
taking, which was continued of Athens, except through a vast masses of squared stones, 
after his death by Cimon, and at difficult pass between the city and are about twelve feet in 
length completed by Pericles, and mount Hymettus, or by thickness. Precisely parallel to 
(Plut. Vit. Cim. Thuc. i. 107. making the circuit of that moun- it, at the distance of 550 feet, 
Plat. Gorg i. p. 455-) Some- tain, which would have been a are seen the foundations of the 
times we find them termed the very hazardous undertaking, southern long walls; the two 
legs, o-k*At7, (Diod. Sic. xiv. 442. (Leake's Topogr. of Athp.ns s p. walls thus forming a wide street, 
Polycen. i. 40.) and by Latin 351.) running from the centre of the 
writers the arms, (brachia,) of The long walls remained entire Phaleric hill exactly in the direc« 
the Pirasus. (Liv. xxx. 26.) One about fifty-four years after their tion of the entrance of the acro» 
of these was designated by the completion, till the capture of polis." (Topogr. of Athens, p. 
name of Piraic, and sometimes Athens by the Peloponnesian 357. C Cramer's Greece.) 

by that of the northern wall, forces, (Xen. Hell. ii. 2, ^14.) 6 Ciiaone. 1 Plut. Pericle. 



34 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



contain them. 1 The Mquvv%iov, or wall that encompassed the Munychia, 
and joined it to the Pirseeus, contained sixty stadia ; and the exterior wall 
on the other side of the city was in length forty-three stadia ; so that the 
whole circuit of the city contained one hundred and seventy-eight stadia, 
which are something above two-and-twenty Roman miles. 

1. The principal gates of the city were the UuXat ®£iu.iriou 9 afterwards 
called A'tvuXov, because they were larger than any of the rest. They 
were placed at the entrance of Ceramicus, and therefore seem to have 
been the same with the TlvXui KtgufAuxou in Philostratus. 2 

2. TLuXoci Tlupa'ixa,), leading to the Piraeus ; near which was the temple 
of the hero Chalcodo'dn, and the tombs of those that died in the defence 
of their country, when the Amazons invaded Attica under Theseus. 3 

3. 'I<7r<7ra.hs, near which Hyperides the orator and his family were 
buried. 4 

4. 'H^/a/, where they carried forth dead persons to their graves, so 
called from jjgiov, a grave. 5 

5. 'Is^a/, the gate leading to Eleusis, through which they that celebrated 
the festival of Ceres Eleusinia made a solemn procession ; from which 
custom the gate received its name, it being usual to call every thing that 
was any way concerned in those mysteries, U^ov t sacred. 

6. Aty'ias vruXui, the gate of iEgeus, the father of Theseus, whose 
house stood in the place where afterwards the Delphinium was built ; and 
therefore the statue of Mercury, at the east end of the temple, was called 
'E^?js 1st Aiyicog vrvkutg, by which it is evident that this gate was near 
the Delphinium. 6 

7. Aio%et£av$ vukcci, the gate of Diochares. 

8. iivXai ' A%K£vix,a.)> the gate that looked towards Aeharna, a borough 
in Attica. 

9. Aiopua, that lay towards the borough of the Diomians. 

10. Ilv\a.i QoiCKtoci, the Thracian gate. 

11. Uvkai 'ironieu, the Itonian gate, near which was the pillar erected 
in memory of the Amazons. 7 

12. Ilt/Xa/ 2«a;a/, the Sccean gate. 8 

13. 'A^/avoy tryXa;, the gate of Adrian, by which they entered into 
that part of the city which that emperor rebuilt, and called 'A^/av^X/?. 9 



• ' ?' u \* rch j Themist. A PP ian - existence of nine has been sacred from its lying in the 

in Mitnnd. Uiucyd. i. et ii. ascertained by classical writers, direction of the Thriasian plain 

£ Pnilostratus in Pmlagro So- The names of these are Dipylum and Eleusis. (Plut. Pericl. Har- 

phist. n. Xenunhnn Hist . Grasc. (also called Thriasias, Sacra:, pocrat. v. 'A^oVpn-oj. Polyb. 

11. Plutarch. Pencle et Sylia. and perhaps Ceramics:), Dio- Excerpt, xvi. 25, 7) There are 

d Plutarch. Iheseo. meiae, Diocharis, Melitides, Pi- still some traces of the Dipylum 

7 "esychius. raicee, Acharnicae, Itoniaj, Hip- on the north-west side of the 

5 IheojJirastus Charact. E- pades, Heriae. acropolis. (Hawkins's Topogr. 

r*T>i *. mu T,le JO'Py 1 "™' as we learn of Athens in Walpole's Mem. t. 

to tlutarch. 1 heseo, from Livy, was the widest, and i. p. 488. Col. Leake, p. 370.) 

7 Aschines Plulosophus in led directly to the Forum. The Diomeiaj were probably so 

o'u-?: - • • Without the walls, there was a called from Diomeia, one of the 

S Hilduinus in Vita Dionysii path from the Dipylum to the Attic demi, which itself received 

« e0 ^ glt A . * „ Academy, a distance of nearly that name from the hero Diomus. 

9 The Gates of Athens.— The one mile. (Liv. xxxi. 24. Cicer. (Steph. Byz. v. He- 

number of gates belonging to de Finib. v. 1.) It was also sych. v. A^idcri.) AVe learn 

anoient Athens is uncertain i but called Thriasian, and deemed from Stephanus that it was close 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



35 



As to the streets in Athens, this much is said of them in general, that 
they were not very uniform or beautiful: 1 and though Homer calls it 
tvouccyvixv, 

yet that seems only to imply the bigness, and not the beauty of them; for 
so that poet has used the same epithet in other places. The number of 
them, without question, was very great; but most of their names are 
quite lost ; and few, if any, besides those here enumerated, are to be met 
with in authors. 'Is^a 3.0%%, or the way to Eleusis. '0%o§ Qyiffzicc, betwixt 
the long walls, leading to the Pir seeus ; which seems to be the same with 
that which was called 'H us Ust^ccia. 'H ruv irok&fAtm, near the Academy. 
'H tuv 'EgpoyXuQcov. 'H <r&M> Kifiojrovroiuv. 'H'Ecrr'ia. *H Bivixn* My£- 
prixm shot. ^Yvpn vym. Tgfoohs, a way near the Prytaneum, wherein 
were places largely stocked with tripods of brass curiously wrought, 
amongst which was the famous satyr, called by the Greeks TLtyfh'onros , 
being one of the masterpieces of Praxiteles. Concerning these Heliodo- 
rus is said to have written an entire treatise. 3 

It remains, in the next place, that I give an account of the buildings 
of the lower city ; in doing which I shall only mention such as were most 
remarkable, or had some history or custom depending on them ; for the 
rest referring the reader to Pausanias and Meursius' larger treatises. 

TIo/utfiTov, a stately edifice, in which were kept the sacred utensils made 
use of at festivals, and all things necessary for the solemn processions 
prepared. It was placed at the entrance of the old city which looks 
towards Phalerum, and adorned with many statues of the Athenian heroes. 
Indeed there was scarce any place in the city that was not filled with such 
like representations.' 1 

to the Cynosarges, a place dedi- ascertained from that of Achar- side surrounded with an immense 
cated to Hercules, (Steph. Byz. nSe, which antiquaries agree in cemetery, there being a con- 
v. KwSirapyes,) and situated to fixing near the modern village of tinned succession of sepulchres 
the north-east of Athens ; the Menidi. The Itonian gate, men- on the north-west and north from 
Diomeian gate must therefore tioned in the Dialogue of Axio- the northern long wall to mount 
have been on this side of the chus, is placed by Col. Leake Anchesm us-, and there were bury- 
town. about half-way between the Ilis- ing-grounds also on the outside 

The gate of D^ochares was sus and the foot of the hill of of the southern long wall." — 
opposite to the entrance of the Museium; it seems to have been Cramer's Greece, 
Lyceum, and near the fountain on the road to Phalerum. (To- 1 Dicaearchus in Descript- 
or Panops. (Strab. ix. p. 397. po?r. of Athens, p. 371.) Graeciae. 2 Odyss. vii. 
Plut. Lys. t. ii. p. 203.) The The gate called Hippades is 3 Harpocr. v. 'Ot^reop. 
Melitensian gale was to the conjectured by the same anti- 4 Pausanias begins his descrip- 
south, towards the sea and Pha- quary to have stood between tion of Athens apparently from 
lerum. Near it was the monu- Dipylum and the Piraicae, and he the Peiraic gate. On entering 
mentofGimon and the tomb of thinks that some vestiges of it the city, the first building which 
Thucydides. (Pausan. Attic. 33. exist on the north side of mount he notices is the Pompeium, so 
Marcell. Vit. Thuc.) Col. Leake Lycabettus. Plutarch is the only called from its containing the 
observes that there are some re- writer who mentions the Hip- sacred vessels {ironTala) used in 
mains of this gate, as well as of pades ; he states that the tombs certain processions, some of 
the Piraicse, which led, as the of the family of the orator Hy- which were annual, while others 
name sufficiently implies, to the perides were situated in its vici- occurred less frequently. (Attic. 
Piraeus. (Topogr. of Athens, p. nity. (Plut. in Tract, de Dec. 2. Cf. Deniosth. in Phorm.) 
370. Plut. Vit. Thes. et Syll.) Iihet. Vit. Hyperid.) These vessels, together with the 

The Acharnicae doubtless were The Heriae was so called from Persian spoils, weie estimated, 
BO named from Achamas, one of its being usual to convey corpses as we know from Thucydides, in 
the most considerable of the through it to the burying-grouiid. the beginning of the Pelopo.:na- 
Attic demi, and therefore must (Etym. M. v. 'Hpt'ai.) Its pre- sian war, at 500 talents, (ii. 13. 
have been in that direction. (He- cise situation cannut now be dis- Cf. Harpocr. v. ncytireta.) In 
sych. v. 'Kxupvai.) The situa- covered, since, as Col. Leake the Pompeium was also a 6tatne 
t ion of this gate is thus easily observes, "Athens was on every of Socrates, by Lysippus, and 



3G 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The temple of Vulcan, or of Vulcan and Minerva, not far from Cera- 
micus within the city, seems to have been a public prison, frequent 
mention being made of persons tortured there. 1 

Near this place was the temple of the heavenly Venus ; for they had 
a twofold Venus, one of which was called Oveav/x, and the other Udcv^^^os: 
the former presided over chaste and pure love; the latter was the 
patroness of lust and debauchery. And as their natures and characters 
were different, so were also the ceremonies used in their worship. They 
that worshipped the former, behaved themselves with all modesty and 
gravity ; but the latter was pleased only with lewdness and wantonness. 
Whence Solon permitted public strumpets to prostitute themselves in her 
temple. Besides these, Venus had several other temples, as those which 
were erected upon the account of Demetrius Poliorcetes, to Venus Lamia 
and Letena, in honour of two of his mistresses called by those names. 
Nay, so gross flattery did the Athenians degenerate into, that they en- 
rolled several of his parasites in the number of their deities, and honoured 
them with temples and altars. 2 

The temple of Theseus was erected by Cimon, in the middle of the 
city, near the place where the youth performed their wrestlings, and 
other exercises of body, and was allowed the privilege of being a 
sanctuary for slaves, and all those of mean condition that fled from the 
persecution of men in power, in memory that Theseus while he lived was 
an assister and protector of the distressed. A great many other temples 
were consecrated to him in his lifetime, as grateful acknowledgments of 
the benefits he had conferred upon the city ; all which, four only excepted, 
he dedicated to Hercules, and changed their names from eitrua, to 
'HoxxXux, after he had been rescued by him from the king of the Molos- 
sians, as Plutarch reports out of Philochorus. 3 One of these was put to 
various other uses; for certain magistrates were created in it by the 
thesmotheUe. 4 Causes also were heard there, and it was a public prison, 5 
and therefore a gaol-bird is wittily called Q-Affuor^, in Aristophanes: 
such a one Plautus, with no less elegancy, names Colonus carceris. 

The temple of Theseus is still to be seen, and is built, as Sir George 
Wheeler reports, in all respects like the temple of Minerva in the 
citadel, as to its matter, form, and order of architecture, but not so large 
It is dedicated to St George, and still remains a masterpiece of architec- 
ture, not easy to be paralleled, much less exceeded by any other. 6 

several painting ; among others, Semnne. The temple of Venus, 2 Plutarch, in Deraetrio. 

a portrait of Isorrat»s. (D'og. surnamed Celestial, to distinguish 3 Idem Theseo. 

J,aert. Vit Socrat Pint V.t. her from the Popular Venus, 4 ^Jschin. Orat. in Ctesiphont 

Isocr. in Dec. Rhet.)— Cramer's whose temple was near the en- 5 EtymoJosus. 

1-rL" ti v • tranc* of the Acropolis, was near 6 Eight centuries after the 

.1 he Hpphasstmin, o. temple the Hephaestium, probably about death of Theseus the people of 

of \ ulcan and Minerva, having the middle of the hill. It s-ms Athens suddenly becanfe asham- 

been above the Stoa Bas.leius, not unlikely that some s;eps, cut ed of the ingratitude of their an- 

stood probab.y towards the wes- in the cliff on the north side of cestors towards their great bene- 

tern end of the r.age of Areiopa- the hill, led to the temple of Ve- factor, in driving him out of 

gus. The eastern end was oc- nus Urania, as those on the Athens, to die bv violence in a 

cunied oythe court of Areopagus, south-east end led to the court of foreign country: it was reported 

and the sacred entrance of the Areiojwgus.— Leake's Athens. that his spectre had been seen 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



S7 



'Ava/cs/av, or the temple of Castor and Pollux, called "Avuxa. In this 
place slaves were exposed to sale. 

'OXvpTiov, or 'OZvptfiTov, a temple erected in honour of Jupiter Olym- 
pius: it was the most magnificent structure in Athens, being in circuit 
no less than four stadia, which was the reason they were forced to support 
it with pillars, a thing unknown in Athens before that time. 1 The founda- 
tions were laid by Pisistratus, and many succeeding governors contributed 
to the building of it ; but it was never completely finished till Adrian's 
time, 2 which was seven hundred years after the tyranny of Pisistratus. 

The temple of Apollo and Pan, at the bottom of the citadel on the north 
side, in a cave or grotto, called Max^/ crsr^a/, or Ktzgovrieu -rirgat, 
where Apollo was feigned to have deflowered Creiisa, the daughter of 
Erechtheus : we find it mentioned in Euripides : 3 



- ola&a KsKpom'a^ -rrtrpas I cio behold the ark, wherein of old 



Hp6a(3oppov avrpov, 3$ Ma/rpay KiK\^ano/j.ev ; I laid thee, O my son, an infant babe, 
Ol<T, tvBa rWoj a&vToif Kal /Sco/iol wiAay. And in the caves of Cecrops, with the rocks 

Of Macrai roof'd, expos'd thee. — Potter. 

The temple of Diana, surnamed Auo-t£avos t because in it women, after 

their first child, used to dedicate their girdles to her. 4 

fighting against the Medes at built, and which, like the tem- ploits of Hercules. — Leake's 

Marathon; and the Pythia direct- pie itself, seems to have been Athens. 

ed the Athenians to remove his intended to celebrate unitedly the 1 Plin. xxxvi. 6. 

remains to Athens, and to honour virtues of the two heroes, intro- 2 The Glympieium, or Olym- 

himasahero. His bones, with duces Theseus promising to pium, was one of the most 

a brazen helmet and a sword Hercules that the Athenians ancient temples in Athens, a suf- 

lying beside them, were discov- should honour him with sculp- licient proof of which is its repu- 

ered in the island of Scyrus, by tured marbles, and thus seems lation of having been originally 

Cimon, son of Miltiades. They to refer to the decorations of this founded by Deucalion. Anew 

were received at Athens with very building. After alluding temple upon a magnificent plan 

processions and sacrifices; games to the fact recorded by Plutarch, was founded by Pisistratus, about 

and festivals were instituted in of the names of several Attic the year 530 B.C. but the ex- 

his honour; a heroum was erect- places having been changed from pensive wars, in which the 

ed to hi ni on the Colonus Hippi- Theseium to Heracleium, he Athenians were not long after- 

us, and a temple in the city, adds, " wards engaged soon put a stop 

This building was equalled in to its progress; and its unfinished 

sanctity only by the Parthenon . . . flavoVroy &' evr av sly adov state, in the most flourishing 

and Eiusinium, its sacred in- ^oXny, periods of the republic, seems to 

closure was so large as occasion- Oucu'curt Xatcoto-t r e%oyKM/j.a<ri have been a common subject of 

ally to serve as a place of mili- rl^iov avaU<. ira* , A6riualmvir6- regret. About the year 174 B.C. 

tary assembly; and it enjoyed the Aiy. Antiochus Epiphaues, king of 

privilege of an asylum, which Syria, undertook to complete it, 

had the effect of rendering it a Thus it appears that if it was and a magnificent edifice of the 

prison to those who fled from perfectly in harmony with the Corinthian order was begun by 

justice. It was built about four Athenian traditions to select the Cossutius, a Roman architect, 

hundred and sixty-five years be- exploits of Hercules as well as Upon the death of Antiochus, in 

fore Christ, or about thirty years those of Theseus for the sculptu- the year 164 B. C. the work was 

before the Parthenon. ral decorations of the Theseium, aaain interrupted, and seventy- 

In honouring Theseus, the it was equally so to give the most eight years afterwards, Sylla 

Athenians could not forget Her- conspicuous situation to those of having taken Athens, carried 

cules, who was the kinsman, Hercules, as Theseus had yield- away the columns prepared for 

friend,and companion of Theseus, ed to him the first'honours of his this building, and erected them 

Hercules had delivered Theseus native country. We find, ac- in the temple of Jupiter Capitoli- 

from the chains of Aidoneus, cordingly, that all the metopes nus, at Rome. The Olympium 

king of Molossi; and in return, in the front of the temple, which was in this imperfect and muti- 

Theseus was said to have can be deciphered, relate to the lated state when the kings, and 

brought Hercules with him from labours of Hercules, and that all states in allisnce or subjection to 

Thebes to Athens, to be purified those onthe two flanks, which can A ugustus, undertook the comple- 

for the murder of his children, be deciphered, relate to the la- tion of the building at their joint 

He then not only shared his pro- bours of Theseus. In like man- expense. The work was once 

perty with Hercules, but gave up ner, Ave find that the subject of more interrupted, however, and 

to him all the sacred places the frize over the columns and the honour of completing and 

which had been conferred upon antai of the posticum, or back dedicating the temple, and of 

Theseus by the Athenians, vestibule, was the most celebra- erecting the statue of the god, 

changing ail the Theseia of At- ted action of the life of Theseus, was reserved for Hadrian, six 

tica, except four, into Heracleia. his contest with the Centaurs, hundred and fifty years after its 

The Hercules Furens of Euripi- It may fairly be presumed, foundation by Pisistratus. — ■ 

des, which was written a few therefore, that the pannel over Leakes Alliens. 

years after this temple was the pronaus related to the ex- m 3 lone. 4 Apollon'.i Scliol. i. 

D 



38 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Ileivfaov, was a temple dedicated to all the gods, who, as they were 
united in one temple, so were they honoured with one common festival, 
called @io%iviz. This was a very magnificent structure, and supported by a 
hundred and twenty marble pillars: on the outside were all the histories 
of the gods, curiously engraven; and upon the great gate stood two 
horses, excellently carved by Praxiteles. 

The temple of the Eight Winds, omitted by Pausanias, but mentioned 
and described by Sir George Wheeler out of Vitruvius, who reports, that 
such as had made exact observations about the winds, divided them into 
eight; namely, Andronicus Cyrrhastes, who gave this model to the 
Athenians ; for he built a tower of eight square, of marble, on every side 
of which he carved the figure of a wind, according to the quarter it blew 
from. On the top of the tower he erected a little pyramid of marble, on 
the point of which was placed a brazen triton, holding a switch in his right 
hand, wherewith turning about, he pointed to the wind that then blew. 
All the winds answered exactly to the compass, and were represented by 
figures answerable to their natures, above which were written their names 
in large Greek letters, which are these that follow: ETPOS, Eurus, 
south-east. AITHAIOTHS, Subsolanus, east. KAIKIA2, Ccecias, north- 
east. BOPEA2, Boreas, north. 2KIPON, Corns, north-west. ZE$TP02, 
Occidens, west. NOT02, Notus, south. AI"*", Libs, Jfricus, south-west. 
This tower remains yet entire, the weathercock only excepted. 1 

2r«a/, or porticoes, they had a great many, but the most remarkable 
was that which was called TLuffiuvaxTios, and afterwards Hoik'iXv), from the 
variety it contained of curious pictures, drawn by the greatest masters in 
Greece; such were Polygnotus, Mycon, and Pandaenus, the brother of 
Phidias. Here it was that Zeno taught philosophy, and instituted that 
sect which received their names from this place, being called Sra'/xot, 
from 2ra«. And the portico itself is usually put for that sect of philoso- 
phers, as when Athenasus calls Zeno tyis ^.too-s xno-rhv, the founder of 
the Stoics. 2 

Mouo-iiov, was a fort near the citadel, so called from the old poet Musseus, 
the scholar of Orpheus, that used to repeat his verses in this place, where 

1 Very near the new Agora, and constructed for the first time, at the name of the spring, which 

consfiquently in the most con- Rome, a public Horologium, rises near the cave of Pan, it 

venient situation for the public which, like the tower of An- was natural for Stuart to suppose 

■when that quarter was the most dionicus, is stated to have mark- that the tower of Andronicus was 

central and frequented part of ed the hours by day and night by a Clepsydra,and that it had either 

Athens, stands the tower erected means of water. given that name to, or taken it 

by Andronicus Cyrrhestcs, to in- The water-clock within the from, the spring near the cave of 

dicate the quarter from whence tower of Andronicus was sup- Pan. But this could not have 

the wind blew, the hour of the plied by the stream which rises been the case, for the spring was 

day by the sun when the weather under the cave of Pan: a part of called Clepsydra, from its imagi- 

was clear, and by water when it the aqueduct used for conveying nary course under ground from 

was cloudy. it to the Horologium is still to be Athens to Phalerum, and water- 

T he tower of Cyrrhestes is ac- seen, built into the wall of a mo- clocks, under the name of Clep- 

curately described by Varro and dern house, and it now conducts sydrae, are alluded to by Aristo- 

Vitruvius, the age of the former the water of the spring to the phanes several centuries before 

of whom concurs with the archi- neighbouring mosque, for the the earliest date we can possibly 

tecture of the building to show use of the Turks in their ablu- ascribe to the Horologium of 

theprobability that it was erected tions. As water-clocks were Andronicus. — Leake's Athens. 

fiboutthe same time that Scipio called Clepsydrae, and as Glepsy- 2 Deip. viii. 

Kasica (in the year 159 B. dra seems clearlv to have bo*>n 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



39 



also he was buried. This fort was forced by Antigonus to entertain a 
garrison ; and his son Demetrius, to make it more secure, surrounded it 
with a wall. 1 

'Slfoiov, was a music-theatre, built by Pericles; the inside was full of 
seats and ranges of pillars ; and on the outside, the roof or covering was 
made from one point at the top with a great many bendings, all shelving 
downward. It is reported, says Plutarch, that it was so framed in imita- 
tion of the king of Persia's pavilion. 2 Here was also a tribunal, as we 
learn from Aristophanes. 3 It was very much beautified by Lycurgus, 4 
but, being demolished in the Mithridatic war, 5 was re-built by Herodes 
Atticus, with such splendour and magnificence, that, as Pausanias tells 
us, it surpassed all the famous buildings in Greece. 6 It stood in the 
Cerameicus, of which name there were two places, so called from Ceramus 
the son of Bacchus and Ariadne ; 7 or w« rvs xzgoiptiixtis <rix,vyi;, from 
the potter's art, which was first invented in one of these places by 
Choroebus. One of them was within the city, and contained innumerable 
buildings, as temples, theatres, porticoes, &c. The other was in the 
suburbs, and was a public burying-place, and contained the Academy, 
and many other edifices. 

The Athenian 'Ayogx), or for a, were very numerous; but the most 
noted of them were two, the old forum and the new. The new forum 
was in a place called 'Eotrg'icc, by Strabo; which it is probable was not 
far from Zeno's Portico, because Pausanias tells us that in his time the 
forum was near that place. The old forum was in the Cerameicus within 
the city called 'A^a/at uyogcc. In it were held the public assemblies of 
the people: but the chief design of it was for the meeting of people to buy 
and sell, and therefore it was divided into different parts, according to the 
wares exposed to sale ; for every trade had a different place assigned to 
make their markets in: and hence we read of Kvxkos, where slaves and 
vassals were sold; 9 'AkproxcoXts uyo^u, 'l%0uo<7raXt$ uyc^cc, and Fuvaizitcc 

1 The Museium is described, of Epiphanes, attained under generally occupied by their satel. 

by Pausanias, as a hill opposite Trajan to the dignities of consul lites. CHell. II. 4, 6. et 15.) It 

to the Acropolis, included within and Frater Arvaiis, that, having was afterwards set on fire by 

the ancient circuit of the city- retired to Athens, he was enrol- Aristion, general of Mithridates, 

wall, and having the monument led in the demus Besa, of the who defended Athens against 

of a certain Syrian upon it. By tribe Antiochis, and that he Sylla. (Appian. Bell. Mithr. c. 

the first part of this description, erected this monument, which he 38.) We learn however from 

tne traveller is at once directed decorated in a lower compart- Vitruvius, and an inscription 

to the hill, which, almost equal ment with one of the triumphs of cited by col. Leake, that the 

in height to the Acropolis, is se- his benefactor Trajan, and above building was afterwards restored 

parated from it bya valley on the with three statues, seated in attheexpenseofAriobarzar.es, 

south side : and here he not only niches, of himself, his father, and king of Cappadocia. (Vitruv. V. 

finds the foundations of the city- grandfather.— Leake's Athens. 9.) No vestiges have yet been 

walls crossing the summit of 2 In Pericle. discovered which can be ascrib- 

that hill but the monument alsa 3'0k5' 'QoVa> Wir<n. s \ Vesp. ed to this building, nor are there 

i, m yr - lai i j USt Wlthm the 4 Hyperid. Orat. pro Lycurgo. any remains of the Lenasum and 

walls. This Syrian, whom Pau- 5 Appian in Mithridatico. the temples which it once enclos- 

samas has not named, was Caius 6 The Odeium of Pericles, was ed; but this may be accounted 

Julius Antiochus Philopappus, said to have been constructed in for by the evident accumulation 

grandson of Antiochus, the fourth imitation of the tent of Xerxes, of soil which has taken place un- 

and last king of Commagene, Plutarch informs us it was richly der this end of the acropolis.— • 

who was deposed and carried to decorated with columns, which Cramer's Greece. 

Koine by Vespasian, together terminated in a point. (Pericl. 7 Pausan.Suidas, Plin. vii. 56. 

with his two sons, Epiphanes and Cf. Theophr. Char.) Xenophon 8 Lib. ix. 

Calluucus. It appears from the states, that duiing the tyranny 9 Hesych. 

monument that Philopappus, son of the Thirty the Odeium was 

d2 



40 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ayo^cc, where women's clothes and ornaments were exposed ; and others 
without number. Sometimes 1 they called the fora by the single names of 
things sold in them, as ohog, the wine-market, 'EXa<av, the oil-market, 
&c. 2 The time in which things were exposed to sale, was called ^rXr^overcc 
ayoga, full market, from the multitudes of people that assembled at such 
times ; and there seems to have been different hours appointed for particular 
wares, which I suppose is the reason that Suidas, in some places, tells us, 
the full market was at the third hour, in others, that it was at the fourth, 
fifth, and sixth. 

Besides these places, the tradesmen had their BovXzvrvoiu, or public 
halls, wherein each company met, and consulted about their affairs. For 
trades were very much encouraged at Athens ; and if any man reproached 
another with living by such gain, the person affronted might have an 
action of slander against him. 3 i Nay, trades were so far from being 
aecounted a mean and ignoble way of living, that persons of the greatest 
quality did not disdain to betake themselves to such employments, and 
especially to merchandise/ as Plutarch informs us. 'Solon,' says he, 
' applied himself to merchandise, though some there are that report, that 
he travelled rather to get learning and experience, than to raise an estate. 
In the time of Hesiod, a trade was not dishonourable, nor did it debase 
its followers ; but merchandise was a worthy calling, which brought home 
the good things that barbarous nations enjoyed, was the occasion of friend- 
ship with their kings, and mother of experience. Some merchants have 
built great cities, as the founder of Masilia, that man so much esteemed 
by the Gauls, that lived about the Rhine ; some also report, that Thales, 
and Hippocrates the mathematician, traded ; and that Plato defrayed the 
charges of his travels by selling oil in Egypt.' 4 

Aqueducts were not common at Athens before the Roman times ; and 
the want of them was supplied by wells, some of which were dug by 
private persons, others at the public expense ; but the country, having but 
few potable rivers (for Eridanus, Strabo 5 tells us, was muddy, and not fit 

1 Pollux ix. 5. were commonly indicated by the tised their trades in them, and 

2 The Agora was divided into name of each article preceded by who thus appear to have been dis- 
markets, streets, and porticoes, the preposition els, as el? tovs posed in the same manner as the 
which in general derived their IVttous, the horse market; elf trades of a modern Oriental town, 
names from the objects sold in T oZj,ov, the cooks' shops; elj ra. One street was called t? ™v 
them. Such were the aria rwv fxecr K 6via, the place where asses' 'v.p/j.oy\v(pela>v, the street of the 
a~\<plTa>v (Hour portico); the iyopa flesh was sold; elj rd yxiioa, el? makers of Mercuries; another r, 
yvvaiKtla, or shops for coods pe- ray X vrpai, elj ra <Tic6po&a,' ely rd rwv kiPwtoitoiwv, the Street of the 
cuharly adapted to the use of wo- Kpo^va, elj ri ipi>para, ely rbv cabinet-makers. These were pro- 
men; the iyopl <T7reip67ra.-Xts or ^-Acopiy rvpov, elj to. Kapva, elj ra bably in the Agora, as was also 
l/xar^TrcuXtjObr !he sale of ready- ^Aa, &c. were the denomina- the street of Vesta, t) 'E<rria.666r, 
made clothes); the iyopi \ x 8v6- tions of several parts of the for it was near the three-headed 
TraiA.j (for lish.) But some divi- Agora, where ointments, pottery, Mercury of the Cerameicus. 
sions of the Agora received their garlic, onions, perfumes, fish, Some ol the streets derived their 
names from people, as the i 7 opa cheese, walnuts, apples, &c. were names from the 67it*oi through 
'Ap-yeiW, iyopi Kepx^Trwv; thelat- sold. The booksellers' shops which they nassed— as the street 
ter, which was noted far the sale were called fafauOfaar, and of Colyttus.* AVe find mention 
of stolen goods was near the fa- the expression, elj rd (3i/3Kta was also of a street of the ants, i) tS» 
mous tribunal, called, from its not used. Besides (he foregoing, ^np^w, and of the third street, 
being held in the open air, there was in the Agora a round i) r P ir V P V». but without any 
r H>*<M«. Anotner market was building, called k£*a j, where indication of their locality. — 
cahed eealv ayopa; but its use is slaves, vases, fish, and other'com- Leake's Athens. 

not specked by the authors who modifies, were sold. 3 Demost. Orat. in Eubulidem. 

mention it. The different divi- Some streets derived their 4 Piutarchus, Solone. 
sions of the markets for provisions names from the artisans who prac- 5 Lib. ix. 



CIVIL GO VEii jN iVi.ii.xN l &TSli]S& 



41 



for use), lakes or large springs, was but poorly furnished with water, 
which gave occasion to continual quarrels amongst the citizens. Solon 
enacted a law, that where there was a public well within a hippocon, that 
is, four furlongs, all should have the privilege of drawing at that ; but 
those that lived at a greater distance should be obliged to provide a private 
well ; and if they had dug ten fathom deep, and could find no water, they 
had liberty to fetch ten gallons a day from their neighbour's ; for he 
thought it prudent, says my author, to make provision against want, but 
not to encourage idleness. 1 Adrian, besides other magnificent structures, 
laid the foundations of a stately aqueduct, winch was finished by his suc- 
cessor Antoninus: and one part of it still remains, sustained by Ionic 
pillars: which Sir George Wheeler is of opinion was the frontispiece of the 
repository or receiver of the water. 

Gymnasia are said to have been first in use at Lacedsemon, but were 
afterwards very common in all the parts of Greece, and imitated, very 
much augmented, and improved at Rome. They were not single edifices, 
but a knot of buildings united, being so capacious as to hold many 
thousand people at once, and having room enough for philosophers, 
rhetoricians, and the professors of all other sciences, to read their lectures ; 
and wrestlers, dancers, and all others that would, to exercise at the same 
time, without the least disturbance or interruption. They consisted of a 
great many parts, the chief of which were these : 

1. Sraasi, the porticoes, which were full of i%3gc&t, and side-buildings 
furnished with seats, and fit for study or discourse ; and here it is probable 
the scholars used to meet. 

2. 'Etpvfixtov, the place where the ephebi, or youths, exercised; or, as 
some say, where those that designed to exercise met, and agreed what 
kind of exercise they should contend in, and what should be the victor's 
reward. 

3. Kog'txuov, avrotvTYiQiov, yvy.vocffrYt^iov, the undressing-room. 

4. '~EXaio0i<rtov; uXuvrzoiovy the place where those that were to wrestle, 
or had bathed, were anointed. 

5. Kovitrrvgiov, nov'ter^a., the place where the dust, with which they be- 
sprinkled those that had been anointed, war kept. 

6. JlocXctlffr^oc, which, sometimes taken for the whole gymnasium, in 
its proper acceptation signifies the place wherein all the exercises of the 
TlivrccOXov, or, as others say, only wrestling, and the Tlayx^ciricv were per- 
formed ; and lest the combatants should slip, or hurt themselves by falling, 

► the bottom of it was covered with dust or gravel. Also there was another 
room in the gymnasium, filled with gravel, much deeper than that in the 
pakestra. 

7. 'SQougurrvgiov, a place appointed for various sorts of exercises, but 
more especially for the ball. 

8. The spaces between the porticoes and the wall, left void to admit 



2 Plutarchus, Solone, 

p 3 



42 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the li glit, and the area of the TligurrvXiov, or piazza, which was a large 
place, square, or sometimes oblong, in the middle of the gymnasium, de- 
signed for walking, and the performance of those exercises which -were 
not .practised in the palaestra, or the deeper sand, or any other place in the 
gymnasium, such were, as some are of opinion, leaping, and the discus. 




AAA A, Cryptoposticus full of 
exedrae. 

B, Palaestra. 
G, Ephebeum. 

DD, rooms to the right and 
left of the Ephebeum. 

E, aditus, or passage from the 
Ephebeum to the baths. 

FF, Fiieiaarium. 

GG, Tepidarium. 

HH, Ca'idarium. 



I. Laconicum. 

K, Sphreristerium. 

LL, two large buttresses of 
rude workmanship. 

n: b, supposed to be places for 
stairs to the passage E. 

c. stairs descending to the La- 
conicum 11| inches high, 8| 
inches broad. 

d end e, cavities with flues in 
them. 



This edifice is situated without 
the eastern wall of the city, not 
far distant from it, and at the 
bottom of the southern side oi 
mount Prion. The north-west 
angle of the building penetrates 
several feet into the side of the 
mountain, which gradually 
slopes down the north and west 
fronts.— Stew. Athens. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



43 



9. 5t/tf<r*/, and Buerrx, which were distinct places both In Greece and 
Rome. Xysti were places covered at the top, designed for the exercise 
of wrestlers, when the weather did not permit them to contend hi the 
open air. Xysta, sometimes called Ui^oo^-;, were walks open at the 
top, designed for exercises or recreation in the heat of summer, and milder 
seasons of the winter. 

10. The baths, in which were waters hot and cold in different degrees; 
and in these they refreshed themselves, when they were wearied with 
exercise, and at other times. Amongst the ancient Greeks baths were 
not much frequented, being rarely used but after the accomplishment of 
some very great work which required abundance of labour and toil, as the 
ending of a war, or achieving any great and painful enterprise. 1 Thus 
Agamemnon, after the Trojan war, at his return home, went into the 
bath, there to wash away the remembrance of all Iris past labours, and was 
slain by the treachery of Ins wife Clytemnestra. 2 In later ages they be- 
came more common, and were frequently used for health or recreation by 
loth sexes, who at Sparta washed in one common bath, but in other cities 
had distinct places appointed them. 

11. The stadium was a large semicircle, in which exercises were per- 
formed; and for the better convenience of spectators, who flocked thither 
in vast multitudes, was built with steps one above another, that the higher 
ranks might look over the heads of those that were placed below them. 
Several of these there were at Athens, in their gymnasia and other places ; 
but the most remarkable w-as that which was built near the river Ilissus 
by Lycurgus, and afterwards enlarged by Herodes Atticus, one of the 
richest citizens Athens ever had: it was built of Pentelic marble, with so 
great magnificence, that when Pausanias comes to speak of it, he tells his 
readers, that they would hardly believe what he was about to tell them, it 
being a wonder to all that beheld it, and of such stupendous bigness, that 
one would judge it a mountain of white marble upon the banks of Ilissus. 
Sir George Wheeler reports, that there still remains some of the stone 
work, at the end towards the river, but the rest is only a stadium 
of earth above ground. However, its figure and bigness continue, though 
the degrees be all taken away. It is a long place, with two parallel sides, 
closed up circularly to the east end, and open towards the other end ; and 
is about one hundred and twenty-five geometrical paces long, and twenty- 
six or twenty-seven broad, which gave it the name of a stadium, which 
was a measure ordinarily used among the Greeks, being the eighth part 
of a Roman mile. 3 

1 Artem'dorus Onairecrit. i. Lyenrgos, son of Lycophron, the entire cavea remains, to- 

2 Lycophron. who for this purpose levelled a gether with the masses of mason- 

3 Among the ancient monu- torrent-bed upon the banks of ry, by which the semicircular 
ments of Athens, there is none of the Ilissus. About five centuries end on the south was formed out 
which the identity is less doubt- afterwards, it was covered with of the torrent bed. Similar ruins 
iul than the stadium. It was seats oi Pentelic marble by He- of the double extremity at the 
first constructed in its existing rodes, son of Atticus, near four opposite end are also seen, to* 
form and situation about the year years bei-ig required to complete gether with the piers ot a wide 
330 B. C for the eymnic contests the nndertr.king. The marble bridge over the Ilissus, and the 
of the vauathenaie festival, by seats hive a l disappeared, but site of a building ou thj summit 



44 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES 



Athens had several gymnasia, of which these three are of most note ; 
Lyceum, Academia, and Cynosarges. 

Aukuov, Lyceum, was situated upon the banks of Ilissus. It received 
its name from Apollo Auxoarbvos, or Avxios, to whom it was dedicated ; 
nor was it without reason, says Plutarch, that this place was sacred to 
Apollo, but upon a good and rational account, since from the same deity 
that cures our diseases, and restores our health, we may reasonably expect 
strength and ability to contend in the exercises. 1 The building of this 
structure is by some ascribed to Pisistratus, by others to Pericles, and 
by others to Lycurgus; which makes it probable that all of them might 
contribute something towards it: perhaps Pisistratus laid the foundations 
of it, Pericles raised it, and Lycurgus enlarged and beautified it. 

This was the place where Aristotle taught philosophy, and discoursed 
with such as resorted to him for instruction, walking constantly every day 
till the hour of anointing ; for the Greeks usually anointed before meals ; 
whence he and his followers were called ITs^crar^T/xe/, avro rod vrtgtvrxnTv, 
Peripatetics, 2 from walking Though others report, that his walking and 
discoursing philosophy with Alexander was the occasion of that name. 

'AzaSyifiia, was part of the Cerameicus without the city, from winch it 
was distant about six stadia, so called from Academus, an old hero, who, 
when Helena was stolen by Theseus, and concealed at Aphidnae, discovered 
her to Castor and Pollux, for which reason he was extremely honoured by 
them during his life ; and the Lacedaemonians, when in after ages they 
made several incursions into Attica, and destroyed all the country round 
about, always spared this place for his sake. But Dicaearchus writes, that 
there were two Arcadians in the army of Castor and Pollux, the one 
called Echedemus, and the other Marathus ; from the former, that which 
was afterwards called the Academy, was then called Echedemia, and the 
borough of Marathon had its name from the latter. 3 It was beset with 
shady woods and solitary walks, fit for study and meditation, as the poets 
and others witness.. This verse is cited out of Eupolis : 4 

Ep svfffcCoi.s Sp6fj,oi<nv 'AvaS^fiov Oeov. In Academus' shady walks. 

And Horace speaks to the same purpose : 

Atque inter sylvas Academi qucercre verum.b In Academus 1 groves to search for truth. 

At the first it was a desert place, and uninhabited, by reason of the 
fens and marshes that were in it, which rendered it very unhealthful ; but 

of either hill. Of these two nificently embellished by He- above the seats, upon such an 

buildings one. was a temple of rodes. Its length, though pro- extraordinary occasion as that 

Fortune, where stood a statue of bably the same between the whereon Hadrian gratified the 

the goddess in ivory, the other meta; as the other Stadia of corrupted taste of the Athenians, 

may have been the tomb of He- Greece, is considerably greater and disgraced a Grecian stadium 

rodes, who was buried in the sta- in the part destined for the spec- by the Roman exhibition of the 

dium with every demonstration tators, being 675 feet in the in- slaughter of a thousand wild 

of respect. Enough remains to terior. It may be conjectured beasts.— Lease's Athens. 

form a judgment of what the that there were nearly thirty 1 Plut. in Symp. viii. q. 4. 

entire structure must have been rows of seats, which rendered it 2 Suidas, &c. 

when complete, and to justify the capable of accommodating about 3 Plut. in Theseo. 

terms of admiration used by Pau- 25,000 persons; but a much great- 4 In 

sanias and Philostratus, who saw er multitude might be assembled 5 Lib. ii. ep. 2. 

it soon after it had been so mag- upon the slope of the two hills, 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



45 



they being drained by Cimon, it became pleasant and delightful, and was 
much frequented by all sorts of people, especially such as applied themselves 
to the study of philosophy, for they resorted thither in great numbers to 
Plato's lectures, who read constantly in this place ; whence having con- 
tracted a distemper through the unwholesomeness of the air, which was 
not yet wholly rectified, and being advised by his physicians to remove 
his school to the Lyceum, made answer, that he chose the Academy to 
keep his body under, lest by too much health it should become wanton, 
and more difficult to be governed by the dictates of reason ; as men prune 
vines, when they spread too far, and lop off the branches' that grow too 
luxuriant. 1 I must not forget to add, that it was surrounded with a wall 
by Hipparchus the son of Pisistratus, who, to defray the charges of it, laid 
so heavy a tax upon the people, that ever after any chargeable and expen- 
sive business was called 'ivrvragxou ru%iov. 

Kwoo-agyis was a place in the suburbs near the Lyceum, so called from 
a white or swift dog, in Greek xvan ugyos, that, when Diomus was sacri- 
ficing to Hercules, snatched away part of the victim. 2 It was adorned 
with several temples, dedicated to Hebe, Alcmena, and Iolaus, all which 
bore some relation to Hercules, the chief deity of the place ; and he also 
was here honoured with a magnificent temple. But there was nothing 
in it so remarkable as the gymnasium, in which strangers, and those that 
were but of the half blood, or had but one parent an Athenian, were to 
perform their exercises, because Hercules, to whom it was consecrated, 
was under some illegitimacy, and was not one of the immortal gods, but 
had a mortal woman for his mother. And therefore Themistocles being 
but of the half blood, persuaded several of the young noblemen to accom- 
pany him to anoint and exercise themselves at Cynosarges; in doing 
which, he seemed with some ingenuity to take away the distinction 
between the truly noble and the stranger; and between those, of the 
whole, and those of the half blood of Athens. 3 There was also a court of 
judicature in this place, wherein causes about illegitimacy were heard, 
and examination made concerning persons that lay under a suspicion of 
having falsely inserted their names among the true-born Athenians. 4 In 
this gymnasium Antisthenes instituted a sect of philosophers called 
Ku vtxo), Cynics, from the name of the place, 5 as some are of opinion. 

All Theatres were dedicated to Bacchus and Venus, 6 the deities of 
sports and pleasure ; to the former of which they are said to owe their 
original, 7 and therefore plays acted in them were called Aiovuitixkcc, and 
the artificers that laboured in the building of them Aiovurtaxot rs^vtrui, 
as belonging to Atovu<ro$, or Bacchus. 

The most ancient theatres were temporary, being composed of nothing 
but boards placed gradually above each other, for the convenience of 
spectators, and therefore they were called But these slight build- 



1 Basil. Mag. lib. de 2 Hesych. aliique in- 4 Nonr.us Monachus 6 Lactant. vi. 
legendis Gentilium Lib- nuraeri. in Collect. Hist. 7 PoIydor.Virg. iii.13. 

lis. 3 Plut. Themist. 5 Dio^. Laert. Antis. S Hesychius. 



46 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ings had well nigh proved fatal to the commonwealth, for almost the 
whole city, as well the magistracy and nobility as those of inferior rank, 
being assembled, as their manner was, to hear Pratinas act a tragedy, the 
theatre, too weak to support the vast weight of thronging multitudes, on 
a sudden tumbled down, and nearly buried them in its ruins. 1 This 
narrow es6ape made them more cautious, and was the occasion of erecting 
a theatre of stone, for their better security. And from this time the 
Athenians, whose, example the rest of the Greeks followed not long 
after, erected fixed and durable theatres of stone, commonly of marble, 
which by degrees were increased to such magnitude that they exceeded 
almost all other buildings in Greece. 

The figure of their theatres was semicircular, though they were not 
exact semicircles, but contained the bigger half of the circle, and there- 
fore amphitheatres, which were made in the same figure, as if two 
theatres should be joined together, were not nicely orbicular, but oval. 
They consisted of two parts, 2xn»h, Sceiia, and KoiXov, Cavea. Scena 
was a partition assigned for the actors, reaching quite across the theatre, 
which at the first, agreeably to the ancient simplicity, was dressed with 
boughs and leaves, but in more expensive ages was adorned with rich and 
costly hangings, to hide the management of machines, and other actions 
of the players, from the spectators. It was either so framed as that it 
might be turned round, and then it was called versatilis, or drawn up, 
and then it was ductilis ) this way is usually practised in our theatres, 
in changing the scenes. It had three principal gates, one upon the right 
hand, another upon the left, by which were presented meaner and smaller 
edifices ; and a third in the middle, by which more magnificent structures, 
as temples of the gods, or palaces of kings, were brought in view ; and on 
each side of the gate was a lesser entrance, through which the persons 
either of gods or men, were introduced by various machines and instru- 
ments, the names whereof you may find explained in Julius Pollux. 3 
The whole scene was divided into several parts, the most remarkable 
whereof are these: 

Bcovrztov, a place underneath the floor, wherein were kept brazen ves- 
sels, full of stones, and other materials, with which they imitated the 
noise of thunder. 

'Esr/araajwav, a place upon the top of the scene, in which all the 
machines, whereby they presented the various figures and prospects, were 
moved, f 

ttagoctrzrivtov, the tiring-room, a place behind the scenes, wherein the 
actors dressed and adorned themselves. 

H^offKYivtov, the stage, a place before the scenes in which the players 
acted. And *0^mrau was that part in which the chorus used to dance 
and sing, in the middle of which was placed the pulpit, in Greek Aoytiov 
or Qv^K'/i. 



1 Suidas in npanyay. 



2 Onomast. iv. 19. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



47 



*Y*offKwiov 9 a partition under the pulpit, appointed for the music. 

The Koiixov-, or Cavea, was appointed for the spectators, and consisted 
of three parts, placed in equal degrees one above another ; the lowest of 
which belonged to persons of quality and magistrates ; the middle to the 
commonalty ; and the uppermost to the women. 

As theatres were open at the top, they erected porticoes behind the 
cavea, whither they retired for shelter in rainy weather. 1 




o o o o o o o qs£b* oooooocoooococooo ee^bo o o o o o o o 



1 The Theatres of the Greeks 
were necessarily of a colossal 
size, for they were meant to 
contain the whole male popula- 
tion of great cities. They were 
not, as with us a open at night, 
but only at certain times, and 
during day, the performances 
takina place always in the open 
air, for awnings were a late in- 
vention of Roman luxury. The 
Greeks also, unlike the Romans, 
were very economical in the de- 
signing of their theatres; they 
generally availed themselves of 
a hill-side, and even sometimes 
hewed the seats out of the living 
rock, or by excavating to a depth 
suitable to their purposes, tormed 
rows of stone benches round the 
hollow. 

In describing the building it- 
self, it may be divided into two 
parts— the koZXov (4), in Latin 
cavea, the part for the audience ; 
and that devoted to the business 
of the play, which is again sub- 
divided into the o 9X ^T 9 a (&), 
and aicrivr) (5, 5), the orchestra 
and stage. The koIXov was bound- 
ed by two concentric circular 
arcs, one of which separated it 
from the orchestra, the other 
formed its extreme outer limit. 
It was composed of a succession 



Of seats, Upai, ,<Sa0p<z, Knot, iSa>- 

Ata, rising sufficiently to afford 
each tier an uninterrupted view, 
divided into two or more flights 
by UaKi>fjia.Ta. (3, 3). or praeeinc- 
tiones, a sort of landing, or broad 
step, which ran round the whole, 
and facilitated the access from 
one part to another. These were 
again subdivided into /csp«4oej, 
cunei, or wedges, by stairs, «A£- 
fj.axe<;, converging to the centre 
of the orchestra, and leading 
from the bottom to the top of the 
building. The lowest seats, of 
course, were the best, and were 
reseived for the magistrates, and 
those who, by their own or their 
ancestors' services, had acquired 
a right, TrpoeSpU, to have places 
reserved lor them. The whole 
was surrounded and surmounted 
by a portiro [2), to confine sound 
and give shelter from a passing 
storm •, the upper line of wall 
being continued, at the same 
level, to meet the back of the 
stage, that the voice might spread 
evenly over the whole building, 
without opportunity to escape 
from one part sooner than from 
another. Still further to increase 
the resonance of the voice, 
brazen vases, r/^ela, resembling 
bells, were placed in different 



parts of the theatre. It is well 
known that when two instru- 
ments in harmony are placed 
within the sphere of each other's 
influence, if one be struck the 
other wiil vibrate the correspond- 
ing chord, and the vibration of 
the second will of course increase 
and strengthen the sound of the 
first. " Acting on this principle, 
which particularly suited the re- 
citative in which dramatic com- 
positions were delivered, the an- 
cients had echeia of earth and 
metal, modulated to the intervals 
of the different notes of the 
voice, placed in small cells under 
the seats, in one, two, or three 
rows; according to the extent of 
the theatre. Hence it resulted 
that the voice, passing from the 
scene as the centre, expanded 
itself all round, and striking the 
cavity of those vases, produced a 
clearer and more distinct sound 
by means of the consonance of 
these different modulated tones, 
and extended the powers of the 
speaker to the utmost limits of 
the koIXov (4). The vases were 
in the shape of a bell, placed in 
an inverted position, the side 
towards the audience resting on 
a pedestal not less than half a 
foot high, in all other respects 



49 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

Athens had three harbours- for ships: 

1. Uugetnv;, Piraeus, which belonged to the tribe of Hippothocntis, 
and was thirty-five or forty stadia distant from the city, before the 
building of the long walls, which have been already mentioned. From 
which time the Athenians, by the direction of Themistocles, made this 
their chief harbour. It contained three o^ot, or docks ; the first called 
Kuvdaois, from a hero of that name. The second ' AQ^oVuriov, from 'A^a- 
B/t??, or Venus, who had there two temples, one of which was consecrated 
by Themistocles, the other by Conon. The third Zsa, from bread-corn, 
which is called by the Grecians £ud. There were likewise in this 
harbour five porticoes, which being joined together, composed one very 
large portico, which was on that account commonly termed Mar^a errox. 
The Pirseeus had farther two forums ; one near the long portico, and the 
sea: the other farther distant from the sea; and for that reason chiefly 
frequented by those that lived nearest the city. One of these seems to 
have been called 'Iwoodptiov, from the architect Hippodamus, who built 
the long wall, whereby tins harbour was joined to the city. Here was a 
most celebrated mart, to which merchants resorted from almost every 
part of Greece. Whence came the proverbial saying, Tov Tluoxtsa, *svay- 



quite free from contact ; and in 
order to allow the vibration of 
the sound, a small aperture was 
left in the front of the seat, 
about two feet long and half a 
foot high. It is remarkable that 
no writer has been able to ad- 
duce an existing example in 
confirmation of the principles, 
for the echeia and their cells, 
laid down by Vitruvius." 

The orchestra (6), or dancing 
station, from 6 PX & pai, to dance, 
Ave have already said was bound- 
ed towards the audience by a 
circular arc. Suppose the circle 
completed, and a square inscrib- 
ed in it, the side of the square 
farthest from the audience fixes 
the posilioa of the front of the 
stage. A tangent to the circle, 
drawn parallel to this side, de- 
termines the depth of the stage. 
The position of the staircases is 
determined by the angles of two 
other squares inscribed in the 
circle. Again, draw a diameter 
through the centre of the orches- 
tra, pirallel to this side of the 
square, and from each end of it, 
with radius equal to the diame- 
ter of the orchestra, describe a 
portion of a c'ucle, cutting the 
Bide of the square produced. 
Thus, by this delineation of the 
orchestra about three centres, 
greater breadth was given both 
to it and the stage, Aoyelov or 
trpooKi'jvtov (8), which is a shal- 
low platform, elevated ten or 
twelve feet above the orchestra. 
The wall which supported the 
stage was called viroirx^tLov. and 
was relieved by statues, pillars, 
and other architectural orna- 
ments. Behind this rose the <™>r 



vh (5, 5), or scene, a lofty wall, 
which terminated the spectators' 
view, usuahy adorned with ar- 
chitectural designs, but suscep- 
tible of variation, to suit the plot 
of the drama to be performed. 
Opposite to the centre of the 
stage stood the SvpeXv (7), an 
elevated platform in front of the 
stage, approached by steps, and 
very probably containing an altar, 
on which the coryphaeus, the 
spokesman, or leader of the 
chorus, took his stand, when it 
was not singing, in an interme- 
diate situation between the stage 
and his comrades, so as, without 
mixing in the action, to be ready 
to take his share in the dialogue. 
The rest of the chorus took their 
station, and performed their evo- 
lutions, in the orchestra, where 
lines were drawn on the floor, to 
mark their station. They seem 
not to have ranged over the 
whole area, in which case they 
would often have been concealed 
from a great part of the specta- 
tors, by the basement wall of the 
koIXov (4). The space to which 
their motions did not extend is 
called KovUrpa, the arena, or 
place of sand ; but we know not 
its precise limit, nor whether the 
rest of the orchestra was ele- 
vated above it. 

In front of the stage was a 
recess in the floor, meant to 
contain a curtain, which was 
drawn up previous to the per- 
formance, to conceal the scene. 
A flight of steps called K X^aie- 
T^oef, led up from the thymele to 
the stage, not for the use of the 
chorus, who never quitted their 
proper station in the orchestra, 



but for the characters of the 
play, who, when they were sup- 
posed to come from a distance, 
often entered by the orchestra. 
There was also a flight of steps 
concealed under the seats of the 
spectators, called Charon's stair- 
case, Xapuiviot <fXt>a*sj, by which 
ghosts entered, and proceeded 
up the thymele to the stage. 

The scene, as we have said, 
was a wall, which rose to the 
level of the portico surrounding 
the koIXov (4). Its width was 
double the diameter of the or- 
chestra. There were three doors 
in the scene, the centre one re- 
presenting a palace, a cavern, or 
whatever is the proper entrance 
for the chief character of the 
piece. In front of the central 
door stood an altar, dedicated to 
Apollo Agyieus, presiding over 
ways. There weie also entran- 
ces at the side (12, 12), and, as 
we have said, in the orchestra. 
These doors led into a room be- 
hind the scene, vapaaKT/viOv (9, 9), 
in which those incidents were 
supposed to take place, which 
the genius of the drama did not 
allow to be exhibited to view, as 
the murder of Clytemnestra in 
the Choephoroi, or of Agamem- 
non, when his dying exclama- 
tions are heard from within. 
Behind the scene spacious porti- 
coes (1,1), sometimes enclosing 
gardens, were erected, for the 
audience to retire to if sudden 
rain should interrupt the shows, 
and also as a convenient place 
for the chorus to rehearse their 
part. — Lib. Enter. Knoic, Pomp, 
vol. i. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



49 



PORTS OF ATHENS. 




y'uzv (in <p'iouv, That famine and emptiness do not come from Piraeus. 
This harbour, though once very populous and well inhabited, was reduced 
to a very few houses in the time of Strabo, who flourished under the 
emperors Augustus and Tiberius, having been burned by Sylla in the 
Mithridatic war. 

2. "Mtuvuxistt Muny cliia, which was a promontory not far distant from 
Piraeeus, extended not unlike to a peninsula, and well fortified, both by 
nature, and afterwards, at the instance of Thrasybulus, by art. The 
name was derived from one Munyehus, who dedicated in this place a 
temple to Diana, surnamed Mowu^/cc, which yet others report to have 
been founded by Embarus. 

3. $u.\'aoov, Phalerrm., which belonged to the tribe Antiochis, and was 
distant from the city ihirty-nve stadia, according to Thucydides ; but in 
Pausanias' account 1 only twenty. This was the most ancient of the three 
harbours : and from hence Theseus is reported to have set sail for Crete ; 
and afterwards Menesiheus for Troy. 



1 Arcadicis, p. 471, edit. Hanov, 

£ 



50 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. IX. 



OF THE CITIZENS, TRIBES, &C. OF ATHENS. 



The inhabitants of Attica were of three sorts: 1. UoXTrem, or freemen. 
2. Miroixoi, or sojourners. 3. AovXoi, or servants. The citizens surpassed 
the others in dignity and power, as having the government in their hands, 
but were far exceeded by the slaves in number, many slaves being often 
subject to one citizen. The number of citizens in Cecrops' time, I have 
already said, was twenty thousand; in Pericles' there were not so many, 
as appears from Plutarch; i and when Demetrius the Phalerean was their 
governor, they exceeded their first number under Cecrops only by one 
thousand; at the same time the foreigners were ten thousand, and the 
slaves four hundred thousand, as appears from a poll instituted at the 
command of Demetrius, and mentioned in Athenaus. 2 



1 Pericle. 

2 Deipnos. vi. The area of 
Attica is not easily determined, 
for only the coasts have been laid 
down, and not even these with 
perfect accuracy. According to 
the map of Barbie du fcocage, 
which is attached to the Travels 
of Anacharsis, Attica contains 
36-23, Salamis 1-32, Helena -31 
German geographical square 
miles, i. e. respectively 579 - 77, 
21 "2, and 5, together nearly 606 
English geographical square 
miles. According to the map 
since published by the same per- 
son in 1811, which is hitherto 
the most accurate, Attica con- 
tains 39-062, Salamis 1 625, and 
Helena -31, square miles, or in 
English miles, 625, 26, and 5, 
amounting altogether to 656. If 
then we take the English geo- 
graphical mile to the statute 
mile as 4 to 3, the area of Attica 
and the two islands would, upon 
this computation, be about 874 
square miles. 

To ascertain how this small 
space was peopled, has engaged 
the attention of many writers. 
The early scholars not only as- 
sert, in general terms, that At- 
tica was the most populous of 
all the Grecian states, but they 
also have given definite accounts 
which establish the same result. 
The credibility of these state- 
ments has been indeed called 
into question by Montesquieu, 
Hume, and other English and 
French writers, but has been 
not unsuccessfully defended by 
others. 

The whole population of At- 
tica would be known, if we could 
separately ascertain the number 
of the citizens, resident aliens, 
and slaves, together with their 
wives and children. The largest 
part of the accounts extant are 
of the number of the citizens; 



but they differ widely according 
to the difference of the periods, 
and the greater or less accuracy 
of the statements ; but that their 
number was considerable, may 
be collected from Xenophon, 
who states that the Athenians 
were equal in number to all the 
Bceotians ; that is, the citizens 
of the one country to the citizens 
of the other. All particular state- 
ments, with the exception of one 
only, which belongs to the must 
ancient times, vary between 
twenty and thirty thousand. 
Philochorus indeed related, that 
even in the reign of Cecrops 
20,000 men had beenenumerated, 
by which the writer probably 
meant citizens ; but this, how- 
ever, is manifestly a fabulous 
tradition, which probably be- 
longs to a later census of the 
citizens. The following account 
of Pollux is more worthy of at- 
tention. He states that"each of 
the 360 old families, which were 
included, before the time of 
Cleisthenes, in (he four ancient 
tribes, contained thirty persons, 
whence the families were called 
TpiaKaoey, from which it results 
that the number of citizens was 
10,800. If to this it is objected 
that a determinate number is in 
such a case impossible, it may be 
fairly answered, that at some one 
period, when the constitution of 
the tribes was regulated, this 
number was taken as an average, 
although it did not remain so. 
In the same manner that the 
Romans called the captain a cen- 
turion, even it he commanded 
sixty men, a family might have 
been called a rp^-a?, although it 
contained fifty or more persons. 
That the number of the citizens 
amounted to 30,000, was a custo- 
mary assumption from the time 
of the Persian to the end of the 
Pelopnnne?ian war. Herodotus 



supposes Aristasjoras of Miletus 
to speak of 30,000 Athenians who 
had the right of voting. Aris- 
tophanes in the Ecclesiazus*, 
which was written after the 
Anarchy, speaks even of more 
than 30,000; and the author of 
the Axiochus states that the 
assembly in which the generals 
were condemned after the victory 
of Arginusa;. was attended by a 
greater number than that just 
mentioned: these accounts, how- 
ever, are manifestly over-rated. 
Aristagoras, to express himself 
with effect, would not fail to 
select the highest number; nor 
n^ed the words of a comic poet 
he taken so exactly ; and the 
author of the Axiochus probably 
had seen no accurate returns of 
the population, which, after the 
great defeats in Sicily, and a 
war carried on so long with al- 
ternate success, would doubtless- 
have shown a very different 
number. Even if we were to 
assume that in the above enu- 
merations of citizens who voted 
in the assembly, many were com- 
prised who had not properly any 
right of voting, but who assumed, 
that privilege unlawfully, still 
we should never arrive at so 
high a number as 30,000, espe- 
cially since all the citizens, even 
on the most important affairs, 
never attended the assembly. 
The accounts which are founded 
upon real enumerations are of a 
very different character. On an 
occasion of a distribution of corn, 
which, like all other distribu- 
tions, was made according to the 
registers of the lexiarchs among 
the adult citizens of eighteen 
years of age and upwards, a scru- 
tiny was instituted in the Ar- 
chonship of Lvsimachides (O- 
lymp. S3. 4.) into the genuineness 
of their bin* (y^iricSrw). There 
were then found, according to 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



61 



Whence it is evident, that the increase of the Athenians themselves 
was very inconsiderable ; but those growing numbers of inhabitants, that 

swelled the city to that bigness, to which it was extended in after-ages, 
were either of slaves, or strangers, who, for the advantage of study, or 

Philochorus, only 14,240 genuine in the reign of Antipater, was average of 20,000 citizens, I 
Athenians-, and 4760, who had adapted. It was carried on by reckon only 90,000 free inhabi- 
assumed the rights of citizenship Demetrius Phalereus when Ar- tants, and 45,000 resident aliens, 
unjustly, were in consequence chon, in Olymp. 117. 4., and With regard to the total amount 
sold as slaves. Previously, yielded, according to Ctesicles, of slaves, it is stated too much 
therefore, there were 19,000 21,000 citizens, 10,000 resident in round numbers for perfect 
persons who passed for citizens, aliens, and 400,000 slaves. From accuracy ; the historian doubtless 
The amount is, perhaps, stated this very important statement added whatever was wanting to 
in too round a number to be con- the whole number of the popula- complete the last hundred thou- 
sidered as completely exact, tion of Attica has been variously sand, although the correct num- 
Plutarch, who probably only fol- determined. According to the ber might not have been so 
lows Philochorus, gives 14,010 usual rule of statistics, the adults great by several thousands. It 
as genuine, assuming that 5000 have been generally taken as a will be sufficient to reckon 365,000 
were rejected. At the breaking fourth part of the population, slaves, together with women and 
out of the Peloponnesian \vai% This gave for the citizens 81,000, children ; which latter, however, 
besides 13,000 Hopiitss appointed and for the aliens 40,000. But were proportionally few. Add- 
for service in the held, there when they came to the slaves, ing to these 135,000 free inhabi- 
were also 16,000 others in A- these calculators fell into an tants, we may take, as a mean 
thens, who consisted of the old- embarrassment; for, according average of the population 500,000 
est and youngest citizens, and a to the same, or a somewhat in round numbers ; of whom the 
certain number of resident aliens; lower proportion, their number larger proportion were men, 
the number of citizens must there- came out far above what could since fewer female than male 
fore, at that time, have been be deemed probable. Hume, slaves were kept, and not many 
higher. Whatever vacancies were wishing to show that the popu- slaves were married, 
caused by war, and not replaced lation of ancient times has been The proportion of the free in- 
by a fresh growth, were filled greatly overrated, contends with habitants to the slaves can be, 
up by the occasional creation of many reasons against this num. consequently, taken as twenty- 
new citizens, as was the case, ber of slaves, and ends by sub- seven to a hundred, or nearly as 
for example, during the Archon- stiiuting 40,000 in the place of one to four. In the American 
ship of Euclid (Olymp. 94. 2 ) 400,000, whom he considers as sugar plantations it was as much 
Thus in the first speech of De- the adults, to which it would be as one to six. This number of 
mosthenes against Aristogeiton, then necessary to add the wo- slaves cannot appear too large, 
we find the number of citizens men and children. But his if the political circumstances of 
reckoned as nearly 20,000. Plato, arguments are partly inconclu- Attica are taken into considera- 
in the Critias, assumes the same sive, and partly founded upon tion. Even the poorer citizens 
amount for the most ancient false suppositions. Thus all that used to have a slave, for the care 
times of Athens, in which he he says concerning the national of their household affairs. In 
has doubtless transferred the wealth of Attica, that it was every moderate establishment 
number that was commonly com- only equal to 6000 talents, is many were employed for all pos- 
puted in his own time to the completely false; and, in the sible occupations, such as grind- 
earliest periods of the state ; and next place, slaves were not com- ers, bakers, cooks, tailors, er- 
the modern Grecian writers, as puted by adults or fathers of rand-boys, or to accompany the 
Libanius, for instance, follow families, which is a term wholly master and mistress, who seldom 
the same statement. An occur- inapplicable to slaves; but they went out without an attendant, 
rence of the same period exactly were counted, like sheep or cat- Any one who was expensive, 
coincides with the statement in tie, by the head, and were re- and wished to attract attention, 
the speech of Demosthenes, garded in the same light with took perhaps three attendants 
When Lycurgus divided the rjro- property, for they were in the with him. We even hear of 
perty of Diphilus, amounting to str ctest sense a personal posses- philosophers who kept ten 
160 talents, each citizen received sion. 400,000 is therefore the slaves. Slaves were also let out 
fifty drachmas, which gives sum total of the slaves; and the as hired servants ; they perform- 
19,200 for their whole number, population of Attica would a- ed all the labour connected with 
The assertion that in the reign mount, on this supposition, to the care of cattle and agricul- 
of Antipater (Olymp. H4. 2.) 524,000 souls. Wallace's com- ture ; they were employed in the 
Athens contained 21.000 citizens, putation is higher, for he -makes working of the mines and fur- 
is inadmissible, as being taken the whole population amount to naces ; all manual labour, and 
from a later enumeration; and more than 580, 000., and Sainte the lower branches of trade, 
Diodorus even goes so far as to Croix goes as far as 639,500. were, in a great measure, car- 
suppose that there were 31,000, The latter writer erroneously ried on by them ; large gangs 
reckoning 22,000, instead of adas 100,000 children to the laboured in the numerous work- 
12,000, as in Plutarch, who number of slaves, and likewise shops, for which Athens was 
were deprived of the rights of four-and-a-half, and not four, for celebrated-, and a considerable 
citizenship ; and he assumes 9000 every male adult or father of a number were employed in the 
as the surplus, agreeing in the family; so that the free, as well merchant vessels and the fleet, 
latter point with Plutarch. These as the slave population, is made Not to enumerate many in- 
12,000 rejected citizens, some of more numerous. As, however, stances of persons who had a 
whom had left the country, were this proportion appears to be smaller number of slaves, Ti- 
restored to their rights in Olymp. more correct for southern coun- marchus kept in his workshop 
115.3. Soon after this an enu- tries, the citizens with their eleven or twelve ; Demosthenes' 
meration of the people occurs, families may be fairly taken at father, fifty-two or fifty-three, 
which is the very one to which 94,500, and the resident aliens at besides the female slaves in his 
the number mentioned in Plu- 45,000. In order, however, not house; Lysias and Polemarchus, 
tarch of the citizens who re- to proceed solely upon the period 120 5 Plato expressly remarks, 
mained, and were disfranchised ot Demetrius, but upon the mean that the free inhabitants had 

E 2 



52 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



trade, or for other conveniences, settled themselves at Athens ; and of 
these two sorts, in the time of Cecrops, it is probable there were few or 
none ; because, through the scarcity of men in his new-formed govern-- 
ment, for the encouragement of foreigners to settle there, he was forced to 
allow them the same privileges that were enjoyed by the natives. There 
is a very ancient law mentioned by the scholiast of Aristophanes, 1 
whereby all foreigners, who intended to live at Athens, were obliged, 
after a short stay in that city, to be enrolled among the free citizens. 

For several ages after, it was no difficult matter to obtain the freedom 
of the city: but when the Athenian power grew great, and their glorious 
actions rendered them famous through all Greece, this privilege was 
accounted a very great favour, and granted to none but men of the 
greatest birth or reputation, or such as had performed some notable piece 
of service for the commonwealth. Nor was it without much difficulty to 
be obtained even by them. Menon the Pharsalian, who had sent the 
Athenians a supply of two hundred horse, in the war against Eon near 
Amphipolis, desired it, and was rejected ; and Perdiccas, king of Mace- 
donia, after having assisted them against the Persians, could obtain no 
more than a bare ar'tkuec, or immunity from tribute paid by those that 
sojourned amongst them, but no right of suffrage, or other privileg-es 
common to the free men. And after Mardonius and the Persians were 

frequently fifty slaves, and the I will not deny that the passage population of Corinth and iEgina 
rich even more; Philemonides has a very strange appearance, must only be understood of the 
had 300, Hipponicus 600, Nicias and is obscured by manifold early times, before Athens had 
1000 slaves in the mines alone, difficulties; but this is the very obtained possession of the cora- 
These facts prove the existence reason why Ave should avoid merce of Greece, and the sove- 
of an immense number of slaves, founding any argument xipon it. reignty of the sea. 
But Hume raises an objection There are two other statements, In what manner this popula- 
out of Xenophon. Xenophon equally called into question by tion of 500,000 souls in Attica 
proposed to the state to buy Hume, which are far more in- was distributed, cannot be accu- 
pubiic slaves for the mines, and comprehensible, viz. of Timaeus, rately determined. Athens itself 
particulaily mentions how large that Corinth once had possessed contained above 10,000 houses, 
a revenue the state would re- 460,000, and of Aristotle, that In general, only one family lived 
reive from them, if it had 10,000 iEgina had contained 470,009 in a house, and fourteen Iree in- 
to begin with, remarking at the slaves. Nevertheless, the num- habitants were at that time a 
same time, " that the mines are bers do not appear to be corrupt, large number for one_ house, or 
able to receive many times this That the Corinthians kept a very for one family. Lodging houses 
number, everybody will allow, large number of slaves, is proved (owo-kIcli) were, however, inha- 
whft remembers how much the by the expression Choenix-mea- bited by several families, and 
slave-duty produced before the surers (x° lt,lKO f i ^ T P at )t by which manufactories contained many 
occurrences at Decelea." From they were distinguished; nor is hundreds of slaves. The district 
this statement Hume infers that it possible that iEgina, before of the mines must also have been 
the number cannot have been so and during the Persian war, up very thickly peopled. The cir- 
excess'.ve, for that the diminu- to the time of its decline, could cumference of the city, together 
tion by the war of Decelea only have been a great commercial with the sea-ports, was equal to 
amounted to 20,000, and the in- town, and have had an extensive 200 stadii. The mines were in 
crease of 10,000 does not stand naval force, without a largepopu- a space sixty stadij in width: the 
in any considerable proportion to lation, and, above all, many other dimension is not known, 
so large a number as 400. 000. slaves. Its naval dominion, and If 180,050 persons are reckoned 
It must, however, be considered, its powerful resistance against for the city and harbours, and 
that, after the war of Decelea, Athens, are incompatible with a 20,000 for the mines., ana the 
the Alhenians probably ceased to small population. Why then space for both taken at thirty-two 
keep many slaves, on account of may we not suppose that 470,000 square miles English, the num- 
the facility of escape, and that a slaves lived upon this small ber assumed would not be too 
ttill greater number than ran district, being only a German high. There then remain 300,000 
away may have been dismissed, square mile, there still remain- souls for the other 608 square 
Xenophon himself says that the ed sufficient space, as slaves miles, which gives something 
number had been very great never occupied much room. M- less than 493| to a square mile, 
formerly, and he means that gina received supplies from the which, with the number of small 
their numbers before the war of countries upon the Black Sea, as towns or market-places, villages, 
Decelea prove that the mines, of well as the Peloponnese, and and farms that were in Attica, is 
which alone he is 5peaking, particularly from Corinth. In not to be wondered at Boeckh'a 
could afford employment to many the mean time, it is hardly neces- Pub. Econ. Athens, vol. i. 
tunes 10,000. At the same time sary to remark, that this large 1 Ranis. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



63 



defeated at Plataea, it was decreed, by an express law, that none but men 
eminent for merit should be admitted into the number of citizens. 1 

But this peremptory stiffness, which success and victory had put into 
them, did not always make them so obstinate, but that many worthies, 
though neither equal in birth nor fortune to the former, were enrolled 
amongst the citizens; such were Hippocrates the physician, Eurysaces 
the son of Ajax, with many others, besides the whole city of the Platseans, 
to which they granted freedom for their signal services in the Persian 
war. By these grants, though the number of the citizens may be said to 
have been increased, yet nothing was added to the number of inhabitants, 
which remained still the same, because the persons thus admitted seldom 
made use of their privilege, and sued for it rather as a title of honour, 
than with a design to be anywise benefited by it. 

This privilege could only be conferred by the popular assembly, whence 
the citizens thus admitted were called Afipovowro), in opposition to the 
free born. Neither was the first gift of the people to take effect, unless 
they thought fit to ratify it in a second assembly, wherein six thousand 
citizens were required to be present. Lest the authority or interest of 
any person should sway them to comply with such request against their 
inclinations, they gave their votes privately, by casting little stones into 
urns, placed on purpose in their assemblies by the prytanes, who were also 
obliged to provide a sufficient number of stones for the suffragants ; nay 
farther, till all. had done voting, the strangers that petitioned for freedom 
were not permitted to come into the place of the assembly. After all 
this, if any one appeared to be undeserving of the honour they had con- 
ferred upon him, an appeal might be made to a certain court, which had 
power to inquire into the lives and conditions of these persons, and de- 
prive such as they found unworthy, by recalling the freedom which had 
been granted through the ignorance and inconsideration of the multitude; 
this disgrace befell Pytholaus the Thessalian, and Apollonides the Olyn- 
thian. 2 It was farther provided by Solon, that none should live at Athens 
as free citizens, except such as were banished from their own country, or 
voluntarily came to reside at Athens with their whole families ; whereby 
he, no doubt, intended to prevent all those from enjoying the privileges of 
Athens, who had greater alliances and interests in other places. 3 

The manner of admission was, by declaring that such a one was 
incorporated among the denizens of Athens, and invested with all the 
honours, privileges, and immunities belonging to them ; and had a right 
to partake of, and assist at, the performance of all their holy rites and 
mysteries, except such as were appropriated to certain noble families; 
such as were the Eumolpidte, Ceryces, Cynidce, who had certain priest- 
hoods, and holy offices peculiar to themselves; or, as others are of opinion, 
they were excluded from all the offices of priesthood of whatever denomi- 
nation; which is the most probable, because the free-born Athenians were 



1 Auctor Oralionis in Neseram. 2 Demosth. Orat. in Neaeram. 3 tiut. Sol. 

e a 



54 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



themselves excluded from those offices which were appropriated to the 
sacred families. Excepting" also the offices of the nine archons, which 
none but free-born Athenians were allowed to execute ; that neither the 
religion nor the management of public affairs might be intrusted in 
foreign hands. Yet this extended not to the children of citizens thus 
adopted, who were allowed all the privileges of natives. Lastly, they 
were admitted into a certain tribe and hundred, and so the ceremony 
ended. 1 

Free-born Athenians were those that had both or one of their parents 
an Athenian. Aristotle tells us, that in several commonwealths, at the 
first, those were accounted free who were born of a free woman ; but that, 
when the number of inhabitants increased, such only were esteemed free 
as were descended from parents that were both free. 2 And so it came to 
pass in Athens, where it was decreed by Solon, that none begotten out of 
lawful marriage, which could then be celebrated only between free citi- 
zens, should have right to inherit their father's estate. This appears from 
the following words of Aristophanes: 

But this law was afterwards abrogated by the tacit consent of the com- 
monwealth, till the time of Pericles, who, when he flourished in the state, 
and had sons lawfully begotten, proposed a law, that those only should be 
reputed true citizens of Athens, who were born of parents that were both 
Athenians ; and having prevailed with the people to give their consent to 
it, little less than five thousand were deprived of their freedom, and sold 
for slaves ; and those who, enduring the test, remained in the government, 
and passed muster for true-born Athenians, were found in the poll to be 
fourteen thousand and forty persons in number. But Pericles himself 
afterwards, having lost all his legitimate sons, so far persuaded the 
Athenians, that they cancelled the law, and permitted him to enrol his 
bastard sons in the register of his own ward, by his paternal name, 
thinking that, by those losses, he had been sufficiently punished for his 
former arrogance; and therefore, being of opinion that he had been 
shrewdly handled by the divine vengeance, of which he had run so severe 
a gantelope, and that his request was such as became a man to ask, and 
men to grant. 4 This law was again repealed by Aristophon the orator, 
after the expulsion of the thirty tyrants, Euclides being archon; at which 
time the ancient law was revived, that all ivhose mothers were not citizens 
should be v'ofot, illegitimate} For legitimate children are those who are 
born of lawful wives, who must be free citizens, others being only reputed 
concubines. And thus grammarians commonly explain nothus. "J8o0o$ % o 
la %evqs vi vroiXhotxfios' Nothus, a bastardy is one born of a stranger or a 



1 Demos Hi. Oiftt. in 2 Polit. ili. 3. 4 Plutarch in Peri* 5 Carystius, 'Uto^koih 

Neaeram. 3 Avibus, p. 602, Ams, cle. inofj.vrjfxdruvf iii. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



55 



harlot. But yvf,<rio;, a legitimate son, is interpreted by the same persons, 
o \x. yuvaixos u.<rrns xcu yupiTvis n \x> vo/x'tpcav ya.fji.uv' One bom of a 
citizen and a wife, or one born in lav fal matrimony } 

Those that were only of the half blood, when they were invested with 
freedom, were always reputed inferior, and less honourable than those that 
were of the whole. They had several marks and customs to distinguish 
them from the others, as particularly, that those who had but one parent 
an Athenian, were not allowed to exercise themselves in any of the 
gymnasia that were frequented by those who had both, but only at the 
Cynosarges, a place without the city: and that this was esteemed a mark 
of disgrace is evident from the practice of Themistocles, who was but of 
the half blood of Athens ; and who, to take away, or at least lessen this 
distinction, used to engage the noble Athenians to go and perform their 
exercises with him. 2 In the same place there was a court of judicature, 
where persons suspected of having fraudulently insinuated themselves into 
the number and privileges of citizens were arraigned. This was reputed 
a very great offence ; insomuch that whosoever had the Xxy) rns %ivic&$ 9 
(so this action was termed) preferred against him, was immediately made 
a close prisoner, and put in chains, before he could be brought before the 
judges. 3 Neither was it a sufficient vindication to have been once 
acquitted by his proper judges; but it was customary to bring the cause 
to a second hearing before the thesmothetee, if there was any just cause 
to suspect that he had been too favourably treated. 

In order to clear the city of pretended and false members, it was 
decreed, in the second year of the 90th Olympiad, Archias being then 
archon, that a strict inquisition should be made into causes of this 
nature by men of the same borough with the criminal. This inquisition 
termed ^iti^ntyuris , was performed in the following method. 4 When 
any person was accused, the or prefect of the borough ffifxoi), 

to whose custody was committed the ^y^iu^tzov ygapfiKTiiov, or public 
register of the citizens, convened the members of his borough (}'/i^o<7cci). 
Next the names of all the citizens of that borough being recited out of the 
register, the criminal was obliged to signify the particular (p^ar^'ia, or 
ward, whereof he pretended to be a member, and to prove his right of 
succession by sufficient witnesses ; or, if he claimed his freedom from the 
gift of the people, and not by inheritance, the public decree of the popular 
assembly, whereby his privilege had been conferred, was to be produced. 
Then the ^^o<r«/, having first taken an oath to determine according to 
the rules of justice, and after maturely deliberating upon the evidence, 
privately gave their opinions ; in doing which, they commonly used leaves 
or beans. If the white beans were found superior in number, the prisoner 
was acquitted ; but if the black appeared to be most numerous, then he 
was deprived of his freedom, and after that called avroyvqHr/xivo;, as the 



I Horn. Schol. in II. 2 Plutarch inThemis- 3 Demosth. etUlj ian. 4Harpocr. Olymp.De. 
Julius Pullux. iii. tocle. in Timccrat. scriptor anonymus. 



56 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



action of condemning him was termed urfo^yiqiuris. 1 And this verdict 
was to be given in before sunset ; the consequence whereof was this, — that 
the person deprived of his freedom should be reckoned amongst the 
Msroixot, or sojourners. But if he would not acquiesce in the determina- 
tion of his own borough, an appeal was granted to the thesmothetae, who 
having assigned proper judges to hear his appeal, he was either restored 
to his family, or, if the former sentence appeared to be just and well 
grounded, he was sold for a slave. 

Farther, to prevent all frauds and contentions of this nature, all fathers 
were obliged to enrol their sons in the register of their particular <p^a,7^x. 
termed xoivov ygetfAftstrttov. At which time they made oath that every 
son so registered was either bom to them in lawful matrimony or lawfully 
adopted. 2 Notwithstanding which, the (pgcirogig, or members of that ward, 
had the liberty of rejecting any person against whom sufficient evidence 
appeared, concerning which they voted by private suffrages. 3 Yet if any 
person was unjustly rejected by the men of his own ward, he was allowed 
to appeal to the magistrates, 4 by whom, if he was declared to be lawfully 
born or adopted, he was then registered by his own and his father's name, 
in this form, ©gdruWog ' An-oXXodcogou, Thrasyllus the son of Apollodorus^ 
The adopted sons were registered upon the festival Thargelia, in the 
month Thargelion ; the natural upon the third day of the festival Apaturia, 
called Kougzans, in the month Pyanepsion. At what age children were 
thus registered is not agreed. Some are of opinion, that at every return 
of the Apaturia it was customary to register all the children who had been 
born that year. 6 Others affirm, that they were commonly three or four 
years old before they were registered. 7 Cnemon in Heliodorus 8 is en- 
rolled after he has learned the letters of the alphabet; and the chorus in 
the RanEe of Aristophanes 9 reflects upon Archedemus as not having been 
admitted into the number of the (pgxrogis till he was l^rirng, seven 
years old : 

Whereby they seem to intimate that he had fraudulently insinuated him- 
self into the number of the citizens ; it being usual for those who were free- 
born to be registered before that age, as we are there informed by the 
Greek scholiast; though the time of doing it appears, from the foremen- 
tioned instances, to have been unfixed and arbitrary. 

There were two other seasons wiien young Athenians were enrolled in 
a public register, which being by some learned men confounded with the 
time of registering already mentioned, may not unfitly be explained in 
this place. The second time, therefore, wherein they were registered, 

1 I>emosth. in Eubul. 3 Demosthenes in Ma- 6 Etymolog. Magni 8 Lib. i. 

Fol-viii. Hesyc.Suidas. cart. Auctor, v. 'ATrarovpia. 9 Act. i. seen. 7. p s 

'i Isaeus de Apollo. 4 Idem in Neasram. 7 Procles in Platonis 231. ed. AureLAllobrog. 

Kasred. 5 Isasus Qiat. citat. Timaeum. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



57 



was when they arrived at the age of eighteen years, when, as we are 
expressly told by Julius Pollux, 1 they were admitted into the number of 
the "~Eq>v[°>oi. This registering seems to have been mistaken for the former, 
because both were done on the same day, viz. the third day of the festival 
Apaturia, which, as some think, was called Kovgz&n;, ocxo rod xuguv <r»jv 
xopw, because they who were enrolled amongst the ephebi used then to 
shave their hair, which it was customary to consecrate to some of the 
gods ; a ceremony which was never performed till a long time after the 
age at which they were admitted amongst the (p^aro^i;, and therefore 
must belong to the other time of registering. 

The third time of registering young Athenians was before the festival 
of Panathenfea, 2 when those who were twenty years old were introduced 
at a public meeting of the Ivporai, men of the same ffipos) borough, and 
entered in a register, called x»i%iu£%ixo» y^otft^ctruov, wherein the names 
of all persons of that borough, who were of age to succeed in the Xrfas, or 
inheritance of their fathers, were entered. 3 This was termed us civlgois 
\yy£u(pi<T0ctt, to be registered amongst the men ; the persons thus enrolled 
being henceforwards their own masters, and free from the government of 
their guardians. 

After Cecrops had settled a form of government amongst the Athenians, 
for the better administration of justice, and the prevention of deceit, and 
overreaching one another in commerce, he divided them into four (pv\a), 
or tribes ; each tribe he subdivided into three parts, called T^/ttwj, "Efoos, 
and $gctrg'ioL; and each of these into thirty Tivyj, or families, which, because 
they consisted of thirty men, were called T«/a»aSsj ; and they that were 
members of these, were called 'OfioyaXa.Tirot and Ttweii, not from any 
relation to one another, but only because they lived in the same borough, 
and were educated together, and joined in one body or society. The 
same persons were called 'Ooyswn;, because they participated of the same 
sacrifices, and worshipped the same gods together ; from "O^yiu,, which, 
though it properly signifies only the mysteries of Bacchus, yet is often 
taken for the ceremonies used in the worship of any other deity. 4 

The names of the tribes were these: 1. Ktxgavrts, from Cecrops; for it 
is usual with the [ancients, out of an earnest desire of continuing their 
memories to posterity, to call cities, or countries, or any monuments that 
seemed likely to remain to succeeding ages, by their own names. 
2. Auto%0m, from a king of that name, reported by some to have reigned 
in some part of Attica before Cecrops: or rather from the name of 
Avro^ons, indigenous, in which the Athenians gloried not a little. 3. 
'Ax-ra/a, from Actseus, or Actseon, another of the kings before Cecrops; or 
from a shore; because a great part of Attica, and that in par- 

ticular which this tribe inhabited, lay towards the sea ; and this was the 
reason why the whole countiy was sometimes called Acte. And the 



1 Lib. viii. 9. 



2Demosth. in Leocharem. 
i Pollux, iii. 4; viii. 9. 



3 Pollux, loco citato. 



53 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



same cause is given for the name of the fourth tribe, which they called 
Hc&otzXia, from its nearness to the sea. 

In the reign of Cranaus, new names were imposed upon them, and they 
were called, 1. Kgava/V, from the king's name. 2. 'At fig, from a young 
lady, the daughter of Cranaus. 3. TSUcroyuicc. 4. Aiaxp't;. The last 
two, I suppose, were named from their situation ; the latter being seated 
upon a craggy shore, and the former in the inland part of the country. 

Ericthonius being advanced to the kingdom, called them after the 
names of Jupiter, Minerva, Neptune, and Yulcan: 1. Aids. 2. 'Afavoi'i's. 
3. nocru^a/vias. 4. 'Htpa;o*r;aj. 1 

Under Erechtheus, they received new names from the sons of Ion, a 
man of great repute amongst the Athenians, and general of their armies. 2 
The names were, 1. rsXsovrs;. 2. 'OfXirai. 3. AlyiKOPu;, 4. 'Aeyuht. 
Of these names Euripides is to be understood, when he introduces 
Minerva speaking thus of Ion: 3 

oi tovSi yap the gods 

TLaloes yevSpevoi reorapts pttvs a"«Sj Shall bless him with four sons, by whom in tribes 

''En&vvfji.oi 777f, K$iri(pv\[ov x^ovbs, High-seated Athens shall divided be, 

Aauv 'iaovra^ o/cottsXqv o'lyalova' e/j.6v. k. t. X. And bearher sev'ral names deriv'd from them. 

Abell. 

Herodotus 4 and Pollux are of the same opinion, though they are herein 
contradicted by others, as we find in Plutarch, who has likewise made 
some alteration in the names ; his words are these: ' Some affirm that the 
tribes did not take their names from the sons of Ion, but from the 
different occupations which they followed; the soldiers were called 
'OtfXtrc&i; the craftsmen, 'Egyur&t; and of the remaining three, the 
farmers, Tiupyot ; and the shepherds and graziers, AiytxogatJ 3 

Afterwards, when the number of inhabitants was increased, Clisthenes 
having first consulted the oracle of Apollo, as it was usual to do in every 
concern of moment, increased the number of the tribes from four to ten, 
and gave them new names, taken from certain ancient heroes, all born in 
Attica, except Ajax the son of Telamon, to whom he gave a place amongst 
the rest, as being a neighbour, friend, and companion in the wars; 6 for, 
as Homer reports, Ajax's forces were joined to those of Menestheus the 
Athenian general: 

A?a, s <5' s" SaAayxIi/os 'dysv SvoicatieKa, vqagy Twelve ships from Salamis stout Ajax brought, 

St^os 5' liyav IV ' JLd-Qvaiwv "aravro <pa\ayyes. And rank'd his men where the Athenians fought. 

Creech. 

And Plutarch reports, that when the Athenians and Megarensians both 
made pretensions to Salamis, and chose the Spartans to decide the 
controversy, these lines of Homer being produced by Solon, did the 
Athenians a considerable kindness, serving very much to strengthen their 
title to that island. To return, these heroes, from the names they gave 
to the tribes, were called \*uw[toi 9 and honoured with statues erected near 



1 Pollux, viii. 9. 2 Herod, viii. 44. 3 lor. ad finem. 4 Lib. v. 66. 

5 Piut. Solone, 6 Herod, et Pollux, locis citatis, 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



59 



the senate-house. Their names, as recorded by Pausanias, are these: 
Erechtheus, Ceerops, iEgeus, Pandion, Acamas, Antiochus, Leo, 
(Eneus, Hippothoon, Ajax. And the names of the tribes are these: 
&g6%09ji$ i , Kixgotfis, Aiyn'i's, IlctvhoviSt ' Axapuvrie, ? Avr/o^/j, Aiovt)s, 

Afterwards, when Antigonus and Demetrius freed the Athenians 
from the Macedonian slavery, they augmented their tribes, adding two to 
their former number, which in honour of their deliverers, they called 
from their names *Awyov)$ and Aj^r^a?. 1 But the gratitude of the 
Athenians being no longer-lived than the good fortune and successes of 
those two princes, the tribes soon changed their first names for those of 
'Arra.x)g and YLroXipaig, the former of which was derived from Attalus, 
king of Pergamus ; the latter from Ptolemy, king of Egypt, from both of 
whom the Athenians had received signal favours. 2 

This was the constant number of the Athenian tribes, which lasted as 
long as the city maintained its liberty and form of government. Each of 
these was at the first divided into several parts, which have been already 
mentioned. And the better to maintain a mutual correspondence, and 
for the promotion of good fellowship and kindness among them, they had 
public feasts, first instituted by Solon, where they all met together, and 
made merry. 3 These meetings were named from the persons assembled 
at them ; if the whole tribe came together, then they called it h7#vov 
(pvXirtxov; if only one (pgurg'iu, then it was hi^rvov (pgargiKov ; or if a ^v/aos, 
it was ^itwov ^yifAonxov. 

These ^H/tot were little boroughs in Attica, several of which belonged 
to every tribe ; and though they were reckoned together in the business of 
the commonwealth, yet had separate habitations, distinct rites and cere- 
monies in the performance of holy worship : nay, and different gods too, 
for each of them adored peculiar deities, and yet all unanimously agreed 
in worshipping Minerva, who was the tutelar goddess of the whole 
country ; whereas the other deities had only certain parts assigned them, 
and in those they were inferior to Minerva, the supreme governess. 
This difference in religion was very ancient, being of no less duration than 
the commonwealth itself; for when Theseus had prevailed upon them to 
leave their country-seats, and unite themselves in one city, they thought 
it would be impious and unpardonable to desert the gods of their ances- 
tors, and therefore judged it agreeable to the respect due from them to 
their tutelar deities, to pay them the same honours, and frequent the same 
places of worship they had formerly done. 4 

The greatest use of these ^poi, was in their forms of law, and contracts, 
whereby sufficient provision was made against all fraud, deceit, and mis- 
takes. Hence we read of such punctual clauses in their writs as these, N, 
the son of N. of the tribe of iEantis, in the borough of Rhamnus, &c. 



1 Plut. Demetrio, 
3 Athen. Deipn. xv, 



2 Stephan. V. 'ArraXly or Bfpsyj/fWay. 

4 Livius, Pausan. Atticis. 



eo 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The number of them was a hundred and seventy-four, l some of which, 
having the same names, were distinguished by their situation, being called 
xot0u*t(>fav, and vTtvtgdiv, upper and lower. All of them were divided 
into greater and less ; the pingoi, or less, were these, 2 Alimusians, Zoster, 
Prospaltians, Anagyrasians, Cephale, Prasieis, Lampreis, Phyleis, 
Myrrhinusians, Athmonians, Acharnse, Marathon, Brauron, Rhamnus. 
The rest were greater, and may not unfitly be thus divided according to 
their tribes: 

EPEX0HI2. 

Aa/jLK^a. u-rivi%6iv,Y! vrctgaikioi ^yov; 

KEKPOniS. 
'ExiyM'ha.i 



' AyguvXvi, ri , Ay^o/X'/] 
Evrnv/Lc'iot, y] E'JUVVfASS 



AQlJLOVOV, Y) 

*AXa.) 

A'i%a>vi) 



'AdfAoyi 



'AAcm 

'Aga^'<v/5£?, v] 'Aga^jjy 

Aiofx.ua, 
'E^dta, 

' 'AyyiXvi 

"KuSotO'/IVCLtW 

~¥LvQyioov 
"Muppivovs 

'Ayvovs 
Elgic'ibai 
'Eo/xo;, v) 'Eef&ot 
'H.ipa.io-'Tia.du.i 

A\yi\'ta., y, AiyiXos 
AXmxczy,, y) AXuxizoil 

i Apt,^>ir^6Z7} 
A^aqte'TTOs 
Aty]vvi, y\ ' Atvivta. 



AlBotXi'ha.i, 
A<pi$v& 
'AXi/xous 
Au^a^ig 

'Exu.Xv) 

K*JTT<5/ 



Aid a) J» 



AVZY t t'^ 

UWos 

A I THIS. 

'EglXglM 

'Xza.^la,, y) 'Izaoiog 

"KoXuttvs 
"K.vdu,vrfi>a,i 

II A N A I O N 12. 
'Oct, y) 'Oi7$ 

TlaiOlVtOL 7CU.Bu7TZ°BiV 
UotlOiVtO, VTT-V^BiV 

A K A M A N T 1 2. 

~KvgTlCtO0Lt 

A NT 10 XI 2. 

~£>Y,<r(ru. 
Qoooti 

AlVZCTTVQO, 
AlZZOV 

AEONTI2. 

E\eCe)Tiu, 
AlUZOMiOV 

Olov Ks^a/xuzov 



^jtto.Xy.tto; 
^Xuoc 



UkuBua, 

&/,yu,i'a 

QiXa.'t'ba.i 

XoXXidai 



2t8^«» 
<£Y,yu,iG& 



~2$y/ttoz 

Xohagyus, ~X.6Xa.ty tot, ft 
~X.bXu.%yot 



~M.iXa.ivus, yi MiXaivou 

E[ce,XXY,v7] 

TL-vTS?.'/] 

"2iY t u.a.yj,'hai 

&U.Xy,£OV 
~U.0TO.fJU>? 

~2zu/x(3a)vtdtt.t 

~2oOviov 

'T$aZai 

$%ia.ppoi 

XoXu^ai 



1 Eustath. II. ft'. Strabo ix. 



2 Pausan. Atticis. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



CI 



'A%«tf»a< 



O I N H I 2. 

•o4 3 6iq 



IlrsXla 





'innoeonNTis 




'A;v,.i 
Ai/^£^ayrt»j6 
A',a^^,:4 

'A^'a^ciV 

A'iXi'/.UX 


*EXeu&ts 3 sj EAomus 
A I A N T 1 2. 


Ol»£t] 'EAsy5:'a a ;- 




T '-\zczuQoi 
''Pa.u.voZ; 






ANTIT ONI 2, 5 A T T A A I 2. 










AHMHTPIA 3, >; n T A 


EM AI 2. 




*Ac*aa:uv/s7?. 




Besides these. 


, there were several other boroughs, of which it is 


certain to what tribes they belonged. Such are these : 


'Ay?* 
'Ayr?* us; 

AtbAsot) 


AczLt.O'i 

A.'avcw 


^'•JTTCi^'ct, &C. 



CHAP. X. 

OF THE SOJOURNERS AND SERVANTS IN ATHENS. 

The second sort of the inhabitants of Attica were called Nlroixoi, by 
which word were signified persons that came from a foreign country and 
settled in Attica, being admitted by the council of Areopagus, and 
entered into a public register. 1 They differed from the noXlrxt, or 
citizens, because they were not free citizens of Athens, but either came 
from another city themselves, or were descended from such as did : and 



1 Aristoph. Schol. In Ares. 
F 



62 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES 



from the £sv<j/, or strangers, because they took up their lodgings only for 
a short time, whereas the Mirotxet had fixed habitations, and constantly 
resided upon the place whither they had transplanted themselves. 

They were permitted to dwell in the city and follow their own business 
without disturbance, but could not be intrusted with any public office, 
give their votes in the assemblies, or have any share in the government ; 
being obliged to sit still, as spectators in a theatre, without intermeddling, 
or any way concerning themselves with state affairs, and patiently submit 
to the decrees enacted by the citizens, and observe all the laws and cus- 
toms of the countiy. And therefore Aristophanes in Suidas compares 
them to chaff, as being an unprofitable and useless part of the com- 
monwealth : 

To«s y<*p fxsroiKovs a-xvpa. rwv aaTwv Xiyw. The sojourners (if I may speak my mind) 

Are, as it were, the city's chaff and scum, — J. A. 

They were not allowed to act any thing or manage any business in their 
own names, but were obliged to choose out of the citizens one, to whose 
care and protection they would commit themselves, and whose duty it 
was to defend them from all violence and oppression. This is intimated 
in Terence's Eunuchus, 1 where Thais puts herself into the hands of 
Phaedria's family. The person to whom they committed themselves was 
called irgoffrurTig, and was allowed to demand several services of them, in 
which if they failed, or if they neglected to choose a patron, an action 
was commenced against them before the Polemarchus, called 'A^ocra- 
eiov Vix,'/}, whereupon their goods were confiscated. 

In consideration of the privileges allowed them, the commonwealth 
required them to perform several duties ; for instance, in the Panathensea, 
a festival celebrated in honour of Minerva, the men were obliged to carry 
certain vessels called ffxaQut, whereby are meant not spades, as Meursius 
and the translator of Harpocration have explained this word, but naviculce, 
little ships, which were signs of their foreign extraction, which few have 
hitherto rightly understood. Hence they were termed axct^di or ezce.Qri- 
(p'oooi by the ancient writers of comedy. The women carried vog'tui, 
vessels of water, or ffxiuoua, umbrellas, to defend the free women from 
the weather, and are thence named vbpiaQoQoi and ffxiaSrityoooi. % This last 
custom was begun after Xerxes and the Persians had been driven out of 
Greece, when the Athenians, becoming insolent, with success, set a 
greater value upon the freedom of their city than they had formerly done. 2 

Besides this, the men paid an annual tribute of twelve drachms, though 
Hesychius mentions ten only; and the women that had no sons were 
liable to be taxed six, but such as had sons that paid, were excused. 
This tribute was called pzroixiov, and. was exacted not only of those that 
dwelt in Athens, but of all such as settled themselves in any town of 
Attica, as appears from the instance given us by Lysias, 3 in Oropus, 
which was an Athenian town, situated upon the confines of Boeotia. 
1 Act. ult. seen. nit. 2 JE 1 -'- * yT Ri*tnrfae, vi, I. 3 Orat. in Philonem. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



63 



About the time of Xerxes' invasion upon Greece, Themistoelcs having 
by his eminent service raised himself to great power in the common- 
wealth, prevailed so far upon the Athenians, that they remitted this 
exaction, and continued the sojourners in the enjoyment of their privi- 
leges, without requiring any such acknowledgment from them. 1 How 
long they enjoyed this immunity I cannot tell, but it is certain they 
kept it not long, and probably it might be taken from them, and the act 
repealed, as soon as Themistocles fell into disgrace. Upon non-payment 
of this imposition, the delinquent was immediately seized by the tax- 
masters, and carried away to the market set apart for that purpose (called 
by Plutarch Mzw'uun, 2 and by Demosthenes 3 U&Xn e rrigtot rod pirorAov), 
where they were exposed to sale by the who were officers 

concerned in the public revenues. Tins fate had the famous philosopher 
Xenocrates undergone, had not Lycurgus rescued him out of the hands 
of the officers, as Plutarch reports ; 4 Diogenes Laertius 5 tells us, he was 
actually sold, because he had not wherewithal to pay the tribute, but was 
redeemed by Demetrius the Phalerean, who, because he would not violate 
the laws of the city, nor yet could endure to see so great and useful a 
man reduced to so miserable a condition, restored him his liberty, and 
paid for him what the tax-master demanded. 

But though these men were incapable of having any preferment, or 
bearing any office in the commonwealth, yet they were not wholly desti 
tute of encouragement to the practice of virtue, and the undertaking of 
noble actions, and being serviceable to the public. For such as signalized 
themselves by any notable exploit, were seldom passed by neglected or 
unrewarded ; but were taken into public consideration, and, by a special 
edict of the people, honoured with an immunity from all impositions, 
taxes, and other duties, except such as were required of the free-born 
citizens ; and therefore they called this honour ieerixtta, and the persons 
that enjoyed it frmXet?, because they did 7sa n\ih roi; cctxroi?, pay only 
an equal proportion with the citizens. This was a sort of a half freedom, 
being the same with what we sometimes find called uTiXax, of which I 
have spoken already, and was granted to foreigners that had deserved 
well of the public, but not merited enough to be enrolled amongst the true 
citizens ; an instance of which we have in Perdiccas king of Macedon, 
and sometimes in whole cities and commonwealths, that had by some 
special service demonstrated the kindness and good affection they bore to 
Athens: two examples of this we have in the Thebans and Olynthians, 
in Theophrastus, as he is cited by Suidas, to whom, with Harpocration 
and Hesychius, we are chiefly obliged for these accounts. 

I proceed, in the next place, to speak of the third, and most numerous 
part of the inhabitants of Attica, I mean the servants, of which there 
were two sorts ; the first was of those who through poverty were forced to 

1 Diodor. SicoL xi. 2 Flaminio. 3 Orat. i. in Aristogit. 

4 Loc. cit. 5 Xenocrate. 

F 2 



64 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



serve for wages, being otherwise freeborn citizens, but not having any 
suffrage in public affairs, by reason of their indigence, it being forbidden 
at some times (for this prohibition was not perpetual), that persons not 
having such an estate as was mentioned in the law, should have the privi- 
lege of giving their voices. These were properly called ©jjrs$, and 
UiXccroiif 1 and were the most genteel sort of servants, being only in that 
state during their own pleasure and necessities, and having power either 
to change their masters, or, if they became able to subsist by themselves, 
wholly to release themselves from servitude. 

The second sort of servants were such as were wholly in the power 
and at the disposal of their lords, who had as good a title to them as to 
their lands and estates, a considerable part of which they were esteemed. 
They were wholly at their command, to be employed as they saw conve- 
nient, in the worst and most wretched drudgeries; and to be used at their 
discretion, pinched, starved, beaten, tormented, and that, in most places, 
without any appeal to superior power, and punished even with death 
itself. What yet farther enhanced the misery of their condition, they 
had no hopes of recovering their freedom themselves, or procuring it for 
their posterity, but were to continue in the same condition as long as 
they lived ; and all the inheritance they could leave their children (for 
their masters not only allowed, but encouraged them to marry, that they 
might increase in number), was the possession of their parents' miseries, 
and a condition scarce any way better than that of beasts. 

The ancients were very sensible of the hard usage slaves met with ; and 
the earnest desire of liberty that reigned in their own breasts, and made 
them always forward to expose their lives in the defence of it, was a suffi- 
cient cause to beget in them a jealousy of the like in other persons ; men 
being generally very apt to suspect others of the same passions and 
inclinations which themselves have been guilty of. We find them, 
accordingly, eager to prevent and suppress all such motions, by keeping 
the slaves at a veiy great distance from them, by no means condescending 
(I speak of the generality of them) to converse familiarly with them ; by 
instilling into them a mean opinion of themselves ; debasing their natures, 
and extinguishing in them, as much as possible, all sparks of generosity 
and manhood ; by an illiberal education, and accustoming them to blows 
and stripes, which they thought were veiy disagreeable to ingenuous 
natures; and subduing them with hard labour and want; and in short, by 
using them almost in the same manner, nay, sometimes worse than we 
do brute animals. A sufficient proof whereof (were there no more) we 
have in the famous Roman, Cato, a man celebrated in all ages, for his 
exact observance of the nicest rules of justice ; nor doth it at all invalidate 
the evidence, that this was done by a Roman, since both at Rome anil in 
Greece, and most other civilized countries, the usage of slaves seems to 
have been much the same, some few alterations excepted. This Cato 



1 Pollux, iii. 8. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



55 



(Plutarch tells us), when his servants grew old and unfit for labour, not- 
withstanding they had been very faithful and serviceable to him, and had 
spent their youth and strength in labouring for him, would not be at the 
charge of maintaining them, but either tinned them away, unable to 
provide for themselves, or let them starve to death in his own family. 1 
It is ferae, this barbarity was not practised in all places: and my author 
trunks the censor blameworthy for it, imputing it to a savage and 
unnatural temper; yet hence appears the miserable condition of slaves, 
who were forced to undergo the most arbitrary and unjust impositions of 
the most cruel and barbarous tyrants. Now, the better to show you 
in what state they were, I will give a few specimens of the constant 
behaviour of their masters towards them in instances which were not the 
effects of the passion, pride, or humour of private persons, but the common 
and general practice of the whole country. 

It was accounted an insufferable piece of impudence for a servant to 
imitate the freemen in any tiring, or affect to be like them in their dress, 
or any part of their behaviour. In those cities where they let their hair 
grow long, for a servant to have long hah" was an unpardonable offence, 
insomuch that the comedian, speaking it proverbially of one that does 
what becomes him not, says, 

*Et<u-<s (jfira 6ov\os Zr ko^v f^siy. 2 To wear long hair like freemen. 

Then you disdaining your own state, affect J. A, 

They had a peculiar form after which they cut their hair, called 
nfyavrohoHinsy which they laid aside, if ever fortune was so propitious as to 
restore them their liberty. And because slaves were generally rude and 
ignorant, therefore t%&a rk; at&ptogteSicShui htt tj/uxvs 7g'X&s, was 
proverbially applied to any dull stupid fellow. 3 The freemen's coats 
were kupftoiff^teXm, had two sleeves; whereas those of slaves were 
hrfyofiKr%BtXot, had only one sleeved 

At Athens it was common to be in love with boys. Socrates' and 
Plato's amours are notorious enough, and Solon himself was too weak to 
resist this passion, and thought it neither imlawful nor scandalous, but, on 
the contrary, honourable and well becoming an ingenuous education; 
therefore he forbade slaves the use of this pleasure, ' as it were inviting 
the worthy to practise, when he commanded the unworthy to forbear/ 
says Plutarch. The same lawgiver forbade them to anoint or perfume 
themselves with sweet odours, allowing those pieces of gentility only to 
persons of better birth and quality. Slaves were neither permitted to 
plead for themselves, nor to be witnesses in any cause. This Terence, 
the scene of whose action is laid in Athens, expressly affirms in Iris 
Phormio: 6 

Servum hominem causam crare leges turn sinunt, A slave the laws will not allow to plead, 
Neqite testimonii dictio est. Nor can he be an evidence. 

Yet it was customary to extort confessions from them by tortures ; which, 



1 PIuL Catone. 2 Aristoph. Avibus. 

i Pollux. On. vii. 13. 5 Solone. 



3 Eustath. II £, p. 59, edit. Bas. 
6 Act ii. seen. L 



65 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



because they were often so violent as to occasion the death of the slave, or 
to disable him from being serviceable to his master ; whoever demanded 
any slave for this end (which was called TgoxccXsiv, and the action vgoxXvi- 
ffii) was obliged to give his master a sufficient security to answer the loss 
of his slave. 1 The several ways of torturing slaves are briefly comprised 
in the following verses of Aristophanes. 2 

g,. Eao-dvtCe yap rhv TralU toi'tocI Xafav Binding to a ladder, hang the scoundrel, 

A. Kal ttwj paaavLoa) ; 3. iia.vTa. rpoTrov, tv n\t/xaKi Lash him with a whip of hog's bristles, 

A^o-aj, npepavas, vorpt^iit paoTiyZv, Uptov^ Skin and rack him, pouring down his nostrils 

2-pEj3X£v, ewire toj piVay 8?aj iyxiuv, The lees of wine — with blistering of hot bricks, 

XiKtvQovs eTriTi6eis, -rtavra rSAXa, irA^v npa<T<o And all other sorts of pain; but mind'ye, 

Mt; rv-rrre rovrov y-qQiicu vta>. Never strike him with a rod of onions 

X. Seize that slave and put him to the torture. Nor let him feel the smarting of young leeks. 

A. And how will I torture ? X. Just as you please, J. MCD. 

Slaves were not permitted to communicate at the worship of some of 
the deities, but were accounted unholy and profane • and thought to be 
offensive to the gods, and to pollute the worship by their presence : as, for 
instance, at the worship of the Eumenides, or Furies, at Athens ; and 
Hercules at Rome ; of which I shall have occasion to speak something 
more hereafter. 

Their education was quite different from that of freeborn children; 
these were instructed in all the liberal arts, the others only taught how to 
obey, and drudge in their master's business. And whereas the common 
method was to win those of ingenuous birth by gentle means into a per- 
formance of their duty, the manner of tutoring slaves was the same which 
they used to tame .wild beasts, namely, stripes, and the most cruel severity. 
For all this, there wanted not some, whom nature had blessed with a more 
happy genius and a larger share of parts than the rest, and fortune directed 
to kind and gentle masters, that by their great improvements in learning 
and wisdom, were a sufficient evidence, that nobility of soul and greatness 
of understanding are not confined to any rank or quality, but that even 
the meanest and most abject persons may dive into the most hidden 
secrets of nature, and be admitted to the most intimate converse with the 
Muses. To prove this we need only mention iEsop, the author of the 
Fables, Alcman 3 the poet, and Epictetus the famous moralist, of whose 
poverty and servile condition we have mention in this epigram: 

AovAoy 'EttUttjtos ytv6/x V v, nal aii/ian TTTjpoy, To me great favours the kind gods dispense, 

Kal TrevV'ipoy, * a i <p:\ t 'AOavdrocs- Though doom'd to bondage, and in indigence. 

They thought it a presumption, and a sort of lessening the freeborn 
citizens, to call slaves by any name that was in use amongst them : but if 
any man was so bold as to give his servant the name of a person of quality 
or honour, it was a signal affront. Domitian is said to have punished 
Metius Pomposianus for calling his slaves by the illustrious names of 
Hannibal and Mago ; and to come nearer to our purpose, the Athenians 
enacted a law, that no man should presume to call any of his servants by 
the names of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, two famous patriots, that with 
courage and resolution opposed the tyranny of Pisistratus's sons. 4 At the 

1 Demosth. Qrat. adv. Pautenet. 2 Ranis, A. ii, sc. 6, 3 .Elian. V. H. 4 Ales, ab Alex. iii. 20. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



67 



same time there was a law, whereby they wer® prohibited to derive the 
name of their slaves from any of the solemn games : whence this question 
is propounded by Athenseus : 1 How came it to pass that Nemea the 
minstrel derived her name from the Nemean games? For the most part, 
as Strabo reports, they were called after the names of their native countries, 
as Av$os, or Sy^tf?, if they were born in Lydia or Syria ; or by the names 
which were most used in those nations, as Manes, or Midas, in Phrygia; 
Tibias in Paphlagonia. The most common names in Athens were Geta 
and Davus, being taken from the Getes and Daci, who, as my author 
thinks, were formerly called Aavot, or Davi. 2 They seldom consisted of 
above two syllables; and therefore Demosthenes having objected to 
iEschines, that his father was a slave, tells him farther^ as a proof of 
what he affirmed, that he had falsified his name, calling him Atrometus, 
whereas in truth it was only Tromes. 3 The reason of this seems to have 
been, that their names being short, might be more easily and quickly 
pronounced. Upon the same account, Oppian advises to give dogs short 
names ; 

• ■ Ovvofxara <ticv\6.K.t<T<ri Lest at the huntsman's call they trace in vain, 

Batd Ti'0s4, 5oa irivra, Sorjv Iva d«ov]?. 4 And run with open cry confus'dly o'er the plain, 

let hounds which are design'd for game and sport, J. . A. 

Have names impos'd that easy are, and short} 

Hence it was common for slaves, who had recovered their freedom, to 
change their servile names for others, which had more syllables. Thus 
Stephanus is said in the epigram, to have changed that name for Philoste- 
phanus ; 

^H.V '27i<pc&V0$ fTrttkXfiZ, %0ti KMS OifAOi' VVV Si TTgOZO'^'OLS 

IlXouru, zoci yiyivvjT tuQb <Pi\offTS$civos» 

Above all things, especial care was taken that slaves should not wear 
arms, which, since their number was almost twenty times as great as that 
of the citizens, might have been dangerous to the public. For this reason 
it was not usual for them to serve in the wars ; and therefore when Virgil 
speaks of a slave's assisting in the wars of Troy, he tells us it was contrary 
to law and custom. 5 

Yet sometimes we find the slaves armed in the defence of theft - masters 
and themselves; but this was never allowed, except in cases of most 
extreme danger, when all other means of preserving the commonwealth 
were taken away. The first time it was practised is said to have been 
when the Persians under Darius invaded the Athenians, and received a 
total overthrow by them in Marathon. 6 The like was afterwards put in 
practice by other commonwealths, but not without great caution: Cleo- 
menes, king of Sparta, being sore pressed by the Macedonians and 
Achteans, and finding himself unable to make head against them, armed 
two thousand of the Helotaj, or Lacedaemonian slaves, that he might make 
a fit body to oppose Antigonus's Leucaspidse, or white shields; but 



1 Deipnosoph. xiii. 2 Strabo, vii. 

5 JKneid. ix. 545. 



3 Orat- irepl Sretpav, 4 KvniyfoiK< 

6 Pausanias. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ventured not to list any more of them, though Laconia was at that time 
furnished with much greater numbers. 1 Their prudence in this case 
deserves commendation ; for having exasperated them so much by their 
hard usage, they had no reason to expect any mercy from them, if ever 
they should get the upper hand. And it is very wonderful that four 
hundred thousand men should groan under the oppression of twenty or 
thirty thousand (for those I have told you already were the number of the 
slaves, citizens, and sojourners in Attica), without ever, some few times 
excepted, attempting to assert their liberty : when it is evident they 
wanted not strength to turn the state upside down ; neither could they be 
destitute of opportunities, especially in times of war, sedition, and tumults, 
in which the city was continually embroiled, to accomplish such a design. 
But this must be ascribed partly to the watchful eye their masters and the 
whole state had upon them ; and partly to that cowardice and degeneracy 
which usually debase the minds of those whom fortune has placed in a 
servile condition, however noble and daring they are by nature ; for it is a 
true saying of Homer : 

"Hfiicv yip t aperfis irroj.!wTai Bvpw6-7ra Ze-uy True valour ne'er can animate that mind, 

'Avipos, eSr 1 Hv /juv Ka.ro. 6ov\tov rjfj.ap SXytrir. Whose inbred seeds by slav'ry are coufin'd. — 3. A. 

But neither the care of the state, nor the great power which oppression 
has to debase men's souls, could always keep them in subjection; for 
nature would sometimes exert itself, when either a fair opportunity invited, 
or some insufferable oppression compelled them to endeavour the recovery 
of their liberties, that is, their lives and fortunes, into their own hands. 
Athenseus reports, that in Attica they once seized upon the castle of 
Sunium, and committed ravages throughout the country ; and at the same 
time made their second insurrection in Sicily ; for in that country they 
frequently rebelled, but were at last reduced with great slaughter, no less 
than a million of them being killed. 8 Several other efforts we find made 
by them in other places, to the great danger and almost utter subversion 
of those countries. Sometimes, in time of war, the slaves deserted to the 
enemy, the doing which they called ubropoXilv, 3 which, excepting theft, 
a crime almost peculiar to them, was the most common offence they 
committed, being in most places the only way they had to deliver them- 
selves ; but, if they were taken, they were made to pay dearly for their 
desire of freedom, being bound fast to a wheel, and unmercifully beaten 
with whips, as the comedian tells us: 

*H ooZXos aiiTOfjLoXslv napeoKevair/jklvos., Should but anticipate sweet freedom's joys, 

'Etti rpoxov ek/coiTo paartyoipievos.' 1 And make revolt to their more gentle foes, 

If wretched slaves, harass'd and wearied out, Fast to a wheel they're bound with cords, and 
Under the thraldom of dire servitude, whipt. J- A - 

The same punishment was inflicted on them for theft, as we learn from 
Horace : 5 

Non furtum feci, nec fugi, si mihi dicai Nor steal : Well, thou hast thy reward, say I; 

Servus: habes pretium. loris non ureris, aio. Thou art not scourged.— 

Suppose my slave should say, I neither fly CREECH. 

1 Plut. Cleomene. 2 Athenaeus Deipn. vi. _ 3 Aristoph. Equit. 4 Arisloph. Pace. 5 Epist. i. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



63 



Sometimes they were racked upon the wheel (a cruelty never practised 
upon any freeborn person), to extort a confession from them, when they 
were suspected to have been accessary to any villanous design, as Aristo- 
phanes informs us in his first comedy, where one says to a slave, 

'Err* tov rpoxov yap Ssl <r' exel eTpe(3Kov/j.8vov We ought to rack you with incessant pain, 

Klirelv a ntTravovpyrjicas, To force you to reveal your rogueries. — J. A. 

The common way of correcting them for any offence was to scourge them 
with whips ; whence a villain that had been guilty of any crime that de- 
served punishment was said fjucccmyi^v, to stand in need of, and as it were, 
itch for a scourge. Sometimes, to prevent their shrinking, or running 
away, they were tied fast to a pillar, and therefore Hyperides in Pollux 
saith, x.(>t[6cx.<rois \a rou ziovos, l%3ugiv ; for so, I think, that place ought to 
be read, and not, xgeftditrat Ik rod xivo$ } igs^s/gsv, 1 as the vulgar editions 
have it. 

They who were convicted of any notorious offence were condemned to 
grind at the mill, a labour exceedingly toilsome in those days, when they 
were forced to beat their grain into meal, being unacquainted with the 
easy way of grinding which is used amongst us, and was the invention of 
later ages. And therefore, when they had a mind to express the greatness 
cf any labour or toil, it was usual to compare it to grinding in a mill: 
Tibi mecum erit, Crasse, in eodem pistrino vivenduni, says Tully ; 2 that 
is, You and I, Crassus, must undergo the same troublesome course of life. 
But, besides the labour they were put to, they were beaten with rods, or 
scourges ; sometimes, if their offence was very great, to death, as we learn 
from Terence, tfee scene of whose drama is laid in Attica : 

Verberibus ccesum te in pistrinum, Dave, dedam I'll have you beat to mummy, and then thrown 
usque ad necem. 3 Into prison, sirrah ! and for life. 

Or else, as others understand this place, they were condemned to that 
punishment as long as they lived. 

These mills were called in general pvXuvzs ; which word, because of 
the cruelty there exercised upon poor slaves, Pollux tells us wasoy* ivQ'/ipos, 
unlucky, or inauspicious, and not to be named, and therefore he calls it 
(rtrotfouzos olxo;. They had several names, from the different sorts of 
grain that was ground in them, as xov^goxovncc, or xovSgoKovniu, a,X<plrs7oc, 
^aruoi, ^mruoc, or ^avrzia,, and gyirgiTa, whence comes the word ^ar^sys/v, 
to examine upon the rack, as was usual in that place. 4 

It was likewise customary to stigmatize slaves, which was usually done 
in the forehead, as being most visible ; sometimes other parts were thus 
used, it being customary, as Galen observes, 5 to punish the member that 
had offended ; if the slave was a glutton, his belly must suffer ; if a tell- 
tale, his tongue must be cut out, and so of the rest. The common way 
of stigmatizing was, by burning the member with a red-hot iron, marked 
with certain letters, till a fair impression was made, and then pouring ink 
into the furrows, that the inscription might be the more conspicuous. 



I Onomast. Hi. 8. 2 De Orat. 3 Andria. 4 Pollux, iii. 8. Hesych., Suid., Etym. 5 L. vi, 



70 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Persons thus used were called ^ny/iarieu and Sr/y^vs?, says Pollux, or 
AttagcB, because that, bird was ^roiKi^oTTi^o;, of different colours, as Aris- 
tophanes tells us. 1 Pliny calls them mscripti; 2 and others literati, as 
Plautus : 

Si hie literatus me sinat. 

And what the same author means by trium Uterarum homo, no man can 
be ignorant. Tins punishment was seldom or never inflicted upon any 
but slaves ; and with them it was so frequent, that the Samians, when they 
gave a great number of slaves their liberty, and admitted them to offices 
in the state, were branded with the infamous name of literati: 

Sayaitof o <5rj/ioy iarl ■jroXvypa^/xaroj, The Samian people (fie for shame) 

For store of letters hare great fame.— LITTLETON. 

saith Aristophanes in Plutarch; 3 though others, and amongst them 
Plutarch himself, assign different reasons for this appellation. 4 This was 
the greatest mark of infamy that could be inflicted on them ; and therefore 
Phoeylides advises to forbear it, even in slaves: 

^rlynara fiT) ypa^ijy, srro vsrflSmv SepaTrovra. 5 Your slaves brand not with characters of infamy. 

On the contrary, in Thrace, Herodotus tells us, it was accounted a badge 
of honour, and used by none but persons of credit, nor omitted but by 
those of the meanest rank. 6 To io-rt^at ivyi\\t Kix^trxt, <ro Tz a,ff?iz<rov 
ayzws;' to be stigmatized, says he, is reputed a mark of quality, to ivant 
ivhich is a disgrace. The same is affirmed by Claudian of the Geloni, 
who inhabited a part of Scythia: 7 

Membraque qui ferro gaudet pinxisse Gelonus. 

Some relate that the ancient Britons tenellis infantibus notas certasque 
figuras animalium ardenti ferro imjn'imebant, that is, imprinted upon the 
bodies of their mfants the figures of animals, and other marks with hot 
irons. 8 The same is affirmed by Tertullian, 9 who reports that the Britons 
were distinguished by such marks or stigmata, in the same manner as 
the Garamantes by their feathers, the barbarians by their curls, and the 
Athenians by their grasshoppers. Claudian mentions the same custom: 10 

Ferroque notatas 

Perlegit exsangues Picto inoriente figuras. 

But it must not be forgotten in this place, that slaves were not only 
branded with stigmata for a punishment of their offences, but (which was 
the common end of these marks), to distinguish them in case they should 
desert their masters ; for which purpose it was common to brand their 
soldiers : only with this difference, that whereas slaves were commonly 
stigmatized in their forehead, and with the name or some peculiar character 
belonging to their masters, soldiers were branded in the hand, and with 
the name or character of their general. After the same manner, it was 
likewise customary to stigmatize the worshippers and votaries of some of 
the gods : whence Lucian, speaking of the votaries of the Syrian goddess, 



1 Avibus. 

2 Lib. xviii. 3. 
?. Pericle. 



4 Erasm. A dag. 

5 V. 212. 

6 L. v. 



7 L. i. in Rufin. 9 De Veland. Virgin 

S Lucas de Linda, 10 De Bello Getic, 
Descr. Orbis. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



71 



affirms, They were all branded with certain marks, some in the palms of 
their hands, and others in their necks : whence it became customary for all 
the Assyrians thus to stigmatize themselves. Theodoret is of opinion,* 
that the Jews were forbidden to brand themselves with stigmata because 
the idolaters, by that ceremony, used to consecrate themselves to their 
false deities. The marks used on these occasions were various. Some- 
times they contained the name of the god, sometimes his particular 
ensign (<rc&ozo"/!ftcov) ; such were the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the trident of 
Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus: whence Ptolemy Philopator was by some 
nicknamed Gallus, ha to tyvWu. Kitraov KocTiffTt^ai, because his body was 
marked ivith the figures of ivy 'leaves. 2 Or, lastly, they marked them- 
selves with some mystical number whereby the god's name was described. 
Thus the sun, who was signified by the number 608, is said to have been 
represented by these two numeral letters xh. 3 These three ways of 
stigmatizing are all expressed by St John, in the book of Revelation; 4 
' and he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, 
to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads ; and that no 
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the 
beast, or the number of his name." But, to return from this digression: 
Slaves were treated with more humanity at Athens than in most other 
places ; for if any of them were grievously oppressed they were allowed 
to fly for sanctuary to Theseus's temple, whence to force them was an act 
of sacrilege. 5 Those that had been barbarously treated by their masters, 
had the privilege of commencing a suit at law against them, which they 
called 'l&o<w; or u\»tus Stxii, the former of which was against such as 
had made any violent attempts upon the chastity of their slaves, the latter 
against those that had used too much severity in punishing them ; and if 
it appeared that the complaint was reasonable and just, the master was 
obliged to sell his slave. This is plainly proved by Julius Pollux, 6 out of 
Aristophanes's Horae, when he cites the following verses : 

E< t UTi xqa,7itrrov icrriv us to Gr,<rs7ov 
Me«av. 

Unless it be most expedient to fly to the temple of Theseus, and there 
remain till we are sold to another master. The same he observes out of 
Eupoiis's Uoksis' 

AtTOvertv, 

They endure these evils, and do not demand to be sold. Neither did the 
law secure them only from their own masters, but if any other citizen did 
them any injury, they were allowed to vindicate themselves by course of 
law. 7 

Besides the being delivered from the injurious treatment of tyrants, the 



1 Quaest. in Levit. xviii. 2 Etym. Magni Auctor v. TaXXoj. 3 Conf. Martianus Capella. 
4 Chap. xiii. 16, 17. 5 Plut. Tbeseo. 6 L. vii. 2. 7 Athenaus Deipn. vi. 



72 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



slaves at Athens had a great deal the advantage of their brethren in other 
places, in many respects: they might use their tongues with far greater 
freedom, as appears everywhere from the comedies of Aristophanes, 
Plautus, and Terence, and indulge themselves in the enjoyment of a great 
many pleasures, which in other places they had not the smallest taste of ; 
insomuch that Demosthenes tells us, the condition of a slave in Athens 
was preferable to that of a free denizen in some other cities and Plautus 
sufficiently testifies the truth of what he saith : 

Atque id ne vos miremini, homines servulos The laws at Athens don't our slaves restrain 

Potare, amarc, alque ad ccenam condicerej From pleasure, mirth, and gaiety of life, 

Licet hoc Athenis . 2 For they may revel, be inflamed with love, 

And live at ease as some free denizens. — J. A. 

Farther, they were permitted to get estates for themselves, paying only 
a small tribute to their masters every year out of them ; and if they could 
procure as much as would pay for their ransom, their masters had no 
power to hinder them from buying their liberty, as may be observed from 
the same author, who introduces a slave speaking in this manner: 

Quid tu me verd libertate territas? Pray, sir, good words, since you, nor yet your son 

Quod si tu nolis, filiusque etiam tuus, Gan bar me of my liberty, although 

Vobis invitis, atque amborum ingratiis, You pour your threatenings thus; for if I please, 

Una libella liber possum fieri.* In spite of both, even with a single As, 

I can my freedom purchase. 

Sometimes, if they had been faithful and diligent in their masters' business, 
the latter dismissed them of their own accord ; and upon the performance 
of any remarkable service for the public, the state usually took care to 
reward them with liberty. Such of them as were admitted to serve in 
the wars, were seldom left in the condition of slaves, either for fear the 
remembrance of their former oppression might move them to revolt to the 
enemy, or raise a sedition at home, so fair an opportunity being put into 
their hands ; or to animate them with greater courage and constancy to 
oppose the invaders, when they were to receive so great a reward for the 
dangers they underwent; or because it was thought unreasonable that 
such as hazarded their lives in defence of their country's liberty, should 
themselves groan under the heavy yoke of slavery, and be deprived of 
even the smallest part of that, which was in a great measure owing to 
their courage and loyalty: for one, I say, or all these reasons, such as 
upon emergent occasions took up arms for the public safety, seldom failed 
of having their liberty restored to them. An instance whereof, we have 
in the slaves that behaved themselves valiantly in the sea-fight at Arginusae, 
where the Athenians obtained a signal victory against Callicratidas, the 
Lacedaemonian admiral. Thus the slave in Aristophanes being almost 
ready to faint under a heavy burden, accuseth his own cowardice, that 
hindered him from listing himself amongst the marine forces, and thereby 
recovering his liberty : 

01fj.cu KaKoAatfj.a>r rt yap eyw el* ivavfi&xovv.* Pox take this heart, that durst not meet 

In boist'rous seas the Spartan fleet 



1 Philip, in. 



2 Sticho. 



3 Casina. 



4 Rsnis, act i. seen. 1. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



73 



Slaves, as long as they were under the government of a master, were 
called oWirai ; but after their freedom was granted them, they were 
not being, like the former, a part of their master's estate, but only obliged 
to some grateful acknowledgments, and small services, 1 such as were 
required of the MirotKot, to whom they were in some few things inferior. 
They, however, seldom arrived to the dignity of citizens, especially if they 
had received their freedom from a private person, and not upon a public 
account ; for such as were advanced for public services, seem to have lived 
in great repute, and enjoyed a larger share of liberty than others that had 
only merited their freedom by the obligations they had laid upon particular 
persons. These therefore were sometimes advanced to be citizens, yet 
not without the opposition or dislike of many: 

Kfli; Ukuraiois ivdv; ttvo&i, zoLvrt "hovXm dio-zOTCiz. 

It being dishonourable to rank those, who had been in one engagement at 
sea, with the Platceans (that is, to honour them with the privileges of 
Athenian citizens), and from slaves to make them masters, as one affirms 
in Aristophanes. 2 Whence there was a law enacted, whereby the public 
criers were forbidden to proclaim the freedom of a slave in the theatre, 
that being a place of public concourse, and frequented by men of other 
cities, who would, on that account, have less value for the privileges of 
Athens. 3 Lastly, the avrtteuhgoi, slaves made free, were termed v'o6oi 9 or 
bastards; v'o@oi ykg ovrot wgo; rovs \h, yzvsrris \Xiv@i(3ov;, they being under a 
sort of illegitimacy , if compared with the genuine and free-born citizens. 4 
A tribute of twelve drachms was exacted of the Miromoi, and the same, 
with the addition of three oboli, was required of the freedmen. 5 They 
were also obliged to choose a <z-gotrram$ f who was to be no other than the 
master out of whose service they had been released. Upon him they 
attended almost in the same manner with the Roman liberti and clientes ; 
but in case they behaved themselves stubbornly and ungratefully towards 
him, he had power to arrest them and carry them before a judge, by 
whom, if they were found guilty, they were deprived of their liberty, and 
reduced to their former miserable condition. But if the judge acquitted 
them, they became nXzw; iXivfo^oi, entirely free from the master. This 
action was termed atfotrracrUv Vixn, which name was also given to the 
complaints made by servants and freedmen against their masters and 
patrons, which both of them were allowed to prefer, if they were not 
treated with all the humanity that was due to their respective conditions: 
but because all the freedmen's public business, like that of the Miroixoi, 
was to be managed chiefly by proxies, at their restoration to liberty, both 
of them had the privilege of choosing an l<?!rgo<zros, or curator, who, in 
case his client received any injury from his patron, was to defend him, 



1 Chrysip. de Concord, ii. 2 Ranis, act ii. seen. 6. 3 yEsch. Orat. in Ctesiph. 

4 Nonnus in Nazian. Srij/Ur. d. 5 Harpocrat. 

G 



74 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



appeal for him, and plead his cause before the judges, who, from respect 
to the patron, were appointed out of his own tribe. 1 

This was the condition of slaves in Athens, which, though in itself 
deplorable enough, yet, if compared with that of their fellow-sufferers in 
other cities, seems very easy, at least tolerable, and not to be repined 
at. I might here give an account of the various conditions of slaves in the 
several countries of Greece, such as the Penestse in Thessaly ; the Clarotae 
and Mnoitse in Crete; the Corynephori in Sicyon; the Gymnitee at Argos, 
and many others ; but I shall only at present advert to the state of the 
Helotse in Sparta, which, because of the frequent mention made of them 
in authors, must not be omitted; and from their treatment, though they 
were a more genteel sort of slaves, and enjoyed more privileges 2 than the 
rest, will appear the truth of what Plutarch tells us, was commonly said of 
Sparta, 'Ev ActKi^cx.'lfjt,ovt rov Ikivh^ov fcciXurra, ikiufegov uvxi, xcci rov *hovkov 
pcckic-Tu. ^oukov, that in Sparta, he that was free was most so j and he that 
was a slave was the greatest slave in the world. 

The Helotse were so called from Helos, a Laconian town, conquered 
by the Spartans, who made all the inhabitants prisoners of war, and re- 
duced them into the condition of slaves. 4 

The freemen of Sparta were forbidden the exercise of any mean or mecha- 
nical employment ; and therefore the whole care of supplying the city with 
necessaries was devolved upon the Helots ; the ground was tilled, and all 
sorts of trades managed by them ; whilst their masters, gentlemen-like, 
spent all their time in dancing and feasting, in their exercises, hunting 
matches, and the Xia-^i, or places where good company used to meet . 5 

To be condemned to such drudgeries all their lives might have been at 
least supportable, had they not been also treated in the most barbarous 
manner, and often murdered, without committing any fault, and with- 
out any show of justice. Of this the x^vrrta,, or secret law, the in- 
vention whereof some ascribe to the Ephori, others to Lycurgus, is a 
sufficient proof. 1 It was an ordinance (these are Plutarch's own words), 
by which those who had the care of the young men, dispatched privately 
some of the ablest of them into the country from time to time, armed only 
with daggers, and taking a littlo necessary provision with them : these in 
the daytime hid themselves in the thickets and clefts, and there lay close ; 
but in the night issued out into the highways, and murdered all the 
Helots they could light upon: sometimes they set upon them by day, 
as they were at work in the field, and killed them in cold blood, as 

l 1 Suidas, Harpocrat. logy, and that by no means pro- rendered under conditions; at 

2 Pollux, ili. 8. bable, since such a Gentile name least Theopompus calls them 

3 Plut. Lycnrg. as EUc.j (which seems to be the Achaeans. as well as the others. 

4 Strabo, viii. Harpocrat. more ancient form) cannot by It appears however more pro* 
The common account of the any method of formation have babie that they were an aborigi- 

origin of this class is, that the been derived from "eXoj. The nal race, which was subdued at 

inhabitants of the maritime town word El'Acoj is probably a deriva- a very early period, and which 

Heios were reduced by Sparta tive from^EXw in a passive sense, immediately passed over as 

to this state of degradation, af- and consequently means the pri- slaves to the Doric conquerors, 

ter an insurrection against the soners. Perhaps it signifies Midler's Dorians, vol. ii. p. 30. 

Dorians already established in those who were t*ken after ha v- 5 PiuL Lycurg. 

power. This explanation how- ing resisted to the uttermost, 

«ver rests merely on an etymo- whereas the Peiiosci had sur- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



75 



Thucydides reports in his history of the Peloponnesian war. The same 
author tells us (with Plutarch), that a good number of them, being 
crowned by proclamation (which was a token of their being set free), en- 
franchised for their good services, and led about to all the temples in token 
of honour, disappeared all of a sudden, being about the number of two 
thousand ; and no man either then, or since, could give any account how 
they came by their deaths. Aristotle adds, that the Ephori, so soon as 
they were entered into their office, used to declare war against them, that 
they might be massacred with a pretence of law.' 1 

4 It is confessed on all hands (proceeds my author), that the Spartans 
dealt with them very hardly ; for it was a thing common to force them to 
drink to excess, and to lead them in that condition into their public halls, that 
their children might see what a contemptible and beastly sight a drunken 
man is. They made them to dance uncomely dances, and to sing ridi- 
culous songs; forbidding them expressly to use any thing that was serious 
and manly, because they would not have them profaned by their mouths. 
For this reason, when the Thebans made an incursion into Laconia, and 
took a great number of the Helots prisoners, they could by no means per- 
suade them to sing the odes of Terpander, Alcman, or Spendon, poets in 
repute at Lacedaemon ; for, said they, they are our masters' songs, we 
dare not sing them.' 2 



1 The fearful word crypteia 
is of itself sufficient to show the 
unhappy f.ite of the Helots, and 
the cruelty of their masters. 
By this word is generally under- 
stood, a chase of the Helots, an- 
nually undertaken at a fixed 
time by the youth of Sparta, 
who either assassinated them by 
night, or massacred them for- 
mally in open day, in order to 
lessen their numbers, and weak- 
en their power. Iscci at js speaks 
of this institution in a very con- 
fused manner, and from mere 
report, Aristot e however, as 
well as Heraclides of Pontus, 
attribute it to Lycurgus, and re- 
present it as a war which the 
JSph irs themse'.v-s, on entering 
upon their yearly office, pro- 
claimed agrinst the Helots. Tiius 
it was a regularly legalized mas- 
sacre, and the more barb .reus, 
as its periodical arrival could be 
foreseen by the unhappy victims. 
And yet were not these Helots, 
who in many districts lived en- 
tirely alone, united by despair 
for the s >ke of common protec- 
tion, and did they not every year 
kindle a most bloody and deter- 
mined war throughout the whole 
of Laconia ? Such are the inex- 
tricable difficulties in which we 
are involved b. r giving credit to 
the received accounts: the solu- 
tion of which is to be found in 
the speech of Megillus the Spar- 
tan, in the Laws of Plato, who 
is there celebrating the manner 
uf inuring his countrymen to 
hardships. "There is also 
tmongst us," he says, M what is 



called the crypteia (^puTrreia), the 
pain of undergoing which is 
scarcely credible. It consists in 
going barefoot in storms, in en- 
during the privations of the 
camp, performing menial offices 
without a servant, and wander- 
ing night and day through the 
whole country." The same is 
more cleai iy expressed in another 
passage, where the philosopher 
settles, that in his state sixty 
agionomi or phylarchs should 
each choose twelve young men 
from the age of twenty-five to 
thirty, and send them as guards 
in succession through the seve- 
ral disnicts, in order to inspect 
the fortresses, roads, and public 
buildings in the country; for 
which purpose they should have 
power to make free use of She 
slaves. During this time they 
were to live sparingly, to minis- 
ter to their own wants, and 
range through the whole coun- 
try in arms without intermis- 
sion, both in winter and summer. 
These persons were to be called 
upviTTol, or ayefia.v6fj.oi. Can it 
be supposed that Piato would 
have here used the name of 
crypteia. if it signified a secret 
murder of the Helots, or rather, if 
there was not an exact agreement 
in essentials between the insti- 
tution which he proposed, and 
that in existence at Sparta, al- 
though the latter was perhaps 
one of greater hardship and 
severity ? The youth of Sparta 
were also sent oal under certain 
officers, partly for the purpose 
of training them to hardship s, 

g2 



partly of inspecting the territory 
of Sparta, which was of consid- 
erable extent, and who kept, we 
may suppose, a strict watch up- 
on the Helots, who living by 
themselves, and entirely separat- 
ed from their masters, must 
have been for that reason the 
more formidable to Sparta. We 
must allow that oppression and 
severity were not sufficiently 
provided against; only the aim 
of the custom was wholly differ- 
ent; though perhaps it is reck- 
oned by Thucynides among those 
institutions, which, as he says, 
were established tor the purpose 
of keeping a watch over the 
Helots. 

It is hardly necessary to re- 
mark, that this established in- 
stitution of the crypteia was in 
no way connected with those 
measures to which Sparta 
thought herself compelled in 
hazardous circumstances to re- 
sort. Thucydides leaves us to 
guess the fate of the 2000 He- 
lots, who, after having been des- 
tined for the field, suddenly Dis- 
appeared, It was the cuise of 
this bondage (which Plato terms 
the hardest in Greece) that the 
slaves abandoned their masters 
when they stood in greatest need 
of their assistance; and hence 
the Sparians were even com- 
pelled to stipulate in treaties for 
aid against their own subjects — 
Midler's Dorians, vol. ii. pp. 40 
—43. 

2 Plut. Lycurg. 

Plutarch relates, that the 
Helots were compelled to intoxi- 



76 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Having taken a survey of the usage slaves generally met with amongst 
the ancients, it remains that I state how they fell into this deplorable con- 
dition, from that liberty which all men are by nature made masters of. 
And it seems to have happened these three ways: First, from poverty, 
whereby men, being unable to subsist of themselves, and perhaps deeply 
in . debt, were forced to part with their freedom, and yield themselves 
slaves to such as were able to maintain them ; or sell their bodies to their 
creditors, and pay them in service what the}' were not able to do in 
money. Secondly, vast numbers were reduced to slavery by the chance 
of war, by which the conquered became wholly at the disposal of their con- 
querors. Thirdly, by the perfidiousness of those that traded in slaves, 
who often stole persons of ingenuous birth and education, and sold them. 
The Thessalians, according to Aristophanes, were notorious for this sort of 
villany. But if any person was convicted of having betrayed a freeman, 
he was severely punished by Solon's laws, unless it were his daughter, or 
sisters, whom the laws permitted them to sell for slaves, when convicted 
of fornication. 1 

At Athens, several places in the forum were appointed for the sale of 
slaves, of which I have spoken already ; and upon the first day of every 
month the merchants called ' Avhotz^ohoxa^f/iXoi brought them into the mar- 
ket, and exposed them to sale, 2 the crier standing upon a stone erected 
for that purpose, called crgurhg ti0o$ 9 and calling the people together;* 
whence Cicero opprobriously calls the tribunes emptos de lapide, because 
they were suspected to have been hired for the management of a certain 
aflair. 4 

At Athens, when a slave was first brought home, there was an enter- 
tainment provided to welcome him to his new service, and certain sweet- 
meats were poured upon his head, which for that reason were called xaroi- 
%u>r/uoi7u. 5 But I do not find that this ceremony was practised in other 
places ; though, in all countries, slaves were bought and sold like other 
commodities. The Thracians are particularly remarkable for purchasing 
them with salt, and therefore they were called Ugos aXcs hyoo ao- pivot. 
Eustathius adds, that c AXavH<ra ^ouXxgiu signified those that were bought 
at a very low rate. The Chians are reported to have been the first that 
gave money for slaves, 6 whereas before they had usually been exchanged 
for other commodities, which was the ancient way of trading before the 

cate themselves, and perform in- laws did not bind servants to and gave an account of its insti- 
decent dances, as a warning to strict temperance , and hence ex- tutions, seized upon particular 
the Spartan youth ; but common amples of drunkenness among cases which they had imperfect- 
sense is opposed to so absurd a them might have served as a )y observed, and, without know- 
method of education. Is it pos- means of recommending sobrie- ing their real nature, described 
sible that the Spartans should ty. It was also an established them in the light suggested by 
have so degraded the men whom regulation, that the national their own false prepossessions, — 
they appointed as tutors over songs and darlces of Sparta were Mullcr's Dot tans, vol. ii. pp. 
their young children ? Female forbidden to the Helots, who, on 39, 40. 
Helots also discharged the office the other hand, had some extra- 1 Plut. Solone. 
of nurse in the royal palaces, vacant and lascivious dances pe- 2 Aristoph. 2%. Equit. 
and doubtless obtained all the culiar to themselves, which may 3 Pollux, iii, 8. 
affection with which the atten- have given risa to the above re- 4 Orat. in Pisonem. 
dants of early youth were hon- port. We must moreover also 5 Aristoph. Pluto, et Pollux, 
oured in ancient times. It is bear in mind, that most of the loc cit. 

however certain that the Doric strangers who visited Sparta, 6 Goal. Rhod. Antiq. xxv, &'. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



77 



invention of money. Homer's heroes are often said to have exchanged 
their captives for provisions. 1 

Whence it appears, that the barbarous oppression and cruelty used to- 
wards slaves was not an effect of the pride of later ages, but practised in 
the most primitive and simple times : how long it continued is not certain. 

Adrian is said to have been the first who took away from masters the 
power of putting their slaves to death without being called to account for 
it. In the reign of Nero, and other cruel emperors of Rome, the mas- 
ters were forced to give them civil treatment, lest they should accuse 
them as persons disaffected to the government. 

But the growth of Christianity in the world seems to have put a final 
period to that unlimited power which lords in former ages claimed over 
their slaves; for the Christians behaved themselves with mildness and 
gentleness towards them ; partly to encourage them to embrace the Chris- 
tian religion, the propagating of which they aimed at more than the pro- 
motion of their own private interests; and partly, because they thought it 
barbarous and unnatural, that persons endued by nature with the same 
powers and faculties, the same tempers and inclinations, with themselves, 
should be treated with no more kindness than those creatures w-hich are 
without reason, and have no power to reflect on their own condition, nor 
to be sensible of the miseries they lie under. 



CHAP. XI. 

OF THE ATHENIAN MAGISTRATES. 

The magistrates of Athens are divided by iEschines 2 into three sorts ; 
the ground of which distinction is taken from the different methods of their 
election and promotion. 3 



1 Iliad, vii. 475. 

2 Orat. in Ctes. Ulpian in 
Androt. 

3 Unlike the regulations of 
modem states, the judicial de- 
partment did not farm in Gresce 
a separate branch of the govern- 
ment. On the contrary, it was 
bo intimately connected wit., the 
rest, that it can with difficulty 
be made a separate object of in- 
vestigation. There is hardly any 
subject in Grecian antiquities so 
intricate, or difficult of explana- 
tion ; and yet without a know- 
ledge of it, no correct view of 
the ancient states can be form- 
ed. Our present object is t-> de- 
velope the general character of 
the judicial ins.it uiions, without 
entering into particulars result- 
ing the organization of the Athe- 
nian courts. All that we have 
to say upon this subject will find 
a place in our inquiries concern- 
ing that state. 

The want of accounts is the 



chief, though not the only, 
source of the difficulty which at- 
tends this investigation with re- 
spect to every state except Ath- 
ens. From the want of unifor- 
mity, as well as the singular 
character of many of the regula- 
tions, it would be difficult to 
take a general survpy of the sub- 
ject, even if the historical infor- 
mation were abundant. To gain 
a correct view of it, some atten- 
tion must ba paid to its history. 

The principle that a man 
must be tried by his peers, pre- 
vailed among the Greeks. The 
community consisted of citizens, 
who cither were, or claimed to 
be equal. It discussed all af- 
fairs relating to itself, and hence 
actions at law among the rest. 
Thus the public assembly per- 
formed the office of judge; and 
the foundation of the popular 
courts of justice was laid. A 
notion then prevailed (which 
never has been adopted in our 
G 3 



modern constitutions) that it was 
essential for a citizen to take 
part in the administration of jus- 
tice. Even in those of our mo- 
dern states, which in so many 
things resemble the Grecian, viz. 
the Germ.in imperial cities, this 
idea could never have either oc- 
curred or been put in practice. 
They had adopted the laws of an 
ancient nation, writ en in an an- 
cient language; and to under- 
stand them, a degree of* learning 
was required, of which few 
could be possessed. It was not 
so in Greece. The laws were in 
the language of the country, r nd, 
although tfieir number gradually 
increased, they were still accessi- 
ble to all. "Neither was it neees. 
sary to retain them in the me- 
mory, and have them always pre- 
sent to the mind. The orator, 
during his speech, had a reader 
at his side with a copy of them. 
Whenever he referred to any law, 
it was read aloud ; as is proved 



78 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



1. Xugorov/iro), were such as received their dignity from the people, 
met together in a lawful assembly, which on this occasion was held in the 
Pnyx; and were so called from the manner of their election, in which the 
people gave their votes by holding up their hands. 

2. T\\n°&JTo), were those that owed their promotion to lots, which were 
drawn by the thesmothetce in Theseus' temple. But it must be observed, 
that no person was permitted to try his fortune by the lots, unless he had 
been first approved by the people, who likewise reserved to themselves a 
power to appoint whom they pleased, without referring the decision to 
lots ; and thus Aristides was nominated to the office of archon. The man- 
ner of casting lots was thus:— The name of every candidate inscribed 
upon a table of brass being put into an urn, together with beans, the 
choice fell upon those persons whose tablets were drawn out with white 
beans. If any man threw more than one tablet into the urn, he suffered 
capital punishment. 1 

3. Aloiroi, were extraordinary officers, appointed by particular tribes 
or boroughs, to take care of any business ; such were the surveyors of the 
public works, and such like. 

According to Solon's constitutions no man was capable of being a 
magistrate, except he was possessed of a considerable estate ; but by Aris- 
tides 's means the poorer sort were admitted to a share in the govern- 
ment, and every free denizen rendered capable of appearing for the high- 
est preferments. Yet such was the modesty of the commons, that they 
left the chief offices, and such as the care of the commonwealth depended 
upon, to persons of superior quality, aspiring no higher than the manage- 
ment of petty and trivial business. 2 Yet they seem to have been after- 
wards made incapable of bearing offices. Plutarch, in the life of Phocion, 
mentions some who were <z<zro\l'/;(p{(r0ivrz$ tov tfoXinvpuros tik tvjv vrivtocv, 
incapable of the government by reason of their poverty. Neither is it 
improbable, that as different factions and interests became prevalent, 
sometimes the nobility admitted the commons to a participation of em- 
ployments and offices, and sometimes again excluded them. 

But though no man's quality or condition could exempt him from bear- 
ing public offices, yet his course of life and behaviour might; for if any 
man had lived a vicious and scandalous life, he was thought unworthy of 
the meanest office, it being improbable that a person who could not behave 
himself so as to gain reputation in a private capacity, should be able to 
demean himself prudently and wisely in a public station ; or, that he, who 
had neglected his own concerns, or failed in the management of them, 
should be capable of undertaking public business, and providing for the 
commonwealth. Before any man therefore was admitted to a public em- 
ployment, he was obliged to give an account of himself and his past life, 

hy a multitude of examples in liged to peruse written docu- 1 Demosth, Orat. in Boeotum 

Demosihenes and others. Every- merits; they listened, and gave de Nomine, 

thing was, however, transacted their votes. — Heeren's History of 2 Xenoph. de Rep. Athen. 

orally. The judges were not ob« Ancient Greece, p, 18:'. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



79 



before certain judges in the forum, which was the place appointed for his 
examination, which they called hzipctir'iK. 1 Nor was this alone thought 
sufficient ; for though at this time they passed the trial with credit, yet in 
the first ordinary {kvo'iol) assembly after the election, they were a second 
time brought to the test, when, if any thing scandalous was made out 
against them, they were deprived of their honours. 2 Of the magistrates 
appointed by lots, whoever had the misfortune to be deprived after his 
election, was prohibited from coming to the public assembly, and making 
orations to the people. 3 But it was a capital crime fur any man to enter 
upon the magistracy whilst unable to pay his debts. Actions of this nature 
were heard by the thesmothetre. 4 When their offices expired, they were 
obliged to give an account of their management to the notaries (yoctupa- 
t£?>,) and the logistce, which was called ib&vv/is ; and if any man neglected 
to do it, or had not undergone the former probation, the people were for- 
bidden, by an express law, to present him with a crown, which was the 
usual reward of such as had gained themselves honour and reputation by 
the careful and wise management of public employments. Till their ac- 
counts were passed, they were not permitted to sue 5 for any other office, 
or place of trust, or to travel into any foreign country, or to dispose of their 
estates, or any part of them, whether by will or consecrating them to pious 
uses, or any other way ; but the whole was to remain entire, that in case 
they should be found to have embezzled the public revenues, the city might 
not lose by them. The (Xoyia-rcc)) logistce who examined the accounts, were 
ten. If any magistrate neglected to give in his accounts, they preferred 
against him an action, which was termed aXoyla. o'iz'/i. 6 If any contro- 
versy happened, it was determined by proper judges. If it was concern- 
ing money, the logistce themselves were empowered to decide it. If it 
concerned afiairs which belonged to the popular assembly, they referred 
thither. If it was about injuries committed, it was brought before the 
judges, who used to have cognizance of such causes. 7 Every man was 
permitted to ofibr his complaint, proclamation being usually made by the 
public crier in this form: Tts fiovXirut KccryiyooiTv: who will accuse ? 8 The 
time limited for complaint was thirty days, which being past no magistrate 
could have any farther trouble. If any person against whom a complaint 
was preferred, refused to appear at the time appointed, he was summoned 
to defend himself before the senate of five hundred : where, if he did not 
make his appearance, he was punished with (nrtfiix) infamy. 

This was the method of examining into the behaviour of magistrates 
after the expiration of their offices. Neither were they exempted from 
being brought to trial during their magistracy ; it being the custom for 
the nine archons in every ordinary and stated (xvoia,) assembly of the peo- 
ple to propound this question, "Whether the magistrates were faithful in 

1. Lysis Orat. 5n Evandr. 4 Demosth. Lept. et Timocr. tj Hesych. 

iEschin. con. Tiu;arch. 5 Suidas, Hesych. JEschin. 7 Uipian. in Demosth. Orat. 

2 Dwtiosth. in Theocr. Orat. de Emer.t. Lcgat. Idem in .de Falsa Legat. Pollux. 

c Peuiosth in Aristegit. Otesiphont. 8 ..fisch. Orat. adv. Ctesiph. 



so 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the discharge of their several duties ? If upon that, any of them -was 
accused, the crier made proclamation, that such as thought the accusation 
just, should lift up their hands; which action was termed KccTot^zt^oroyU. 
This being over, the rest of the assembly, to whom the magistrate ap- 
peared innocent, held up their hands, which was ocro^n^oua.} Then 
the voices being numbered on both sides, the majority carried it. 

The day on which the magistrates entered upon their offices was the 
first of Hecatombreon, the first month in the Athenian calendar ; it was a 
solemn festival, which, from the occasion, had the name of E<V*jrn*/a ? and 
was celebrated with all the expressions of mirth and joy usual on such 
occasions. Sacrifices were offered to the gods by the senators, and most 
of the other magistrates ; and prayers made for the prosperity of the city, 
in the chapel of Jupiter and Minerva the Counsellors. 2 



CHAP. XII. 

OF THE NINE ARCHONS, &C. 



The chief magistrates of Athens were nine in number, and had all the 
common name of Archontes, or rulers. They were elected by lots, but 
were not admitted to their offices till they had undergone a twofold trial, 
one in the senate-house, called ccvcx-KOHrt?, and a second in the forum, called 
^oxiucca-loc. The questions which the senate proposed to them were such 
as these, Whether they were descended from ancestors that had been citi- 
zens of Athens for three generations ? Of what tribe and hundred they 
were, and whether they bore any relation to Apollo Patrius and Jupiter 
Herceus ? "Whether they had been dutiful to their parents, had served 
in the wars, and had a competent estate ? 3 Lastly, Whether they were 
afe7*us, perfect in all the members of their bodies ? it being otherwise un- 
lawful for them to be archons. Some are of opinion, that the same ques- 
tions were demanded of all other magistrates. 4 We must not omit in this 
place, that by the forementioned question concerning their relation to 
Apollo Patrius and Jupiter Herceus, was inquired whether they were 
freeborn citizens of Athens (they alone being permitted to execute the 
office of archon) ; for all the Athenians claimed a sort of relation to these 
gods. Hence we are told by the scholiast on 5 Aristophanes, that the 
archons honoured Apollo Patrius as their progenitor, when they were ad- 
mitted into their office ; lx yu^ rov yM t^ivcti, %'ivov; e&vrou; Ivsyi^ov, be~ 
cause such as had no acquaintance with him ivcre reputed foreigners. 
Whence that saying of Aristophanes : 6 

1 Suidas, cujus elegans est 3 Demosth. in Eubulid. Pol- 6 Avibus, p. 5.06, edit. An> 
hac de re locus. lux Onom. viii, 9. stelod. 

2 Suidas, Uipian. la Median. 4 Dictearch. centra Aristogit. 
Antiphon. Orat. de Ciioreuta. 5 Nubibus. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



81 



*09iv o ^otroaio; icrriv 

For they are not barbarians who live with Apollo Patrius. But after- 
wards, when the Athenian glory was in the declension, not only men of 
the half blood of Athens, but even foreigners, who had been admitted mto 
the city, were made archons. Examples whereof are, Adrian before he 
was advanced to be emperor of Rome; 1 and Plutarch, who relates, 2 that 
he himself was honoured with the freedom of Athens, made a member of 
the tribe Leontis, and afterwards bore the office of archon. 

But what was more peculiar to these magistrates, was the oath required 
of them before their admission, in the portico called Bour'iXuo; <r<rocc, or 
<roog tm x'dekt, at the stone tribunal, in the forum, to this effect: That they 
would observe the laws, and administer justice without partiality, would 
never be corrupted by bribes, or, if they were, would dedicate a statue 
of gold of equal weight with their own bodies, to the Delphian Apollo. 
From thence the}' went into the citadel, and there repeated the same 
oath. This custom was instituted by Solon, as we are informed by Plu- 
tarch in his life of that lawgiver. He mentions only the thesmothetre : 
but that the other archons took the same oath, is evident from Plato, by 
whom Phajdrus is introduced, promising to dedicate at Delphi a golden 
statue equal to himself in weight, <*W«£ ol IvAoc "Ac%ovn;, after the man- 
ner of the nine archons. 

Tins done, they undertook their charge, some parts of which were to 
be executed by them separately, according to their respective offices; 
others equally concerned them all. They all had the power of punishing 
malefactors with death, were all crowned with garlands of myrtle ; they 
had a joint commission for appointing the Aixgco-to,) and 'A^Xo^ra/, by 
lots, electing out of every tribe one; as also of constituting the "Yx-ttu.^oi, 
$'jXuo%ci, and JZrgzTKyii ; of inquiring into the behaviour and manage- 
ment of other magistrates, and deposing such as were by the suffrages of 
the people declared to be unworthy of bearing the office which had been 
committed to them. 3 As a recompense of their services, they were free 
from all taxes and contributions exacted of other citizens for the building 
of ships of war, which was an immunity never granted to any besides 
themselves. If any person had the insolence to strike, or publicly affront 
any of the archons, adorned with their crowns, or any other to whom the 
citizens had given a crown, or other honour or immunity, he was to be 
punished with infamy (u<rip'ta), as guilty of a disrespect not only to the 
person whom he had injured, but to the whole commonwealth. 4 

Thus much of the nine archons in common : I shall now speak of them 
severally; only first begging leave to say, that concerning the origin of 
their names nothing certain is recorded; but Sigonius conjectures, that 
the name of Bac-tXib;, and "A^^v, were in imitation of the chief magis- 



1 XifhiL Radr. Phlegin Trallianus. 2 Sympos. i. prob. 10, el x, prob. alt. 

3 Pollux, ibid. Idea- ubique laudatur in bis capitibus. 4 Demosth. in Mid. 



S2 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



trates of former ages, wherein the city was first governed by kings, and 
then by archons ; and that of YloXifiao^os, in memory of the general of 
the army, an officer usually created by the first kings, to assist them in 
times of war. The ©s^a^sra/, as the name imports, seem to have been 
constituted in behalf of the people, to protect them hi the possession of 
their laws and liberties, from the usurpation of the other archons, whose 
power before Solon's regulation of the commonwealth, seems to have been 
far greater and more unbounded than afterwards; for by that lawgiver it 
was ordered, that their offices should chiefly consist in these things which 
follow: — 

v Ao%wv, so called by way of eminence, was chief of the nine, and is 
sometimes named 'Evravvp,o$ 9 because the year took its denomination from 
him. His jurisdiction reached both ecclesiastical and civil affairs. It 
was his business to determine all causes betwixt men and their wives ; 
concerning wives brought to bed after the death of their husbands; con- 
cerning wills and testaments; concerning dowries and legacies; to take 
care of orphans, and provide tutors and guardians for them; to hear the 
complaints of such as had been injured by their neighbours, and to punish 
such as were addicted to drunkenness ; also to take the first cognizance 
of some public actions, such as those called ilira.yyi'kta.i, <p&c<rns, l^zi%u;, 
\(P'/iy/,<Tiis. He kept a court of judicature in the Odeum, where trials 
about victuals and other necessaries were brought before him. It was his 
duty also to appoint curators, called 'EjrifAsXvjrx), to make provision for 
the celebration of the feasts called Aiovucncc, and Qagy/iXtu, with some 
other solemnities; to regulate stage plays, and to provide singers, choris- 
ters, and other necessaries for them. 1 He was to be punished with death, 
if convicted of being overcome with drink during the time of his office. 

'Botfftkzv;, had a court of judicature in the royal portico, where he de- 
cided all disputes which happened amongst the priests, and the sacred 
families, such as were the Ceryces, Eteobutada;, &c. to whom certain 
offices in the celebration of divine worship belonged by inheritance. Such 
also as were accused of impiety, or profanation of any of the mysteries, 
temples, or other sacred things, were brought before him. It was his 
business to assist in the celebration of the Eleusinian and Lenjean festi- 
vals, and all those in which they ran races with torches in their hands, 
viz. Panathencea, Hephcestia, and Promethea; and to ofler public sacrifi- 
ces for the safety and prosperity of the commonwealth. It was required 
that his wife, whom they termed Botarikurffu, should be a citizen of the 
whole blood of Athens, and a virgin, which was likewise enjoined by the 
Jewish law to the high priest; otherwise neither of them was duly quali- 
fied to preside over the mysteries and rites of their several religions. 2 
Besides this, he had some concernment in secular affairs ; for disputes 
about inanimate things were brought before him; as also accusations of 

1 Pollux Onom. Lysias in Alcib. Demost.li. in 2 Demosth. in Neaeram. 
Macar. Suidas, Harpocrat. et ubique in his capi- 
tibiu. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



83 



murder, which it was his husiness to take an account of, and then refer 
them to the areopagites, amongst whom he had a right of suffrage, but 
was obliged to lay aside his crown (which was one of the badges of his 
office) during the trial. 1 

Uo\'i/u,ufi%osj had under his care all the strangers and sojourners in 
Athens, and exercised the same authority over them winch was used by 
the archon towards the citizens. It was his duty to offer a solemn sacri- 
" fice to Enyalius (who is by some taken for Mars, by others for one of his 
attendants), and another to Diana, surnamed 'Ay^T^a, from one of the 
Athenian boroughs ; to celebrate the exequies of the famous patriot Har- 
modius, and to take care that the children of those men that had lost their 
lives in their country's service should have a competent maintenance out 
of the public exchequer. 

But because these three magistrates were often, by reason of their 
youth, not so well skilled in the laws and customs of their country as 
might have been wished, that they might not be left wholly to themselves, 
it was customary for each of them to make choice of two persons of age, 
gravity, and reputation, to sit with them upon the bench, and direct them 
as there was occasion. These they called TloigzSgoi, or assessors, and 
obliged them to undergo the same probation in the senate-house, and pub- 
lic forum, with the other magistrates; and like them too, to give an ac- 
count how they had behaved themselves in their respective trusts, when 
their offices expired. 

The six remaining archons were called by one common name, 0?<r- 
poDirtci. They received complaints against persons guilty of false accu- 
sations, of calumniating, of bribery, of impiety, which also was part of the 
king's office, but with this difference, that the accusers did only QaUuv rov 
uffifhri, inform against the impious by word of mouth at the king's tribunal ; 
whereas, before the thesmothetce, they did y^aQnv, deliver their indict- 
ment in writing, and prosecute the criminal. Also all causes and dis- 
putes between the citizens and strangers, sojourners, or slaves, and con- 
troversies about trade and merchandise, were brought before them. 
Appeals to the people were preferred, the public examination of several 
of the magistrates performed, and the suffrages in public assemblies taken 
by them. They ratified all public contracts and leagues, appointed the 
days upon which the judges were to sit and hear causes in their several 
courts of judicature ; took care that no laws should be established but such 
as conduced to the safety and prosperity of the commonwealth, and pro- 
secuted those that endeavoured to seduce the unwary multitude, and per- 
suade them to give their consent to what was contrary to the interest of 
the commonwealth. 

'Eu^uvoi, were ten officers appointed to assist the archons, to pass the 
accounts of the magistrates, and to set a fine upon such as they found to 



1 Demostli. in Lacritum et in Neaoram. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



have embezzled the public treasure, or any way injured the commonwealth 
by their mal-administration. 1 Aristotle tells us they were sometimes 
called 'Elzrcarrui, and ^w/iyoooi, and others will have them to be the same 
with the Aoyta-ru)-, but these are by Aristotle said to be distinguished 
from them. 



CHAP. XIII. 

OF THE ATHENIAN MAGISTRATES. 

Oi 'ivbtxa, the eleven, so called from their number, were elected out of 
the body of the people, each of the ten tribes sending one; to which there 
was added a r^^aray;, or register, to make up the number; sometimes 
they were called N^p^a^, keepers of the laivs, which appellation was 
taken from their office, being in some tilings not unlike that of our 
sheriffs, for they were to see malefactors put to execution, and had the 
charge of such as were committed to the public prison. They had also 
power to seize thieves, kidnappers, and highwaymen, upon suspicion; 
and if they confessed the fact, to put them to death ; if not, they were 
obliged to prosecute them in a judicial way. 

$'j\ez0%oi, were magistrates that presided over the Athenian tribes, one 
of which was allotted to each of them. Afterwards tins name became 
peculiar to a military command ; and the governors of tribes were called 
'Evipo.'/irett (puXatf. Their business was to take care of the public trea- 
sure winch belonged to each tribe, to manage all their concerns, and call 
them together to consult, as often as any thing happened which required 
the presence of the whole body. 

^uXo[haffiXi7g, seem to have had in most things the same office, with 
respect to particular tribes, that the BaociX&vs had with respect to the com- 
monwealth. They were chosen out of the Eiivargfieu, or nobility, ha~ 
the care of public sacrifices, and other divine worship peculiar to their 
respective tribes, and kept their court in the portico called Bsio-tXuov, and 
sometimes in the BovxoXsTov. 

$gu>rg'ia()%oi, and Totrrvup^ci, had in the several ^owo'tca and T^ittvi; 
the same power that the ^Cxctpvos exercised over the whole tribe. 

Ar,(s,a.QX i oi, had the same offices in the Ar,poi, took care of their revenues, 
out of which they paid all the duties required of them, assembled the 
people in the boroughs under their jurisdiction, all whose names they had 
written in a register, and presided at the election of senators and other 
magistrates chosen by lot. Sometimes we find them called NauV^ww, 
and the boroughs Na&xg«g/«/ f because each of them was obliged, besides 
two horsemen, to furnish out one ship for the public service. 



1 Polit. vi. c. ult. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



35 



An^lao^ci, were six in chief, but were assisted by thirty inferior officers, 
in laying lines upon such as came not to public assemblies, and making 
scrutiny amongst those that were present: such also as were busy in the 
market they compelled to leave their buying and selling, and attend on 
the public business ; the winch they did by the help of the To?orcti, who 
were certain inferior officers, or rather servants, much like the Roman 
lictors, and our sheriffs' liverymen, bailiffs, &c. The city of Athens had 
a thousand of them, that lived in tents erected in the middle of the forum, 
and were afterwards removed to the areopagus. Their name seems to 
have been taken from the arms they usually carried with them, in the same 
maimer that the lifeguards of kings are called Ac^uQo^ai. Sometimes they 
are called esaytJoffm 'E-rccrrai, a name which was taken from their offices ; 
sometimes Uiva-lvioi, from Peusinus, one of the primitive Athenians, that 
either first instituted this office, or gave rules for the ordering of it ; and 
sometimes 2x,vt>ai, from the country of Scythia ; for generally men of that 
country were chosen into this place, as being brawny sturdy fellows : and 
therefore one of them is introduced by Aristophanes, speaking in an 
uncouth and barbarous manner. 1 But to return to the Lexiarchi: they 
were the persons that had the keeping of the >.ihctp%izov y^x^a-ruov, or 
Xivzcopx, or public register of the whole city, in which were written the 
names of all the citizens, as soon as they came to be of age to enter upon 
their paternal inheritance, which they called kr&s. 

'iSopotpvXctx.i; , were officers, whose business it was to see that neither-the 
magistrates nor common people made any innovation upon the laws, and 
to punish the stubborn and disobedient. 2 To this end, in public assem- 
blies they had seats appointed with the n^'oih^i, that they might be ready 
to oppose any man that should act contrary to the laws and received cus- 
toms, or promote any tiring against the public good. As a token of the 
honourable station they were placed in, they always wore a white ribband 
in the solemn games and public shows, and had chairs erected for them 
over against those of the nine archons. 

"5sofjco0'i<rcLi, were a thousand in number, who were commonly chosen by 
lot out of such as had been judges in the court Helicea. Their office was 
not, as the name seems to imply, to enact new laws by their own authority, 
for that could not be done without the approbation of the senate, and the 
people's ratification, but to inspect the old; and, if they found any of them 
useless or prejudicial, as the state of affairs then stood, or contradictory to 
others, they caused them to be abrogated by an act of the people. Besides 
this, they were to take care that no man should plough or dig deep ditches 
within the Pelasgian wall, to apprehend the offenders, and send them to 
the archon. 



1 Aristoph. ejusque Schol. Acharn. et Thesmoph. 2 Cic. de Leg. iii, Cohim. de Re Rust. xii. 3. 



H 



86 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XIV. 



OF THE ATHENIAN MAGISTRATES. 



The treasurers and general receivers of Athens were of several sorts ; but 

before I proceed to give an account of their offices, it will be necessary to 
premise a word or two concerning the public revenues ; l which are, by the 
accurate Si gonitis, divided into the four following sorts: — 

1 Nothing was known of the were regularly assessed-, but they nected with them ; and partly, at 

balance of trade, and consequent- were only coll cted when extra- least at Athens, and probably in 

ly nil the violent measures re- ordinary supplies were required." other maritime towns, the fitting 

suiting from it were never de- This example shows very clear- out of the galleys. The first 

vis-jd by the Greeks. They had ly, that the Greeks knew practi- class of these expenses was from 

duties as well as the moderns; cally the difference between di- its nature permanent*, and the 

but those duties were exacted rect and indirect taxes; bui it other was almost, though not 

only for the sake of increasing the still remains doubtful, whether perfectly so. Ttiey were borne 

public revenue, not to direct the the tax on the soil was a land by the citizens in rotation; those 

efforts of domestic industry by tax in the modern sense, levied who were free one year, being 

the prohibition of certain wares, according to its area and quality; obliged to defray them the next. 

There was no prohibition of the or whether it was a tax on the But these imposts, especially the 

exportation of ihe raw produce; raw produce. The first is not first, were the more oppressive 

no encouragement of manufac- probable. We hear nothing of from the circumstance of their 

tures at the expense of the agri- a register of landed estates in not being fixed at any certain 

culturalists. In this respect, Greece; though there was one amount; but depended, not mere- 

therefore, there existed a freedom in the great empire of Persia, ly on the wants of the state, but 

of industry, commerce, and trade. It is more probable that a por- the pride of him who supplied 

And such was the general cus- tiou of the produce of the soil them. 

torn. As everything was decided was taken, and commonly a tithe, The indirect taxes (by which 
by circumstances and not by as Aristotle expressly mentions, we mean the duties paid on the 
theories, there may have been of fruits and of cattle. importation and exportation of 
single exceptions and perhaps Poll taxes were less frequent- commodities, as also on their 
single examples, where the state ly levied on the citizens than on consumption) were probably as 
for a season usurped a monopoly, the inquilini, or resident aliens, common in tlie Grecian cities as 
Bat how tar was this from the These formed in most of the those above mentioned. The in- 
mercantile and restrictive system Grecian cities a numerous class stance of the city Menda which 
of the moderns ! of inhabitants, and were obliged we have already cited, shows 

Aristotle, fficon. ii. 1., after to pay for protection a sum which that they were, in some instances 

classifying the sources of re- was sometimes a poll tax, and at least, preferred to the direct 

venue in monarchies,with respect sometimes a tax on proj erty. taxes. The objects on which 

to the general no less than the We know with certainty that such they were levied, and manner of 

provincial administration, con- duties were paid by the foreign- collecting them, were in a great 

linues : "The third kind of ad- ers at Athens! measure determined by the silua- 

•ninistration is that of republics. The tuxes on property were tion and peculiar employment of 

In them, the principal source of not so regular as to be paid from the cities. Duties were naturally 

revenue is from the produce of year to year according to the a much more productive source 

their own soil; the second from same fixed standard. The ne- of revenue to the maritime and 

merchandise and the markets; cessary sums were rather voted commercial towns, than to the 

the third from the contributions as circumstances required; which cities of the interior. But where 

pa id by the citizens in turn." also decided the degree of vigour these taxes were introduced, they 

When we learn that these last with which they were collected, were a constant source of in- 

were a sort of prop -rty tax for Of this we have many examples come; while the taxes on pro- 

the richer class, and that the in Demosthenes and others. In perty were each time imposed 

secoad could have be-m nothing times of peace, whole years might anew. From this it naturally 

but duties on articles of consump- pass away in which no such taxes resulted, that the former were 

tion, we perceive at once, that in were required to be paid ; while chiefly destined to meet the cur- 

the Grecian states, our direct in others they increased so much, rent expenses, 

and indirect taxes were estab- that Isocrates said that it was Our knowledge of the Greek 

lished, though, in technical lan- almost better to be a poor than system of custom duties is very 

guage, the distinction was dift'er- a rich man; the poor not being imperfect: yet we cannot doubt 

eotly made. exposed to them. that such duties were almost uni- 

In the economy of the modern There were certain kinds of versally levied. But they were 

6tates, the taxes on lands and expenses which were not esti- most probably limited to the 

houses are considered the most mated at a fixed amount, but seaports and harbours, in connec- 

irnportant of all direct taxes, were too considerable to be borne tion with which they are almost 

Now wi'h both these the Greeks by any but the opulent; we always mentioned; I know of no 

certainly were acquainted. "In mean those offices which each instance of customs in the inte- 

Menda," says Aristo le, G\con. citizen was obliged to perform in rior. They were, according to 

ii. 2. 21., "the common expenses his turn, and at his own cost Aristotle, levied on imported and 

of the administration are paid (XetrovpyUi). To this class be- exponed articles. At Athens, 

from the revenue derived from longed partly the charge of the the custom duties are frequently 

too harbours and duties; while pulilic festivals and shows, ban- mentioned by the orators; in 

the taxes on land and houses quets, and bands of music con- Thessaly they formed the chief 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



87 



1. Ti\n, signify those revenues that were brought in by lands, mines, 
woods, and other public possessions, set apart for the use of the common- 
wealth ; and the tributes paid by the sojourners and the freed servants ; as 
also the customs required of certain arts and trades, and particularly of 
merchants, for the exportation and importation of their goods. 

2. $gooi, were the annual payments exacted of all their tributary cities, 
winch, after Xerxes's overthrow, were first levied by the Athenians, as 
contributions to enable them to carry on the war, in case, as was feared, 
the enemy should make a new invasion upon them. The first collector 
of this tax was Aristides, who (as Plutarch reports in Ins life) assessed all 
particular persons, town by town, according to every man's ability; and 
the sum raised by him amounted to four hundred and sixty talents. To 
this Pericles added near a third part (proceeds my author) ; for Thucy- 
dides repor ts, that in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, the Atheni- 
ans had coming in from their confederates six hundred talents. After 
Pericles's death, the orators and men powerful amongst the people, pro- 
ceeded to increase it by little and little, till it amounted to one thousand and 
three hundred talents ; and that not so much because of the extraordinary 
expensiveness of the wars, as by exciting the people to largesses, playhouse 
expenses, and the erecting of statues and temples. 

3. E/V^fl^at/, were taxes laid upon the citizens, as well as sojourners, and 
freed servants, by order of the assembly and senate, for the defraying of 
extraordinary charges occasioned by long and unsuccessful wars, or any 
other means. 

4. Tiy.rifia.ra, were fines and amercements, all which were carried into 
the exchequer, except the tenth part, which was given to Minerva, and 
the fiftieth part, which belonged to the rest of the gods, and the heroes 
called 'EtfMvvpot. 1 Having said thus much of the public money, I shall 
now proceed to the persons that had the disposal and management of it. 



source of revenue ; and they 
were not of less importance in 
Macedonia. When the Atheni- 
ans became masters of the i^Egean 
sea, they appropriated t<> them- 
selves, in ail subject islands, the 
collection of the custom duties 
instead of the tribute which had 
before been exacted. The same 
was done with the very produc- 
tive du!i<-s of Byzantium, which 
were paid by all ships trading to 
the B.ack sea in the same man- 
ner as dues are now levied on 
merchant vessels at the Sound. 
This comparison is the more 
just, as the duties of Byzantium, 
no less than those in the Sound, 
have been the occasion of a war. 

The rates seem to have been 
very different in the several 
cities, and for the different arti- 
cles of merchandise. At Byzan- 
tium the duty was ten per cent, 
of the value of the commodities. 
The Athenians, on the contrary, 
"hen they imposed duties in the 
harbours of their allies during 



the Peloponnesian war, required 
ordy five per cent. In Athens 
itself there were, at least in the 
time of Demosthenes, several 
articles which paid a duty of only 
two per cent. Among these was 
foreign corn ; and several other 
articles, such as fine woollen 
garments and vessels of silver. 

Beside the taxes already enu- 
merated, there were other parti- 
cular ones on various articles of 
luxury. Thus at Ephesus, a tax 
was paid for wearing gold on the 
clothes; and in Lycia for wear- 
ing false hair. Examples are 
preserved by Aristotle, where, 
in cases of necessity, single cities 
adopted various extraordinary 
measures, such as the sale of the 
public estates, the sale of the 
rights of citizenship, taxes on 
several professions and employ- 
ments, as of conjurers and 
quacks, and monopolies, of which 
the state possessed itself for asea- 
son.— Heeren, pp. 163, 174 — 180. 

1 The Grecian temples had, 

H 2 



for the most p;rt, possessions of 
their own, which served to de- 
fray the expenses incurred in the 
service of the god. These pos- 
sessions consisted partly in vo- 
tive presents, which had been 
consecrated (especially where the 
divinities of health and prophecy 
were adored) by the hopes or the 
gratitude of the suppliants lor 
advice and counsel. We know 
from several examples, especial- 
ly from that of the temple of 
Delphi, that treasures were there 
accumulated, of more value, 
probably, than those of Loretto, 
or any other shrine in Europe. 
We could desire more accurate 
information respecting the ad- 
ministration of the treasures of 
the temples , for it seems hardly 
credible, that the great stores of 
unwroughtgold and silver should 
have been left entirely unem- 
ployed. But besides these trea- 
sures, the temples drew a large 
part of their revenue from lands ; 
which were not unfrequently 



58 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



*&tfiffru.<rn; i was elected by lot out of the prytanes, and had in his cus- 
tody the keys of the public exchequer ; which trust was thought so great, 
that no man was permitted to enjoy it above once. Of the rest of the 
honours and offices of this magistrate I shall speak in another place. 

Uatkvire&t, were ten in number, and, together with those that had the 
care of the money allowed for shows, had the power of letting out the 
tribute-money, and other public revenues, and selling estates that were 
confiscated ; all which bargains were ratified in the name of their presi- 
dent. Besides this, it was their office to convict such as had not paid 
their tribute, called pno'iKiM, and sell them by auction. Under these 
were certain inferior officers, called 'ExXoyu}, whose business it was to 
collect the public money, for such as had leases of the city's revenues, 
whom they called TsA&iva/; these were always persons of good credit 
themselves, and besides their own bonds, were obliged to give other 
security for the payment of the money due according to their leases ; in 
which, if they failed any longer than till the ninth Prytanea, they were 
under a forfeiture of twice the principal, to be paid by themselves or their 
sureties; upon neglect of which, they were all cast into prison, and their 
estates confiscated. 1 After the expulsion of the thirty tyrants, certain 
officers called Syv^xw, were created, with power to take cognizance of all 
complaints about the confiscation of goods, as appears from an oration of 
Lysias in behalf of Nicias. 

'E-riygxtpiT;, were officers that rated all those of whom taxes and contri- 
butions were required, according to every man's ability, kept the public 
accounts, and prosecuted such as were behind-hand with their contribu- 
tions. 

? Acr<j2s*<r«/, were ten general receivers, to whom all the public revenues, 
contribution-money, and debts owed to the public were paid ; which done, 
they registered all their receptions, and crossed out of the public debt-book 
such as had discharged their debts, in the presence of the whole senate. 
If any controversy happened about the money or taxes, they had power to 
decide it, unless it was a difficult or knotty point, or of high concern; for 
such they referred to the hearing of some of the courts of judicature. 

'Awygu<pth$ ?vs piovXr,?, was a public notary, appointed at the first 
institution of the office by election, and afterwards by lots, to take a coun- 
terpart of the accounts of the *A?re$s*r«/, for the prevention of all deceit 
and mistakes. 

'EXX'/ivorctfiiui, or 'EXX'/ivorctpiaTot, had the same offices in the tributary 
cities that belonged to the 'Asra|s*sns/ in their own territories. 

Ugu xrogs$, were those that received the money due to the city from 
fines laid upon criminals. 

consecrated to their service, the temple, the priests, the vari- all the costs connected with 
"When a new colony was founded, ous persons employed in the ser- them, still continued a burden 
it was usual to devote at once a vice of the temples, and perhaps to the public— Heeren, pp. 171, 
part of its territory to the gods, the daily sacrifices; yet the in- 172. 

But although these resources cense and other expenses, the 1 Suidas, Ulpianus in Demos- 
were sufficient for the support of celebration of the festivals with then. &c. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



89 



Txuiett rod ©sou, xca rm ®iwv, were those that received that part of the 
fines which was due to Minerva and the rest of the gods, which was 
done before the senate. They were ten in number, were chosen by lots 
out of the YlivrccKoo-n^ifAvoi, or nobles, and had power of remitting any 
man's fine, if it was shown to them that the magistrates had unjustly 
imposed it. Pollux tells us, they were the same with those they called 
KaXazgiroii; and these, as the scholiast upon Aristophanes reports, used 
to receive not only the money due to the gods from fines, but other 
incomes designed for civil uses, and particularly the r^iw&oXa., distributed 
amongst the judges, and therefore called ^iKcurnrixo; puxQU. They were 
so named q. KeuXwy^iTcai, because they were a kind of priests, and used 
to claim as their due the relics of sacrifices, amongst which were the skins 
and the zuXxt. 1 

Z'Amra.), were officers appointed upon extraordinary occasions to inquire 
after the public debts, when through the neglect of the receivers, or by 
other means, they were run up to large sums, and began to be in danger 
of being lost, if not called in. 

The distinction of the officers hitherto mentioned has been taken chiefly 
from the different receptions of the public money; I shall proceed in 
Sigonius's method, and give an account, in the next place, of those that 
were distinguished by the different manners of disbursing it. The public 
treasure was divided into three sorts, according to the various uses to 
which it was employed ; the first they called, 

1. Xgwaara rns ^loiKr.ff-ui, being such as were expended in civil uses. 

2. ^.T^ocriuriKa,, those that were required to defray the charges of the 
ivar. 

3. Q-sogixx, such as were consecrated to pious uses; in which they 
included the expenses at plays, public shows, and festivals, because most 
of them were celebrated in honour of some of the gods, or in memory of 
some deceased hero; and Pollux tells us, the money given to the judges 
and the people that met in the public assemblies, was called by this name. 
There is a law mentioned by Demosthenes, 3 whereby this money was 
commanded, when the necessary expenses of war could not otherwise be 
provided for, to be applied to that use. This, Eubulus (to ingratiate him- 
self with the commonalty, who were generally more concerned to maintain 
the public shows and festivals than the most necessary war) caused to be 
abrogated, and at the same time to be declared a capital crime for any 
man to propound that the ©i^^taa, ^^ar« should be applied for the 
service of the war. 3 

Totftia; 7v>: ^toiKYiazai;, otherwise called 'Estt^X*?-!-^ <ruv xoivuv w^rSton, 
was the principal treasurer, being far superior to all the rest in honour and 
power, created by the people, and continued in his office for five years; 
after which, if he had behaved himself with honesty and integrity, it was 
an usual thing for him to be elected a second and third time. 



1 Aristoph. Schol. Avibus, Vespis. 



2 Orat. in Neaeram. 
H 3 



3 Ulpianus in Olynthiac. <£• 



90 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



'Avnygcctpzu; <rr,s oioixfuriu;, seems to have been one that kept a coun- 
terpart of the chief treasurer's accounts, to preserve them from being 
falsified or corrupted. 

Ta/xia,? tojv (TT^awT/x&v, was the paymaster-general of the army. 

Tafias <ruv Szcdpixav, or 'O \m Szcooix'X, had the disposal of the Szoosnta, 
%wfAa,r* for the uses above mentioned. But the greatest and most 
troublesome part of his office consisted in distributing them to the poor 
citizens, to buy seats in the theatre : which custom was first begun and 
enacted into a law by Pericles, to ingratiate himself with the common- 
alty: 1 for as Libanius observes, in the primitive ages of the commonwealth, 
when the theatres were composed of wood, the people being eager of 
getting places, used to quarrel among themselves, and sometimes beat and 
wound one another ; to prevent which inconvenience, it was ordered that 
every one, before he entered into the theatre, should pay two oboli, or a 
drachm according to Harpocration, for admittance; and lest by this 
means the poorer sort should be deprived of the pleasure of seeing, every 
man was allowed to demand that sum of the public exchequer. 8 



CHAP. XV. 

OF THE ATHENIAN MAGISTRATES. 

2IT0NAI, were so called from their office, which was to lay in corn for 
the use of the city; and to this end the Tuplag *m hotKYHrza; was to furnish 
them with as much money as they had occasion for. Athens was seated 
in a barren and unfruitful country, which was not able to furnish its own 
inhabitants with necessary provisions, whereby they were forced to fetch 
com from foreign nations, and supply their own wants by the superfluities 
of others: and this it was that caused them to institute this office. 

*2iro(pv*ccx.zs, were fifteen in number, ten of whom officiated in the city, 
and five in the Piraeus ; their business was to take care that corn and 
meal should not be sold at too dear a price and to appoint the assize of bread. 
Nearly related to these were the 'Stropzrgui, or 1 A<r/>^zKrex,7oi, whose office 
was to see that the measures of corn were just and equal. 

'Ayogavofitoi, sometimes termed Aoyiffra.), 3 were ten in number, five 
belonging to the city, and as many to the Piraeus. Others make them 
fifteen ; ten whereof they give to the city, and five to the Piraeeus, which 
was reckoned a third part of Athens. To these men a certain toll or 
tribute was paid by all those who brought any thing to sell in the market: 
whence Dicseopolis is introduced by Aristophanes, 4 demanding an eel of a 
Boeotian for the rzXog rrns ocyopa,;, toll of the market : 

'Ayogois TiXo; rotOr'/y yi-zov $a<rzis lf*6t. 



1 Plut. Pericle. 2 In Olynth. 3 Aristoph. Schol. in Achyrn. 4 Acham. act i. seen. 4. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



91 



This thou shalt give me for toll of the market; for their business lay in 
the market, where they had the care of all vendibles, except corn ; and 
were especially obliged to see that no man wronged, or any way circum- 
vented another in buying or selling. 1 

NirgovofAot, were officers that inspected all sorts of measures, except 
those of com ; there were five of them in the city, and double that number 
in the Pirseeus, in which the greatest mart in Attica was kept. 

'O-^/ovouoi, were officers who took care of the fish-market. They were 
two or three in number, and chosen by the senate. 2 Their name is 
derived from oypov, which, though originally of a more general signification, 
is many times appropriated to fish. Thus, Plutarch 3 has informed us: 

I'Jany other things being called o-^a, that name is nevertheless now applied 
only, or chiefly, to fish : whence h-^uoiov is used in that sense by St John. 4 

'Euvreg'tov \~iy.iXr t To.), were officers that belonged to the haven; they 
were ten in number, and the chief part of their business was to take care 
that two parts at least of all the com which was brought into the port 
should be carried into the city, and that no silver should be exported by 
any private person, except such as designed to trade in corn. 5 

mmuTohiKcti, or "ICfi^ts-Tobizcu, had cognizance of controversies that hap- 
pened between merchants and mariners, and examined persons, that, 
being the children of strangers both by the father and mother's side, had 
by fraud inserted their names into the public register, thereby claiming 
the privileges of freeborn citizens ; this they did upon the 26th of every 
month. Not much different from these were the 'Etfuycoyus, according 
to Si gonitis and Emmius's account of them; only they were to hear such 
causes in matters of trade as required despatch, and could not be deferred 
to the monthly sessions of the 'S^urohixeu. But Pollux tells us, that be- 
sides those trials, they had cognizance of controversies about feasts and 
public entertainments. 

' Ao-Tuvcpoi, were officers who took care of the streets, and several other 
things, especially such as any way concerned the streets, srf^ rs tmv uvkv- 
rofivv, xoc) zocrgaXoyajv, tea.) tojv roiovrcov, of the minstrels and singers, and 
scavengers, and such like. Aristotle, as he is cited by Harpocration, 
makes ten astynomi, five in the city, and as many in the Pirseeus. But 
Samuel Petitus enlarges their number, as likewise that of the agoranomi, 
to fifteen ; ten of whom he would have to officiate in the city, and five in 
the Piraeus, which was never accounted more than a- third part of 
Athens; and therefore he thinks that the numbers in Harpocration have 
been by some accident or other changed. But as this is no certain way 
of arguing, so it is not improbable that the Pirseeus, though only a third 
part of Athens, yet being a very great and celebrated mart might find 
employment for as many agoranomi and astynomi as the other two parts. 



I Theophrast. de Leg. 2 Athenseus, vi. Eustath. ad Iliad. X'. 3 Symposiac. iv. prob. 4. 

4 Evangelii, vi. 9. 5 Deniosth. in Lacrit. Harpocr. 



92 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



We are informed by 1 Demosthenes that no man served in this office 
oftener than once. 

^Ohotfoio), were the surveyors of the ways. 

'Etriprcircit rcov vhdrcov, were those that took care of the aqueducts, and 
other conveyances of water; but the fountains belonged to other officers, 
called KgnvoQvXuxts. The offices of these four are by Aristotle compre- 
hended under the name of carruvop'tu. 

1 'Eff 'ia rurai rwv Inpoe'icov sgycov, were officers with whom were intrusted 
the care, contrivance, and management of all public edifices, except the 
city walls, for which there were peculiar curators, called from their offices 
Tit^o-roto), whose number was usually the same with that of the tribes, every 
one of which had the choice of one Tii%o<7oios, as often as occasion required. 

2u<Pgaviffreti, were ten in number, and, as their name imports, took care 
that the young men behaved themselves with sobriety and moderation? 
For this same end, the thesmothetas used to walk about the city in the 
night time, and correct such as they found committing any disorder. 3 

OiyoTrat, were three officers that provided lights and torches at the 
public entertainments, and took care that every man drank his due pro- 
portion. 4 

rwuiKovofioi, also had an office at public feasts, sacrifices, marriages, and 
other solemnities, and took care that nothing should be done contrary to 
custom. 5 

TwetixoKofffAoif were magistrates, whose business it was to regulate the 
women's apparel, according to the rules of modesty and decency, and set 
a fine upon such as were too nice and fantastical in their dresses, which 
they exposed to public view in the Ceramicus. 

Aurovoyo), were persons of considerable estates, who by their own tribe, 
or the whole people, were ordered to perform some public duty, or supply 
the commonwealth with necessaries at their own expenses. Of these there 
were several sorts, all which were elected out of twelve hundred of the 
richest citizens, who were appointed by the people to undergo, when they 
should be required, all the burdensome and chargeable offices in the com- 
monwealth, every tribe electing a hundred and twenty out of their own 
body, though, as Sigonius has observed, this was contrary to Solon's con- 
stitution, by which every man, of what quality soever, was obliged to 
serve the public according to his ability, with this exception only, that two 
offices should not be imposed on the same person at once, as we are 
informed by Demosthenes in his oration against Leptines, where he like- 
wise mentions an ancient law, requiring every man to undergo some of 
the Xurov^y'iou every second year. 

These twelve hundred were divided into two parts, one of which con- 
sisted of such as were possessed of the greatest estates, the other of per- 
sons of meaner abilities. Each of these was divided into ten companies, 

1 Conf. Demos, procem. 6-i. 2 ^schin. in Axiocho. 3 Ulplan. in Orat. advers. Mediam. 

4 Athenaeus, x. 5 Idem, vi. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



93 



called evppoQiai, which were distinct bodies, and had distinct governors 
and officers of their own. They were again subdivided into two parts, 
according to the estates of the persons that composed them ; and thus, 
out of the first ten <ruppo£icu were appointed three hundred of the most 
wealthy citizens in Athens, who, upon all exigencies, were to furnish the 
commonwealth with necessary supplies of money, and together with the 
rest of the twelve hundred were required to perform all extraordinary 
duties in their turns. 1 The institution of these ffvy.uo^Ui happened about 
the third year of the 100th Olympiad, Nausinicus being archon. Before 
that time, such as were unable to bear the expense of any Xurov^yiu 
assigned to them, had relief from the uvritotfts, or exchange of goods, 
which was one of Solon's inventions, and performed in the following 
manner: — If any person appointed to undergo one of the Kurov^ytoii, or 
duties, could find another citizen of better substance than himself, who 
was free from all the duties, then the informer was excused. But in case 
the person thus substituted in the other's place denied himself to be the 
richest, then they exchanged estates in this manner: The doors of their 
houses were close shut up and sealed, lest any thing should be carried 
thence. Then both the men took the following oath: 'A&oQutvea *nv 
cuff'tuv <njv Ifjcocvrov ogHw; xou ^ixcc'ico;, crA'^v <r£v iv tois 'igyoig ro7$ agyvgsioig, 
otrx xou vofjio; ocnXn ^i<7rToi7iH.cc<ri* I will truly and faithfully discover all 
my substance, except that which lies in the silver mines, which the laws 
have excused from all imposts and taxes. Then within three days a full 
discovery was made of their whole estates, and this was termed utf'oQaffts. 
Neither was this custom wholly laid aside upon the institution of the fore- 
mentioned ffufif&og'iut ; but then and afterwards, if any one of the three 
hundred citizens could give information of any other person more wealthy 
than himself, who had been passed by in the nomination, the informer was 
excused. 2 This whole controversy was termed huhxaffta, the sense of 
which word is so much enlarged by some, as to be equivalent to the 
general terms, xgurtg and uptyicfinrvKTtg ; 3 and by others 4 is restrained to 
the controversies happening between the ^o^yo), though perhaps these 
may be taken in general for the Xurov^yo), one remarkable part being put 
for the whole. This must be observed farther, that if any controversy 
happened between such as were appointed rgwgctgxn, it was to be brought 
before the trrgarnyogt who had the care of all warlike preparations, and 
by him to be referred to the customary judges; the rest of the hot^rxccffiai 
seem to have belonged to other magistrates. 

Of the duties to be undergone in the fore-mentioned matters, some 
concerned the affairs of peace, others related to those of war. The duties 
of peace were chiefly three, %»(>'/iyici, yufAvxriagx'ta and Iffrtetcris. Those 
of war were two, rginoetQ%iM and utrtpo^a,. 

Xognyo), were at the expense of players, singers, dancers, and musi- 



1 Ulp. in Olynth. ii. et Aphob. 1. 
3 Hesychius. 



2 Conf. Demosth. in Leptin. et Pftsenip. 
4 Suidas. 



94 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



cians, as oft as there was occasion for them at the celebration of their 
public festivals, and solemnities. 1 

Tupva.ff'ictQx.ot, were at the charge of the oil, and such like necessaries 
for the wrestlers, and other combatants. 2 

'Eff-T/aragsff tmv QvXuiv, were such as, upon public festivals, made an 
entertainment for the whole tribe. 3 Besides those who were appointed 
by lots to this office, others voluntarily undertook it, to ingratiate them- 
selves. 4 It may be farther observed, that the piroizot, sojourners, had 
also their itrwarog&s, by whom they were entertained. 

Tg/97£a££M, were obliged to provide all sorts of necessaries for the fleet, 5 
and to buijd ships. To this office no certain number of men was nomin- 
ated ; but their number was increased or diminished according to the 
value of their estates, and the exigencies of the commonwealth. 

E/Vps£0v<res, were required, according to their abilities, to supply the 
public with money for the payment of the army, and other occasions.6 

Besides these, upon extraordinary occasions, when the usual supplies 
were not sufficient, as in times of long and dangerous wars, the rich citi- 
zens used generously to contribute as much as they were able to the pub- 
lic necessities, besides what was required of them and could not be avoid- 
ed These are by Pollux called l^tYilovn;, hri$oaw ? u<npioovn;, \x,o»-i$, 

iOiXoiToiij &C. 

Others there were, who were not properly magistrates, yet because 
they were employed in public business, must not be omitted in this place. 

Such were the o-jvSikoi, or orators, appointed by the people, to plead in 
behalf of any law which was to be abrogated or enacted, of whom I have 
spoken in another place. These men, though differing from those who 
are next to be mentioned, were sometimes termed p^oc&;, and o-uvriyo^oi, 
and their fee, <ro ffwr,yooi>iov. Lest this office, which was created for the 
benefit of the commonwealth, should be abused to the private advantage 
of particular men, there was a law enacted, whereby the people were pro- 
hibited from conferring it twice upon the same person. 7 

'Psf-r^s?, were ten in number, elected by lots, to plead public causes in 
the senate-house or assembly ; and for every cause wherein they were 
retained, they received a drachm out of the public exchequer. They 
were sometimes called o-vwyoooi, and their fee, to <rwnyogixov. s No man 
was admitted to this office under the age of forty years: 9 though others 
think it was lawful to plead both in the senate-house and before the public 
assembly at the age of thirty. Neither were they permitted to execute this 
office till their valour in war, piety to their parents, prudence in the man- 
agement of affairs, frugality, and temperance, had been examined into. 
The heads of which examination are set down amongst the laws of Athens. 



1 Lysias Orat. de Muneribus. 
Piut. de Piudentia Athenien- 
sium. 

2 Ulpianus in Leptin. 

3 Demosth. Mediana et Lep- 
tiniana. 



4 Pollux. 

5 Plut. loco citato. 

6 Lysias Orat. dn Muneribus. 

7 D^mnsthenes in Lfcptin. 
ibidenique Uipian. 



8 Aristophan. Scholiast, in 
Vesp. pag. 464. edit. Am it 

9 Aristophunis Scholiasies 
Nubibus. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



95 



Tloirfisi;, were ambassadors chosen by the senate, or most commonly 
by the suffrages of the people, to treat with foreign states. Sometimes 
they were sent with full power to act according as they should judge most 
conducive to the safety and honour of the commonwealth, and then they 
were Hgtirfiu; kvtoxqoitop*;, or plenipotentiaries, and were not obliged at 
their return home to render an account of their proceedings: but their 
power was usually limited, and they were liable to be called in question 
if they exceeded their commission, by concluding any business besides 
what they were sent about, or in any other manner than what was pre- 
scribed them. During the time of their employment they received a 
salary out of the exchequer. Whether that was always the same does 
not certainly appear ; but it is more probable that, like the pay of soldiers, 
and other salaries, it was first very small, and afterwards, when the com- 
monwealth flourished with trade and riches, raised to a greater value. 
When Euthymenes was archon, they received every day two drachms : 

iShtrBov (pi^ovTCiz duo 'hoat.'fcfjLcc; vjf&zpots 

We were sent to the great king (of Persia) with an attoivance of two 
drachms a day, Euthymenes being archon. Those who faithfully dis- 
charged their embassies were publicly entertained by the senate in the 
Prytaneum:2 those who had been wanting in care and diligence were 
fined. 3 But such as undertook any embassy without the designation of 
the senate or people, were punished with death. 4 

The Ho'trfius were usually attended by a xn£o% 9 or herald; and some- 
times the kyi^vkz? were sent upon embassies by themselves, as Sigonius 
observes, especially in the primitive times, when all embassies were per- 
formed by these men, who were accounted sacred and inviolable, not only 
as being descended from Mercury, and employed in his office, but because 
they were public mediators, without whom all intercourse and hopes of 
reconcilement between enemies must be at an end. Therefore, as Eusta- 
thius observes, 5 whenever Ulysses in his travels despatched his scouts to 
discover what sort of country and people the winds and seas had brought 
them to, he always sent a r~/\^v\ along with them, whereby they were 
secured from receiving any harm in all parts of the world whither they 
were driven, except in the countries of the Lsestrygones, Cyclopes, and 
such savages as were altogether void of humanity. 

Y£ct/u,p,ctri7$, notaries, were of several sorts, and employed by several 
magistrates; concerning whom this may be observed in general, that for 
the prevention of fraud, and deceit, a law was enacted, rt; 2); vvro- 
y^xufzccnvy} Tyj airy otgxy, that no man shoull serve the same magistrate 
in the quality of a notary above once. Besides these, there were other 
yoctppu.<rus, notaries, who had the custody of the laws and the public 



1 Anstoph. Acharnensibus, act i. seen. 2. 3 Thucydidls Scholiastes, vi. 

2 Demosthenis Orat.de Falsa Legat. ibique 4 Damostlienes, loco citato. 
Ulpianus. 5 Iliad, i, p. 183, edit. Basil. 



93 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



records, which it was their business to write and to repeat to the people and 
senate when so required. These were three in number: one chosen by 
the popular assembly, whose business was to recite before the people or 
senate ; and two appointed by the senate, one whereof was keeper of the 
laws, another of other public records. 1 The custom was for a notary to 
be appointed by every Prytanea, who laid down his office at the end of 
thirty clays, and then underwent the accustomed (ib§vr/\) examination.' 2 
It may not be improper to add in this place, that at Syracuse the office 
of notaries was very honourable, but at Athens, reputed ivrixhs u&rigtfM, 
a mean employment f and executed by those who are called by the Greeks 
^ny/oa-ioi, by the Roman lawyers, vulgares, or, as that word is explained, 
calones. These were commonly slaves, who had learned to read and 
write, that they might thereby become the more serviceable to their mas- 
ters. 4 One of these was that Nicomachus, against whom Lysias wrote 
his oration. 

Besides the forementioned magistrates and officers, there were several 
others, as the Uouravu;, Uoo<$goi, &c. But of these, and such as had 
military commands, or were employed in the divine service, I shall give 
an account in their proper places. 



CHAP. XVI. 

OF THE COUNCIL OF THE AMPHICTYONES. 

Being in the next place to speak of the Athenian councils, and courts of 
justice, I cannot omit the famous council of the Ampluctyones ; which 
though it sat not at Athens, nor was peculiar to that city, yet the Atheni- 
ans, and almost all the rest of the Greeks, were concerned in it. 

It is commonly thought to have been first instituted by Amphictyon, 
the son of Deucalion ; 5 but Strabo is of opinion that Acrisius, king of the 
Argives, was the first that founded and gave laws for the conduct and 
management of it ; 6 and then it must have its name from 'Aptpijcrions, 
because the inhabitants of the countries round about met in that council: 7 
Androtian in Pausanias tells us, that the primitive name of those senators 
w r a»s Amphictiones ; however in later ages it hath been changed into 
Ampluctyones. But the former opinion receives confirmation from what 
Herodotus reports of the place where this council was assembled, that is, 
that it was a temple dedicated to Amphictyon and Ceres Amphictyoneis f 
and Strabo also reports, that this goddess was worshipped by the Amphic- 
tyones. 

1 Pollux, viii. 4 Ulpianus in Olynthiac. 7 Suidas._ 

2 Lysias in Nicomachum. 5 Pausanias Phocicis. Suidas, 8 Lib. vii. 200. 

3 Libanius argumento Orat. &c. 
Deaiosth. de Falsa Legat. 6 Geogr. ix. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



97 



The place in which they assembled was called Thermopylae, and some- 
times Pylae, because it was a strait narrow passage, and, as it were, a gate 
or inlet into the country. Hence these counsellors are often called 
TluXirycocci, and the council HvXula,: 1 but the scholiast upon Sophocles tells 
us, that this name Was given them from Pylades, the friend of Orestes, 
who was the first that was arraigned in this court, having assisted in the 
murder of Clytemnestra. Sometimes they met at Delphi, where they 
were intrusted with the care of Apollo's temple, and the Pythian games, 
which were celebrated in that place, 2 the situation of which rendered it 
veiy commodious for them to assemble in, for it was seated in the midst 
of Greece, as geographers tell us. 

The persons that first composed this assembly by the appointment of 
Amphictyon, were, according to Pausanias, the representatives of the 
Ionians, amongst whom the Athenians were included, Dolopians, Thes- 
salians, iEnianians, Magnesians, Melians, Phthians, Dorians, Phocians, 
and the Locrians, who lived near Mount Cnemis, and were called upon 
that account Epicnemidii. Strabo reports, that at their first institution 
they were twelve in number, and were delegated by so many cities. 
Harpocration also, and Suidas, reckon up twelve nations of which this 
council consisted, that is, Ionians, Dorians, Perrhoebians, Boeotians, 
Magnesians, Achseans, Phthians, Melians, Dolopians, iEnianians, Del- 
phians, Phocians. iEschines reckons only eleven ; instead of the Achaeans, 
^Enianians, Delphians, and Dolopians, placing these three only, namely, 
Thessalians, (Eteeans, and Locrians. 3 

Afterwards, in the time of Philip king of Macedon, and father of Alex- 
ander the Great, the Phocians, having ransacked and spoiled the Delphian 
temple, were by a decree of the Amphictyones invaded by the rest of the 
Greeks, as a sacrilegious and impious nation, and after a ten years 7 war, 
deprived of the privilege of sitting amongst them, together with their 
allies the Lacedaemonians, who were one part of the Dorians, and under 
that name, had formerly sat in this assembly ; and their vacant places 
were supplied by the Macedonians, who were admitted, in return for the 
good services they had done in the Phocian war. But about sixty-eight 
years after, when the Gauls, under the command of Brennus, made a 
terrible invasion upon Greece, ravaging and destroying all before them, 
sparing nothing sacred or profane, and with a barbarous and sacrilegious 
fury, robbed and despoiled the Delphian temple, the Phocians behaved 
themselves with so much gallantly, signalizing themselves in the battle 
above the rest of the Greeks, that they were thought to have made a 
sufficient atonement for their former offence, and were restored to their 
ancient privilege and dignity. 4 

In the reign of Augustus Caesar, they suffered another alteration; for 
that emperor, having vanquished Antony in a sea-fight at Actium, and in 



1 RVrodot. Hesych. Suid. Harpocr. Strabo, Pausan. Achaicis. 2 Pausan. Phoc. et Achaic. aliique. 

3 Orat, Ileal ILapairptoPtias. 4 Pausail. PliOCicis. 

I 



93 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



memory of that victory, founded the city of Nicopolis, was desirous that 
its inhabitants should be admitted into this assembly, and to make way 
for them, ordered that the Magnesians, Melians, Phthians, and iEniani- 
ans, who, till that time had distinct voices, should be numbered with the 
Thessalians, and send no representatives but such as were common to 
them all; and that the right of suffrage, which formerly belonged to those 
nations, and the Dolopians (a people -whose state and name were extinct 
long before), should be given to the Nicopolitans. 1 

Strabo, who flourished in the reign of Augustus and Tiberius, reports 
that this council, as also the general assembly of the AcliEeans, was at that 
time dissolved ; but Pausanias, who lived many years after, under Anto- 
ninus Pius, assures us, that in his time it remained entire, and that the 
number of the amphictyones was then thirty, being delegated by the fol- 
lowing nations, namely, the Nicopolitans, Macedonians, Thessalians, 
Boeotians (who in former times were called iEolians, and inhabited some 
parts of Thessaly), Phocians, Delphians, Locrians, called Ozolae, with 
those that lie opposite to Euboea, Dorians, Athenians, and Euboeans. 

This assembly had every year only two set meetings, one in the begin- 
ning of spring, the other in autumn, 2 except some extraordinary occasion 
called them together. The design of their meetings was to determine 
public quarrels, and decide the differences that happened between any of 
the cities of Greece, when no other means were left to compose them. 
Before they entered upon business, they jointly sacrificed an ox, cut into 
small pieces, to Delphian Apollo, thereby signifying the union and 
agreement of the cities which they represented. Their determinations were 
always received with a great deal of respect and veneration, and held 
inviolable ; the Greeks being always ready to join against those that 
rejected them, as common enemies. 

An assembly of neighbouring cities, met to consult about the common 
good, seems usually to have been called uftpt&riovU; and besides the 
famous one already spoken of, Strabo mentions another, held in the temple 
of Neptune at Troezen, at which the delegates of the seven following states 
were present, that is, Hermione, Epidaurus, iEgina, Athens, the Persi- 
ans, Nauplians, and the Orchomenians of Bosotia. 3 



CHAP. XVII. 

OF THE ATHENIAN 'E#;t>.JJ(na/, OR PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 

EKKAH2IA, was an assembly of the people met together according to law, 
to consult about the good of the commonwealth. It consisted of all such 
as were freemen of Athens, of what quality soever, as has been elsewhere 

1 Pausan. Phocicis. 2 Strabo, loc. cit. 3 Geogr. vii. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



99 



mentioned. But such as had been punished with infamy, slaves, 

foreigners, women, and children, were excluded. In the reign of Cecrops, 
women are said to have been allowed voices in the popular assembly: 
where Minerva contending with Neptune, which of them two should be 
declared protector of Athens, and gaining the women to her party, is 
reported, by their voices, which were more numerous than those of the 
men, to have obtained the victory. 1 It was of two sorts, the first of which 
they called Kvgta, and the other 2uytcXnros. 

Kug'toii, were so called, ccvro rod xvguv t« ^n^ic^ccrcx,, because in them 
the people confirmed and ratified the decrees of the senate ; or rather 
because they were held upon r.^i^oct xvg'iou, or mout^'ivou zxi vofjc.ifjt.oi, days 
stated and appointed by law? 

They were held four times in five-and-thirty days, which was the time 
that each tfgvrocvuoc, or company of prytanes, presided in the senate. The 
first assembly was employed in approving and rejecting magistrates, in 
hearing actions called zlcrccyyiXioii, and proposals concerning the public 
good ; as also in hearing the catalogue of such possessions, as were confis- 
cated for the service of the commonwealth, and several other things. The 
second made provision both for the community and private persons ; and 
it was permitted every man to prefer any petition, or speak his judgment 
concerning either of them. In the third, audience was given to the 
ambassadors of foreign states. The fourth was wholly taken up with 
religion, and matters relating to divine worship. 3 At this time the pry- 
tanes, who were obliged S-ys/v \xu,irrori xotvy, every day to offer sacrifices 
for the public safety, seem to have acquainted the assembly with the suc- 
cess of their devotions after this manner: 'It is just and meet, O Athe- 
nians, as has been customary with you, that we should take care that the 
gods be religiously worshipped. We have therefore faithfully discharged 
this duty for you. We have sacrificed to Jupiter the Saviour, to Minerva, 
to Victory ; all which oblations have been accepted for your safety. We 
have likewise offered sacrifices to Persuasion (jLu6u), to the Mother of the 
gods, to Apollo, which have met with the like good success. Also the 
sacrifices offered to the rest of the gods, have been all secure and accept- 
able, and salutiferous: receive therefore the happiness which the gods have 
vouchsafed to grant you/ 4 The first assembly was upon the eleventh day 
of the Prytanea; the second upon the twentieth; the third upon the 
thirtieth; the fourth upon the thirty-third. Some there are that reckon 
by the month, and tell us that they had three assemblies every month, 
upon the first, tenth, and thirtieth days ; or upon the tenth, twentieth, and 
thirtieth. 5 But the former computation seems to be more agreeable to 
the custom of the ancient Athenians, amongst whom were ten n^vraviioa, 
according to the number of their tribes, each of which ruled thirty-five 
days, in which they had four assemblies. Afterwards, the number of the 



l "Varro apud Sanct. August, de Civit. Dei, xviii. 9. 
3 Pollux, viii. 8. 4 Demosth. prooem. 63. 

i 2 



2 Suidas, Aristoph. Schol. Acharn. 
5 Ulp. in Demosth. Aristoph. Schol. 



100 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



tribes being increased by an accession of two new ones, the novravux. 
were also twelve in number, each of which ruled a month, and then per- 
haps the latter computation might take place, 

^vyxXyiroi ixxXYtG-iat) were so called, asra rod evyxoiXuv, because the 
people were summoned together ; whereas in the Kvoloti, they met of their 
own accord, without receiving any notice from the magistrates, as Ulpian 
observes. 1 The persons that summoned the people, were commonly the 
y.r^a.rnyoi, the UoXi^otp^o?, or the ILyiovkis in their names, because the 
occasion of these extraordinary assemblies was, for the most part, the 
coming on of some sudden, unexpected, and dangerous war ; sometimes 
the prytanes, if the senate so ordered it, as they usually did when any 
civil affairs, in which the ^rparr,yo) were not concerned, required a 
quicker despatch than could be given them in the xv^ioti. The crier 
{xr^uQ seems to have summoned them twice at the least: whence in 
Aristophanes it is said to be full time to go to the assembly, because the 
crier had given the second call: 

"cioa Pa&^siv, i s o «^cu? dp-«oj, 'Tis the hour to go, just now the herald, 

'Huuy Trpo7i6vTt»v, devrepov Ketco/acvKsv. 3 While we advance, proclaimed his second call. 

KcirzzxXwriai, as Pollux, Hara.zXno'iic, as Ammonius, or xaraxXj;^/, 
as Hesychius calls them, were assemblies held upon some very weighty and 
momentous affair, to which they summoned not only those citizens that 
resided in the city, but all that lived hi the country, or were in the ships 
then at anchor in the haven. 

The places where the IxxXvo-'iou were assembled, were several; as first, 

'Ayoga, or the market-place ; and there, not the Athenians only, but 
most other cities, had their public meetings, because it was usually very 
capacious. Hence the assemblies themselves came to be called 'Ayogat, 
and to make a speech, ayo^ivuv, as Harpocration observes. 

Ibug, was a place near the citadel, so called ha. ro vz<vu>tv&;o-0cti r<7; 
X'lOoi?, r] Tcn7s xa.0ihou.ig, yj *hio\ to Tritfuxvojo-Qoii h olvtyi rov; (hovXivrac^ be- 
cause it teas filled with stoiies, or seats set close together, or from the 
crowds of men in the assemblies; and therefore crvvxlrvs is by the come- 
dians taken for the thronging and pressing of a multitude. 3 It was 
remarkable for nothing more than the meanness of its buildings and furni- 
ture, whereby, in ages, that most affected gaiety and splendour, it remained 
a monument of the ancient simplicity. 4 

The theatre of Bacchus, in later times, was the usual place in which 
the assemblies were held ; 5 but even then the Pnyx was not wholly for- 
saken, it being against law to decree any man a crown, or elect any of 
the magistrates, in any other place, as Pollux, or at least the ^roocrvyo), as 
Hesychius reports. 

The stated assemblies were held in the fore-mentioned places ; but such 
as were called upon extraordinaiy occasions were not confined to any cer- 



1 In Oral, de Falsa Legat. 2 Concionat. p. 6S6, Amst. 3 Anstoph. Schol. Acharn. Equit, &c. 
4 Pollux, viii. 8. 5 Demosth. Mediana. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



101 



tain place, being sometimes held in the Pirseeus, where there was a forum 
called 'I*iro$aifAUK ayog/x, in the Munychia, or any other place capacious 
enough to contain the people. 

The magistrates, that had the care and management of these assemblies, 
were the Prytanes, Epistatce, and Proedri. 

The Prytanes sometimes called the people together, and always before 
their meeting, set up a yrgoypccppa, in some place of general concourse, 
containing the matters to be consulted upon in the following assembly, in 
order that every man might have time to consider of them before he gave 
his judgment. 1 

Hgotfyoi, were so called from the first places which they had in the 
assemblies. Whilst the tribes of Athens were no more than ten, the 
proedri were nine in number, being appointed by lots out of the nine 
tribes, which at that time were exempted from being prytanes. Their 
business was to propose to the people the things they were to deliberate 
upon, and determine in that meeting, 2 at the end of which their offices 
expired. For the greater security of the laws and commonwealth from 
the attempts of ambitious and designing men, it was customary for the 
'Nof4.o<puXx%,?c, in all assemblies ffwyxadifeiv ro7g vgosSgviSt zvia }ia%co\vovTa$ 
iVi%<igorovz7v otra, un (rufMpigUy to sit with the proedri, and to hinder the 
people from decreeing any thing contrary to the public interest} By 
another law, it was likewise provided that in every assembly, one of the 
tribes should be appointed by lots, srgas^usjv, to preside at the Suggestum, 
to defend the commonwealth* by preventing the orators and others from 
propounding any thing inconsistent with the received laws, or destruc- 
tive of the peace and welfare of the city. 

'ETrnrroirns, the president of the assembly, was chosen by lots out of the 
proedri ; the chief part of his office seems to have consisted in granting 
the people liberty to give their voices, which they were not permitted to 
do till he had given the signal. 5 

If the people were remiss in coming to the assemblies, the magistrates 
used their utmost endeavours to compel them: they shut up all the gates, 
that only excepted through which they were to pass to the assembly ; they 
took care that all vendibles should be carried out of the market, that there 
might be nothing to divert them from appearing: and if this was not 
sufficient, the logistse (whose business this was) took a cord dyed with 
vermilion, with which they detached two of the Tofyrxi into the market, 
where one of them standing on one side, and another on that which was 
opposite, pursued all they found there, and marked with the cord as many 
as they caught, all of whom had a certain fine imposed upon them. 6 

Lastly, to encourage the commonalty to frequent the assemblies, it was 
decreed, at the instance of Callistratus, that an obolus should be given out 
of the exchequer to all such as came early to the place appointed for the 



1 Pollux, vlii. 8. 2 Ulp. in Tinmcrat. 3 Pollux, viii. 9. 4 ^Esch. in Timarch. 

b Harpocr. Demost. Androt. Msch. in Ctesiph. 6 Aristoph. Acharn. 

i 3 



102 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



assembly. This was afterwards increased to three oboli, at the instance 
of Agyrrhius. The expectation of this reward drew many of the poorer 
sort, who would otherwise have absented themselves. Hence Aristo- 
phanes, 1 speaking of Plutus the god of money, says, 

Is not the assembly frequented for his sake ? They who came late re- 
ceived nothing. 2 

If boisterous and tempestuous weather, or a sudden storm, which they 
called ho<rv/u.s'nz, 3 or earthquake happened, or any inauspicious omen 
appeared, the assembly was immediately adjourned. But if all things 
continued in their usual course, they proceeded pn this manner: 

First, the place where they were appointed to meet, was purified by 
killing young pigs, which, as was usual in such lustrations, they carried 
round about the utmost bounds of it ; on the outside of which no man was 
permitted to stand, because those places were accounted profane and 
unsanctified, and therefore unfit for transacting business of so great con- 
sequence as that in which the welfare and safety of the state were so 
nearly concerned: this we learn from Aristophanes, in whom the public 
crier warns the people to stand on the inside of the x^da.^a i for so they 
called the sacrifices offered at expiations: 

HapiG', cLy av evrbs %te tov KaQip/j-aros. Come nigh, and be within the expiation ground. 

The person that officiated in the lustration was called Kafaorh; and 
Jg&gt<r<riaig%p$ 3 from UUgiffrip, another name for E^a^araj 4 and 'E^r/a^w, 
according to Pollux. 

The expiatory rites being ended, the public crier made a solemn prayer 
for the prosperity of the commonwealth, and the good success of their 
counsels and undertakings. 5 For amongst the primitive Greeks, all things 
were carried on with a great show of piety and devotion ; and so great a 
share they thought their gods had in the management of human affairs, 
that they never undertook any thing of weight or moment, especially in 
public business, without having first invoked their direction and assistance. 

He then pronounced a bitter execration against such as should endea- 
vour to do any thing in that assembly to the prejudice of the common- 
wealth, praying that he and his whole family might be made remarkable 
examples of the divine vengeance. 6 

Then the crier, the proedri giving the command, repeated the voofifj- 
Xivpi or decree of the senate, upon which the assembly was then to 
deliberate. That being done, the crier proclaimed with a loud voice, T)s 
uyoQivnv fiovXlrcci rjwv v<r\^ tf&vvyp&ovra, I'tjj yiyo'/orwv ; JVhich of the men 
above fifty years old will make an oration? On this the old men propounded 
whatever they thought convenient. After which the crier, by a second 
proclamation, gave them to understand, xiyuv <ruv 9 AQyivuicov rh fiouXopzvov 
o7$ i^io-n, That every Athenian might then speak, whom the laws allowed 



\ Piut. act i. seen. 2. 2 Aristoph. Concionat. pag. 704. edit. Amst. 3 Aristoph. SchoL ibid. 

4 Aristoph. Schol. ibid, et Concionat. &C. Suidas, Harpocr. praecipae Hesych. v. Kadapjxa,. 
5 Demosth. Timocrat. 6 Demosth. n>pi napaxpe^s.-aj. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



H3 



so to do. 1 For as they judged it unreasonable that any man's quality or 
age (so he were not under thirty), should debar him from uttering what 
he had conceived for the good of the commonwealth; so, on the other 
hand, it was thought very indecent and unbecoming for young men to 
give their opinions before they had heard the sentiments of such as years 
and experience had rendered more fit and able to judge. 

But the wisdom of the lawgiver thought it not expedient to permit every 
man without distinction to deliver his opinion; for such as were convicted 
of any heinous crime, of impiety, profaneness, or debauchery, had fled 
from their colours, or were deeply indebted to the commonwealth, he 
excluded from having any thing to do in such consultations; 2 it being 
scarce probable that persons of wicked lives, or desperate fortunes, should 
do any thing conducive to the peace and prosperity of the state, but rather 
that they should design the confusion and ruin of it, that they might be 
enriched with the spoils of honest men, and be at liberty to take their full 
career in their unlawful pleasures, without the restraint of laws and fear of 
punishments. Wherefore, if any man was thought by the prytanes to be 
unfit to make an oration to the people, they enjoined him silence. Thus, 
in the assembly of women in Aristophanes, 3 Praxagora, who is there one 
of the prytanes, commands an impertinent woman to hold her peace : 

1j uiv iid^i^i, xci) x,u.Qr,cr\ outiv ya.^ Bfa 

Go you and sit down, for you are nobody. They who refused obedience 
to the prytanes were pulled down from the suggestum by the lictors 
(■Tfl^-ra/), as appears from another place of the same author. 4 

When the debates were ended, the crier, by the command of the epis- 
tata, or proedri, as others report, asked the people, Whether they would 
consent to the decree ? permitting them to give their voices, and thereby 
either establish or reject it; the doing which they called 'Exi^'/iQl^uv ro 

C ; ^,76605, 01' AiYovCCl ^Id^itOOTOvlci'J TOO ^7J/Le.M. 

The manner of giving their suffrages was by holding up their hands, 
and therefore they called it ^ncoro\ia,\ and %uoorovi7v signifies to ordain, 
or establish any thing ; a-7ro%noc<rovz7v, to disannul by suffrage. This was 
the common method of voting ; but in some cases, as particularly when 
they deprived magistrates of their offices for maladministration, they gave 
their votes in private, lest the power and greatness of the persons accused 
should lay a restraint upon them, and cause them to act contrary to their 
judgments and inclinations. The manner of voting privately was by 
casting pebbles ^r^ovi) into vessels (xalou;), which the prytanes were 
obliged to place in the assembly for this purpose. Before the use of peb- 
bles they voted with (xuxum) beans. 5 

As soon as the people had done voting, the proedri having carefully 
examined the number of the sum-ages, pronounced the decree ratified, or 
throvrn out, according as the major part had approved or rejected it. It 



1 Aristoph. Acharn. Demosth. et JEsch. in Cfesiph. 2 Demosth. in. Aristogeit. ^sch. inCtesiph. 
3 Concionatr. p. 692. edit. Amst. i Achura. act i. seen. 2. ibique Veius Schol. 5 Suidas. 



104 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



is observable, in the last place, that it was unlawful for the prytanes to 
propose any thing twice in the same assembly. 1 The business being 
over, the prytanes dismissed the assembly. 2 

Whoever desires to have a more full account of the popular assemblies 
at Athens, may consult the Concionatrices of Aristophanes, 3 where their 
whole management is accurately described. 



CHAP. XVIII. 

OF THE SENATE OF THE FIVE HUNDRED. 

By Solon's constitution, the whole power and management of affairs were 
placed in the people. It was their prerogative to receive appeals from the 
courts of justice ; to abrogate old laws, and enact new ; to make what 
alterations in the state they judged convenient; and in short, all matters, 
whether public or private, foreign or domestic, civil, military, or religi- 
ous, were determined by them. 

But as it was dangerous that things of such vast moment and concern 
should be, without any further care, committed to the disposal and man- 
agement of a giddy and unthinking multitude, who by eloquent men would 
be persuaded to enact things contrary to their own interests, and destruc- 
tive to the commonwealth, that wise lawgiver, to prevent such pernicious 
consequences, judged it absolutely necessary for the preservation of the 
state to institute a great council, consisting only of men of the best credit 
and reputation in the city, whose business it should be to inspect all mat- 
ters before they were propounded to the people, and to take care that 
nothing, but what had been diligently examined, should be brought before 
the general assembly. 4 At the same time he instituted, at least regulated, 
another council, I mean that of the Areopagites, which, though inferior to 
the former in order and power, yet was superior to it in dignity and es- 
teem, and therefore was called h civco BovXh, or the upper council: to this 
he gave the inspection and custody of the laws, supposing that the com- 
monwealth being held by these two, as it were by firm anchors, would be 
less liable to be lost by tumults, and made a prey to such as had knavery 
enough to design, and cunning and eloquence to entice the people to their 
own destruction. 5 

At the first institution of the former council, it consisted only of four 
hundred senators, one hundred of whom were appointed out of each tribe ; 
for the tribes in Solon's time were only four in number. 6 

They were elected by lots, in drawing of which they made use of beans, 
and therefore Thucydides calls them BovXsvrx; avo xvapov, and the sen- 

1 Nicia Orat. apud Thucyd. 3 Pag. 783, edit. Aurel. Alio- 5 Plut. Solone. 
vi. brog. 6 Idem, 

2 Oc yap npuravii? >vovvi Trjv 4 Plut. Solone. 
*K*«A»7£riaf. Aristoph. Acharn. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



105 



ate, BsuXriv a.<ro kvocuov. The manner of their election was thus: — On a 
certain day, before the beginning of the month Hecatombceon, the presi- 
dent of every tribe gave in the names of all the persons within his district, 
that were capable of this dignity, and had a mind to appear for it: these 
were engraven upon tablets of brass, called Uivaxicc, 1 and cast into a vessel 
set there for that purpose ; into another vessel were cast the same number 
of beans, a hundred of which were white, and all the rest black. Then 
the names of the candidates, and the beans, were drawn one by one, and 
those whose names were drawn out together with the white beans were 
received into the senate. 2 

About eighty-six years after Solon's regulation of the commonwealth, 
the number of tribes being increased by Clisthenes from four to ten, the 
senate also received an addition of one hundred, which being added to the 
former, made it consist of five hundred ; and from that time it was called 
HcvXr, -rsuv -mTeczofiuv. 

Afterwards two new tribes were added to the former, in honour of 
Antigonus, and his son Demetrius, from whom they received their names: 
and then the number of the senators was augmented by the accession of 
another hundred ; 3 for in both these last alterations, it was ordered that 
out of every tribe fifty should be elected into the senate. As to the man- 
ner of election, that continued the same, excepting only, that instead of a 
hundred white beans drawn by each tribe, they had now only fifty, accord- 
ing to the number of their senators. 

After the election of senators, they proceeded in the next place to 
appoint officers to preside in the senate, and these they called Uoordvsti. 
The maimer of their election was thus: — The names of the tribes being 
thrown into one vessel with nine black beans, and a white bean cast into 
another, the tribe whose fortune it was to be drawn out together with the 
white bean, presided first, and the rest in the order in which they were 
drawn out of the vessel ; for every tribe presided in its turn ; and there- 
fore, according to the number of tribes, the Attic year was divided into 
ten parts, each of which consisted of thirty-five days ; only the four first 
parts contained thirty-six, thereby to make the lunar year complete, which, 
according to their computation, consisted of three hundred and fifty-four 
days. 4 Others are of opinion, that those four supernumerary days were 
employed in the creation of magistrates, and that during that time the 
Athenians had no magistrates at all, 5 and therefore they called them 
* 'Avuo^oi tifAtffiftj and \\o^cns'iffiOi. Afterwards, when the tribes were in- 
creased to twelve, every one of them presided a full month in the senate, 
as we learn from Pollux. 6 The time that every company of piytanes con- 
tinued in their office was termed Ylovrania,, during which they were 
excused from all other public duties. 

1 Harpocr. 4 Harpocr. 

2 Sigomus et Emmins de Kep. Athen. etubique 5 Liban. Argument in Androtian 
in hac n irte hu.ius iibri. 6 Lib. viii. 9. 

3 S'.ephan. Byzant. de Urbb. et Fopulis. 



106 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



To prevent confusion, every Hgvravua. was divided into five weeks of 
days, by which the fifty prytanes were ranked into five decurice, each de- 
curia being to govern their week, during which time they were called 
n^'oih^t ; out of these, one, whom they elected by lots, presided over the 
rest, each of the seven days ; so that of the ten proedri, three were exclud- 
ed from presiding. 

The president of the proedri was termed 'E<n<r<r«r>7?. To his custody 
was committed the public seal, and the keys of the citadel, and the public 
exchequer. This, therefore, being an office of so great trust and power, 
no man was permitted by the laws to continue in it above one day, nor to 
be elected into it a second time. 1 

There are said to have been nine proedri distinct from the former, and 
chosen by the epistata at every convention of the senate, out of all the 
tribes, except that of which the prytanes were members. 2 Both of these 
were different from the 'Esr^ra-jj?, and U^ozh^oi in the popular assem- 
blies. 

One thing more there is remarkable in the election of senators, that 
besides those, who were immediately admitted into the senate, they chose 
subsidiaries, who, in case any of the senators were deposed for mal-admin- 
istration, or died before the expiration of their offices, should, without any 
farther trouble, supply their places; and these they called 'EsrsAa^ovrg,-. 3 

The authority of the prytanes consisted chiefly in assembling the senate, 
which, for the most part, was done once every day (festivals only except- 
ed), and oftener, if occasion required. That they might be ready to give 
audience to all such as had any thing to propose, which concerned the 
commonwealth, they constantly resorted to a common hall near the senate- 
house, called Prytaneum, in which they offered sacrifices, and had their 
diet together.* 

Every time the senate was assembled, they offered sacrifices to Jupiter 
BovXctio;, and Minerva BouXet'ix, the Counsellors, who had a chapel near 
the senate-house. 5 This they termed ii&fofyia, §utiv. G 

If any man offered any thing that deserved to be taken into considera- 
tion, they engraved it upon tablets, that all the senators might beforehand 
be acquainted with what was to be discussed at their next meeting, in 
which, a r ter the prytanes, or epistata, had propounded the matter, every 
man had liberty to declare his opinion, and give his reasons either for or 
against it. Tin's they did standing; for it is everywhere observable in 
ancient authors, that no person, of what rank or quality soever, presumed 
to speak sitting; and therefore, whenever a poetical hero makes an oration, 
he is always first said to rise. 7 

When all had done speaking, the business designed to be passed into a 
decree, was drawn up in writing by any of the prytanes, or other senators, 



1 Pollux viii. Ulpianus in 3 Harpocr. 6 Ulpianus. 
Andrntianam. 4 Pausanias. 7 Tol ot &' dvuTTo^evoj. «. t. X. 

2 Pollux, Suiilas. b Antiphon. de Choreuta. Horn. 11. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



107 



and repeated openly in the house ; l after which, leave being given by the 
epistata, or prytanes, the senators proceeded to vote, which they did in 
private, by casting beans into a vessel placed there for that purpose. The 
beans were of two sorts, black and white ; and if the number of the former 
was found to be the greatest, the proposal was rejected ; if of the latter, it 
was enacted into a decree, 2 which they called Wn(pnr/^x, and TieofiovKzvfjt.u,, 
because it was agreed upon in the senate, with a design to have it after- 
wards propounded to an assembly of the people, that it might receive from 
them a farther ratification, without which it could not be passed into a law, 
nor have any force or obligatory power after the end of that year, which 
was the time that the senators and almost all other magistrates laid down 
their commissions. 

The power of this council was very great, almost the whole care of the 
commonwealth being devolved upon them; for the commonalty being 
by Solon's constitution invested with supreme power, and intrusted with 
the management of all affairs, as well public as private, it was the pecu- 
liar charge of the senate to keep them within due bounds, to take cogniz- 
ance of every thing before it was referred to them, and to be careful that 
nothing should be propounded to them, but what they, upon mature deli- 
beration, had found to be conducive to the public good. Besides the care 
of the assembly, there were a great many things that fell under the cog- 
nizance of this court, as the accounts of magistrates at the expiration of 
their offices, 3 and the care of poor persons, that were maintained by an 
allowance out of the public exchequer. 4 It was their business to appoint 
jailors for the public prisons, and to examine and punish persons accused 
of such crimes as were not forbidden by any positive law, 5 to take care of 
the fleet, and look after the building of new men-of-war, 6 with several 
other things of great consequence. 

Now, because these were places of great trust, no man could be admit- 
ted to them till he had undergone a strict ^oKipoMrlex,, or probation, whereby 
the whole course of his life was inquired into, and found to have been man- 
aged with credit and reputation, otherwise he was rejected. 7 

To lay the greater obligation upon them, they were required to take a 
solemn oath, the substance whereof was this: 4 That they would, in all 
their councils, endeavour to promote the public good, and not advise any 
thing contrary to the laws: that they would sit as judges in what court 
soever they were elected to by lots (for several of the courts of justice were 
supplied with judges out of the senate) ; that they would never keep an 
Athenian in bonds who could give three sureties of the same quality, ex- 
cept such as had bought or collected or been engaged as a surety for the 
public revenues, and did not pay the commonwealth, and such as were 
guilty of treasonable practices against the government/ But this (as 
Demosthenes interprets it) must be understood only of criminals before 



1 Demosth. Orat. in Gtesiph. 3 Pollux viii. 8. 
et in Neaeram. 4 Harpocr. 

2 Ulpianus. 5 Pollux. 



6 Aristoph. Avibus, et Liban» 
ius Argument, in Androt. 

7 iEsch. in Timarch. 



108 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



their condemnation/ for, to put them in fetters after sentence was passed 
upon them, was no breach of the laws. But the highest punishment which 
the senate was allowed to inflict upon criminals was a fine of five hundred 
drachma. When this was thought not enough, they transmitted the 
criminal to the thesmothetse, by whom he was arraigned in the usual 
method. 2 It must not be omitted, that, after the expulsion of the thirty 
tyrants, they took an oath to observe <rhv apvyicrrictv, the act of oblivion, 
whereby all the disorders committed during the government of the tyrants 
were remitted. 

After the expiration of their trust, the senators gave an account of their 
management ; and therefore, to prevent their being exposed to the rage 
and malice of the multitude, they severely punished whatever offences 
were committed by any of their own members. If any of the senators was 
convicted of breaking his oath, committing any injustice, or behaving him- 
self otherwise than as became his order, the rest of his brethren expelled 
him, and substituted one of the ' Avri\cc%ovn; in his place. This they 
called ixtpvXXoQofitrcti, from the leaves which they made use of in giving 
their suffrages, in the same manner that the "Oerroaxx. were used by the 
commonalty in decreeing the ostracism. But tins custom was not very 
ancient, being introduced on account of one Xenotimus, an officer, who 
by changing the beans (which till that time were always made use of), 
was found to have corrupted the suffrages. 3 It was lawful rovs lx,(pu*X.o- 
(pognhvrtz; h rcy %iKccff-rn^teo xara^^jffe/, to admit those men to be judges 
who had been expelled out of the senate. Whence we may conclude, that 
it was customaiy to deprive senators of their office for very small offences. 

On the contrary, such as had behaved themselves with justice and in- 
tegrity, were rewarded with an allowance of money out of the public ex- 
chequer. 4 Every senator received a drachm a day for his maintenance. 
Whence fiovkw; Xx%i~v, to be elected by lots into the senate, is all one, ac- 
cording to Hesychius' explication, with Sga^Jjv rns -A^ioa.? Xm^uv, to 
obtain a drachm every day. If any man-of-war had been built during 
the regency, the people, in their public assembly, decreed them the hon- 
our of wearing a crown ; if not, the law prohibited them from suing for 
this privilege, as having been wanting to the commonwealth, whose safety 
and interest depended upon nothing so much as the strength and number 
of their ships. 5 This seems to have been enacted after the fight near 
Salamis, that being the first occasion which moved the Athenians to think 
of increasing their fleet. 



1 FWnosth ,. in Tin.ocrat. 3 Pollux, viii. 5. Harpocra- 4 Demosth. Timocrat. 

Mne.fb'TolL, v"ii. 9 UCr? ' tl ™- Etymolog. Suidas. 5 Demosih. ^ndrotiana. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



109 



CHAP. XIX. 

OF THE SENATE AND COURT OF AREOPAGUS. 

The name of this senate was taken from the place in which it was wont 
to be assembled, being a hill not far distant from the citadel, 1 called 
'Agstoir&iyas, or 3 'A^uo; Ticiyo?, that is, Mars 1 Hill, from Mars, the god of 
war and blood, because all wilful murders came under the cognizance of 
this court; 2 or, as fables tell us, from the arraignment of Mars, who was 
the first criminal that was tried in it; 3 or, lastly, because the Amazons, 
whom the poets feign to have been the daughters of Mars, when they 
besieged Athens, pitched their camps, and offered sacrifices to the god of 
war, in this place. 4 

When this court was first instituted is uncertain. Some make it as 
ancient as Cecrops, the first founder of Athens ; others think it was begun 
in the reign of Cranaus; and lastly, others bring it down as low as the 
times of Solon. But this opinion, though defended by authors of no less 
credit than Plutarch, 5 and Cicero, 6 is in express terms contradicted by 
Aristotle, 7 and one of Solon's laws cited by Plutarch himself, wherein 
there is mention of judgments made in this court before Solon had reform- 
ed the commonwealth. What seems most probable is, that the senate of 
Areopagus was first instituted a long time before Solon, but was continued, 
regulated, and augmented by him; was by him made superior to the 
ephetae, another court instituted by Draco, s and invested with greater 
power, authority, and larger privileges, than it had ever enjoyed before. 

The number of the persons that composed this venerable assembly is 
not agreed upon ; by some it is restricted to nine, by others enlarged to 
thirty-one, by others to fifty-one, and by some to more. Maximus tells 
us it consisted of fifty-one, <rX'/jv l£ iUTrct-Tgioav xou <r\our&) xu) ffw^povt 
%tcc(pzoovT&jv, besides such of the nobility as were eminent for their virtue 
and riches ; by which words he seems to mean the nine archons, who 
were the constant seminary of this great assembly, and having discharged 
their several offices, passed every year into it ; 9 others afnrm, that not all 
the nine archons, but only the thesmothetce were admitted into the Areo- 
pagus. 10 This was the reason why their number was not always the same, 
but more or less according as those persons happened to continue a greater 
or lesser time in the senate. Therefore, when Socrates was condemned 
by this court, as the nature of his crime makes it evident he was, we find 
no less than two hundred fourscore and one giving their votes against him, 
besides those who voted for his absolution ; and in an ancient inscription 
upon a column in the citadel at Athens, erected to the memory of Riifus 



1 Herodot. viii. 

2 Suidiis. 

3 Pausan. Aristides Panath. 
Suidas. 



4 JEschyl. Eumenid. Etymol. 
Auctor. 

5 Solone. 

6 De Offic. i. 



7 Polit. ii. 

8 Pollux, viii. 10. 

9 Plut, Soione, et Pericle. 

10 Liban. in Argum. Androt. 



K 



110 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Festus, proconsul of Greece, the senate of Areopagus is said to consist of 
three hundred. 

All who had undergone the office of an archon were not taken into this 
senate, but only such of them as had behaved themselves well in the dis- 
charge of their trust; and not they neither, till they had given an account 
of their administration before the logistse, and obtained their approbation, 
after an inquiry into their behaviour, which was not a mere formality, and 
thing of course, but extremely severe, rigorous, and particular. 1 This 
being done after the performance of certain sacrifices at Limnse, a place 
at Athens dedicated to Bacchus, they were admitted upon set days. 2 
Thus it w r as ordered by Solon's constitutions, which were nicely and 
punctually observed for many ages ; but towards the declination of the 
Athenian grandeur, together with many other useful and excellent 
ordinances, they were either wholly laid aside and abrogated, or, which was 
all one, neglected and not observed. Then not the archons only, but 
others, as well those of loose lives and mean fortunes, as persons of high 
quality and strict virtue, nay, and even foreigners, were taken into this 
assembly, as appears by several instances produced by the learned Meur- 
sius, and particularly that of Rufus Festus, mentioned in the aforesaid 
inscription as a member of it. 

Aristides tells us, this court was rZv h ro7; "EXX?i<ri ^ixocirrtioMv npiu- 
rxrov kcu a,yta>Tcx,rov, the most sacred and venerable tribunal in all Greece; 
and if we consider the justice of their sentences and judicial determina- 
tions, the unblameableness of their manners, their wise and prudent beha- 
viour, and their high quality and station in the commonwealth, it will 
easily appear that this character v/as not unreasonable or undeserved. To 
have been sitting in a tavern or public house was a sufficient reason to 
deny an archon's admission into it; 3 and though their dignity was usually 
continued to them as long as they lived, yet if any of the senators was 
convicted of any immorality, he was without mercy or favour presently 
expelled. Nor was it enough that their lives were strictly innocent and 
unblameable, but something more was required of them; their counte- 
nances, words, actions, and all their behaviour, must be composed, serious, 
and grave, to a degree beyond what was expected from other, the most 
virtuous, men. To laugh in their assembly was an unpardonable act of 
levity ; 4 and for any of them to write a comedy, was forbidden by a parti- 
cular precept of the law. 5 

Nay, so great an awe and reverence did this solemn assembly strike 
into those who sat in it, that Isocrates 6 tells us, that in his days, when 
they were somewhat degenerated from their primitive virtue, however 
otherwise men were irregular and exorbitant, yet once chosen into this 
senate, they presently ceased from their vicious inclinations, and chose rather 



1 Plut. Periclft, Pollux, viii. 
}0. Demosth. Timocrat. 

2 DemosQx. in Neseram. 



3 Athenaeus, xiv. 

4 iEschin. in Timarctt, 



5 Plutarch, de Gloria Atheni* 
is. 

6 Areopagitica. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



Ill 



to conform to the laws and manners of their court, »} rai? uutuv xxxikis 
lp,p,tvsiv, than to continue in their loose and debauched course of life. So 
exactly upright and impartial were their proceedings, that Demosthenes 1 
tells us, that to his time there had never been so much as one of their 
determinations, that either plaintiff or defendant had any just reason to 
complain of. This was so eminently remarkable in all parts of Greece, 
that even foreign states, when any controversies happened among them, 
would voluntarily submit to their decision: Pausanias 2 reports in parti- 
cular of the Messenians, that before their first wars with the Spartans, 
they were very desirous that their quarrel should be referred to the areo- 
pagites, and both parties stand to their determination. 

It is reported that this court was the first that sat upon life and death ; 3 
and in later ages, a great many capital causes came under its cognizance. 
Before it were brought all incendiaries, all such as deserted their countiy, 
against whom they proceeded with no less severity than was used to those 
that were convicted of treason, both being punished with death ; 4 such also 
as had lain in wait for any person's life, whether their wicked contrivances 
were successful or not; for the very designing to murder a man, was 
thought to deserve no less than capital punishment ; others are of opinion, 
that such causes were tried at the tribunal of the palladium. 5 However 
that may be, it is certain, that all wounds given out of malice, all wilful 
murders, and particularly such as were effected by poison, came under the 
cognizance of this court. 6 Some say that there was no appeal from the 
areopagites to the people ; but others, amongst whom is Meursius, are of 
a contrary opinion, and assure us, that not only their determinations 
might be called in question, and, if need was, retracted by an assembly 
of the people, 7 but that themselves too, if they exceeded the due bounds 
of moderation in inflicting punishments, were liable to account for it to 
the logistae. 8 The same author tells us afterwards, that this court had 
power to cancel the sentence of an assembly, if the people had acquitted 
any criminal that deserved punishment, 9 and to rescue out of their hands 
such innocent persons as were by prejudice or misinformation condemned 
by them. Perhaps in both these opinions there is something of truth, if 
you understand the former, of the Areopagus in its primitive state ; and 
the latter, when its power was retrenched by Pericles. 

Their power in the commonwealth was very great ; for by Solon's con- 
stitution, the inspection and custody of the laws were committed to them, 10 
the public fund was disposed of and managed according to their discretion, 11 
the care of all young men in the city belonged to them, and it was their 
business to appoint them tutors and governors, 12 and see that they were 
educated suitably to their several qualities. 13 Nor did they only super- 



1 Aristocratea. 

2 Messeniacis. 

3 Etymolog. V. "Apetof na-yof. 

4 Lycurgus in Leocratem. 

5 Harpocrat. Suidas. 



6Demosth. Aristocrat. Pol- 
lux, viii. 10. aliique. 

7 Dinarch. Orat. in Aristogeit. 

8 Demosth. in Neaeram, JEs- 
cliin. in Ctesiph. 



9 Demosth. pro Corona. 

10 Plut. Solone. 

11 Plut. Themist. 

12 iEschiruPhilos. in Axioche, 

13 Isocrates Areopagitic. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



intend the youth, but their power was extended to persons of all ages and 
sexes. Such as lived disorderly, or were guilty of any impiety, or 
immorality, they punished according to the merit of their offences; and 
such as were eminent for a virtuous course of life they had power to 
reward. To this end they went about with the gynseconomi to all public 
meetings, such as marriages, and solemn sacrifices, which were usually 
concluded with a banquet, to see that all things were carried on with 
decency and sobriety. 1 Idleness was a crime that came more especially 
under their cognizance, and, (which seems to have been an institution 
peculiar to Solon,) they were obliged to inquire strictly after every man's 
course of life, and to examine by what means he maintained himself in the 
station he was in, that so there might be no room for such as lived by unlaw- 
ful arts, by cheating and cozenage, or theft or rapine. 2 Besides this, matters 
of religion, blasphemy against the gods, contempt of the holy mysteries, 
and all sorts of impiety, the consecration also of new gods, erection of 
temples and altars, and introduction of new ceremonies into divine wor- 
ship, were referred to the judgment of this court; therefore Plato, having 
been instructed in the knowledge of one god in Egypt, was forced to dis- 
semble or conceal his opinion, for fear of being called to an account for it 
by the areopagites ; 3 and St Paul was arraigned before them, as a setter 
forth of strange gods when he preached unto them Jesus, and 5 Avu.<rra<rt; 9 
or the resurrection* These were the chief businesses that this senate was 
employed about, for they seldom intermeddled in the management of public 
affairs, except in cases of great and imminent danger, and in these the 
commonwealth usually had recourse to them, as the last and safest refuge. 5 

They had three meetings in the Areopagus every month, upon the 
27th, 28th, and 29th days: 6 but if any business happened that required 
despatch, it was usual for them to assemble in the BxcriXixvi ^roa, or royal 
portico, which they encompassed with a rope, to prevent the multitude 
from thronging in upon them, 7 as was usual among other courts of justice. 

Two things are very remarkable in their judgments: First, that they 
sat in the open air, 8 a custom practised in all the courts of justice that had 
cognizance of murder: partly, because it was unlawful for the accuser and 
criminal in such cases to be under the same roof; and partly, that the 
judges, whose persons were esteemed sacred, might contract no pollution 
from conversing with men profane and unhallowed, for such they were 
accounted that had been guilty of so black and heinous a crime. 9 Secondly, 
they heard and determined all causes at night, and in the dark, to the end 
that having neither seen the plaintiff nor defendant, they might lie under 
no temptation of being biassed or influenced by either of them. 10 Of what 
consequence this was, may be learned from the example of the harlot 
Phryne, who being accused of impiety for feigning herself to be Minerva, 

1 Athenoeus, vi. .5 Argument. Orat. Androt. 8 Pollux, loc. citat. 

2 Plut. Solone; Val. Max. ii. 6. 6 Pollux, viii. 10. 9 Antiphon. Orat. de Cffide 

3 justinus Martyr. 7 Demosth. Orat. 1. in Aristo- Herodis. 

4 Act. Apostol. xviii. IS, 19. geit. 10 Lucian. Hermothr.o. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



113 



the protectress of Athens, when sentence was going to pass against her, 
so changed the minds of her judges, by uncovering her breasts, that she 
was immediately acquitted. 1 

Actions about murder were ushered into the Areopagus by the Bao-iXst*?, 
who was allowed to sit as a judge amongst them, laying aside his crown, 
which was one of the ornaments of his office. 2 

The common method they proceeded in was this: — the court being 
met, and the people excluded, they divided themselves into several com- 
mittees;, each of which had their causes assigned to be heard and deter- 
mined by them severally, if the multitude of business was so great that 
the whole senate could not take cognizance of it together. Both these 
designations were performed by lots, in order that every man coming into 
the court before it was determined what causes would fall to his share, 
none of them might lie under any temptation of having his honesty cor- 
rupted with bribes. 3 

Before the trial began, the plaintiff and defendant took solemn oaths 
upon the testicles of a goat, a ram, and a bull, the Izpvcci S-zeci, or Furies. 
The plaintiff, in a case of murder, swore that he was related to the deceased 
person, (for none but near relations, at the farthest a cousin, were permitted 
to prosecute the murderer,) and that the prisoner was the cause of his 
death. The prisoner swore that he was innocent of the crime laid to his 
charge. Both of them confirmed their oaths with direful imprecations, 
wishing, that if they swore falsely, themselves, their houses, and their 
whole families, might be utterly destroyed and extirpated by the divine 
vengeance , l which they looked upon to be so dreadful and certain, that 
the law inflicted no penalty upon those that at such a time were guilty of 
perjury, remitting them, as it were, to be punished by a higher tribunal. 

Then the two parties were placed upon two silver stools; the accuser 
was placed upon the stool of "Tf&gis, or injury; the prisoner upon the stool 
of 'Avat^s'ix, or impudence; or, according to Adrian Junius's correction of 
'Avsc/t<«, innocence; these were two goddesses, to whom altars, and after- 
wards temples, were erected in the Areopagus. 5 The accuser, in this 
place proposed three questions to the prisoner, called by iEschylus, r^'ia. 
^ocXcc't<Tu.a.rx, 6 to each of which he was to give a distinct answer. The 
first was, u zzriKTovas ; Are you guilty of this murder? To which he 
made answer, *B»Tdta s or Obx txrovct, Guilty, or Not guilty ; Secondly, 
"Oar&g zur'sxTotas; Hon: did you commit this murder? Thirdly, T/v<j? 
foovXivau.(jt xxTiKrova; ; Who were your partners and accomplices in the 
fact? 

In the next place, the two parties impleaded each other, and the 
prisoner was allowed to make his defence in two orations, the first of which 
being ended, he was permitted to secure himself by flight, and go into 



1 Athenaeus, xiii. c-t qui eum 3 Lucian. Bis accusato. Theom. Pollux, viii. 10. 

sequUur Eustathius- aliique. 4 Demosth. Aristocrat. Dinar. 5 Pausan. Cic. de Leg. ii. 

% Pollux. chus in Demosth. Lysias in 6 Eunienidibus.. 

K 3 



Ill 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



voluntary banishment, if he suspected the goodness of his cause ; which 
privilege if he made use of, all his estate was confiscated, and exposed to 
sale by the HuX'^rai} In the primitive times, both parties spoke for 
themselves, 2 but in later ages they were permitted to have counsel to plead 
for them. But whoever it was that spoke, he was to represent the bare 
and naked truth, without any preface or epilogue, without any ornament, 
figures of rhetoric, or other insinuating means to win the favour or move 
the affections of the judges. 3 

Both parties being heard, if the prisoner was resolved to stand trial, 
they proceeded to give sentence, which they did with the most profound 
gravity and silence ; hence 'Aoion-ccyWov tri<v<z"/]k6>rzgo;, and 3 'Aoio-zrayiTou 
cmyozvconoo; , came to be proverbial sayings, though some derive them 
from the reservedness and severe gravity of their manners: hence also 
' 'Ag60?r«yiTjjj is usually taken for a grave, majestic, rigid person; and 
others, from the great care they took to conceal the transactions of the 
senate. 4 

The manner of giving sentence was thus: There were placed in the 
court two urns, one of which was of brass, and called o 3 iftvgo<rfev f from the 
place it stood in ; xvgtos, because the votes cast into it pronounced the 
accusation valid ; and B-xvxtou, because they decreed the death of the 
prisoner. The second urn was of wood, being placed behind the former; 
into it they that acquitted the prisoner were to cast their suffrages ; for 
which reason it was called o uo-tb^o?, or o l^itra, o cixugo;, and o Ix'too. 5 
Afterwards the thirty tyrants having made themselves masters of the city, 
ordered them to give their voices in a manner more public and open, by 
casting their calculi upon two tables, the former of which contained the 
suffrages which acquitted, the latter those which condemned the prisoner ; 
in order that it might be known which way every man gave his voice, 
and how he stood affected to their interest and proceedings. 6 

Besides the crimes that came peculiarly under their cognizance, there 
were sometimes others brought before them, in which their sentence was 
not final or decretory, for there lay an appeal to the court to which they 
properly belonged, as Sigonius observes. 

The senators of Areopagus were never rewarded with crowns for their 
services, being not permitted to wear them ; 7 but received a sort of main- 
tenance from the public, which they called Koixg ; 8 and Meursius has 
observed out of Lucian, 9 that they had the same pension which was allotted 
to some other judges, that is, three oboli for every cause they gave judg- 
ment upon. 

Their authority was preserved entire till the time of Pericles, who, 
because he could not be admitted amongst them, as never having borne 



1 Demosth. in Aristocrat. Pol- Anachar. Damosth. Ojuintil. alii- 6 Lysias in Agorat. 
lux, viii. que innumeri. 7 -fiSsch. in Ctesiph. 

2 Sext. Empiric, adv. Mathe- 4 Ergo occulta tegns, ut Curia 8 Hesychius in Kptaj. 
in.'it. ii. Mortis Athcnis. Juvenal. Sat. ix. 9 Bis accusato. 

3 Aristot. Rhetoric, i. Lucian. 5 Aiist. Schol. Vesp. Equit. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



115 



the office of an archon, employed all his power and cunning against them ; 
and having gained a great interest with the commonalty, so embroiled and 
routed their senate by the assistance of Ephialtes, that most of the causes 
and matters which had been formerly tried there, were discharged from 
their cognizance. 1 From this time, the Athenians being, in a great 
measure, freed from the restraint that had been laid upon them, began 
sensibly to degenerate from their ancient virtue, and in a short time let 
loose the reins of all manner of licentiousness f whence they are compared 
by Plutarch to a wild unruly horse, that having flung his rider, would be 
governed and kept in no longer. The same vices and excesses that were 
practised in the city, crept in by degrees amongst the areopagites them- 
selves: and therefore Demetrius, one of the family of the Phalerean, 
being censured by them as a loose liver, told them plainly, that if they 
designed to make a reformation in the city, they must begin at home, for 
that even amongst them there were several persons of as bad and worse 
lives than himself, and (which was a more unpardonable crime than any 
that he had been guilty of) several, that debauched and corrupted other 
men's wives, and were themselves corrupted and seduced by bribes. 3 



CHAP. XX. 

OF SOME OTHER COURTS OF JUSTICE. 

Solon intending to make the Athenians a free people, and wisely consid- 
ering that nothing would more conduce to secure the commonalty from 
the oppression of the nobility, than to make them final judges of right and 
wrong, enacted, that the nine archons, who till that time had been the 
supreme and last judges in most causes, should thence have little farther 
power than to examine the causes brought before them, which they were 
obliged to refer to the determination of other judges in the several courts 
hereafter to be mentioned. 

The judges were chosen out of the citizens, without distinction of 
quality, the very meanest being by Solon admitted to give their voices in 
the popular assembly, and to determine causes, provided they were arrived 
at the age of thirty years, and had never been convicted of any notorious 
crime. 

The courts of justice were ten, besides that in Areopagus. Four had 
cognizance It/ tm Qovtzuv ^oocy/xaruv, of actions concerning blood y the 
remaining six, br/ <rav etnfie tixuiv, of civil matters. These ten courts were 
all painted with colours, from which names were given them, whence we 
read of Bar^a^/ovv, Qotvixiovv, and others. And on each of them was 



1 Plutarch , Teiicis. 



2 Isocrai.es Areopagit. 



3 Athena?us Lsmvoco'p. 



116 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

engraven one of the ten following letters, A, B, r, A, E, Z, H, e, I, K: 
whence they are likewise called alpha, leta, &c. Such, therefore, of the 
Athenians as were at leisure to hear and determine causes, delivered in 
their names, together with the names of their father and borough, inscribed 
upon a tablet, to the thesmothetae ; who returned it to them with another 
tablet, whereon was inscribed the letter of one of the courts, as the lots 
had directed. These tablets they carried to the crier of the several courts, 
signified by the letters, who thereupon gave to every man a tablet inscribed 
with his own name, and the name of the court which fell to his lot, and a 
staff or sceptre. Having received these, they were all admitted to sit in 
the court. 1 If any person sat among the judges, who had not obtained one 
of the forementioned letters, he was fined. 2 

The Athenian judges having heard the causes they were appointed to 
take cognizance of, went immediately and delivered back the sceptre to 
the prytanes, from whom they received the reward due to them. This 
was termed ^mxa'riKov, 3 or purGos ^txcctrrixo;. Sometimes it was an obolus 
for every cause they decided ; sometimes three oboli, being sometimes 
raised higher than at others, by the instance of men, who endeavoured by 
that means to become popular. 4 No man was permitted to sit as judge in 
two courts upon the same day, 5 that looking like the effect of covetousness. 
And if any of the judges was convicted of bribery, he was fined. e 

'Eon IIxkXoc^l&/ } was a court of judicature instituted in the reign of 
Demophoon, the son of Theseus, upon this account: some of the Argives, 
under the conduct of Diomedes, or, as others say, of Agamemnon, being 
driven in the night upon the coasts of Attica, landed at the haven of Pha- 
lerus, and supposing it to be an enemy's country, went out to spoil and plun- 
der it. The Athenians presently took the alarm, and having united them- 
selves into one body under the conduct of Demophoon, repulsed the invaders, 
with great loss, killing a great many of them upon the spot, and forcing 
the rest to retire into their ships ; but upon the approach of day, Acamus, 
the brother of Demophoon, finding amongst the dead bodies the palladium, 
or statue of Minerva, brought from Troy, discovered that the persons they 
had killed were their friends and allies ; whereupon, having first advised with 
an oracle, they gave them an honourable burial in the place where they 
were slain, consecrated the goddess' statue, erected a temple to her, and 
instituted a court of justice, in which cognizance was taken of such as 
were indicted for involuntary murders. The first that was arraigned in it 
was Demophoon, who, in his return from the forementioned conflict, 
killed one of his own subjects by a sudden turn of his horse. Others 
report, that Agamemnon being enraged at the loss of his men, and dis- 
satisfied at Demophoon's rash and hasty attack upon them, referred the 

1 Aristoph. Schol. in Pluto. sovereign power; whence in 4 Hesych. ibid. Aristoph. Schol, 

2 It may not be improper to Homer it is accounted sawed, ex Aristot. de Repub. 
mention in this place, that <r«ij7r- and the most solemn oaths are 5 Demosth. et Ulp. in Tia~,o« 
rpov the scej^re, or staff, was al- sworn by it. Iliad, «, v. 233. crat. 

ways the ensign of judicial and 3 Hesych. v. Amainsov. G Thucyd. Schol. vi. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



317 



quarrel to the decision of fifty Athenians, and as many Argians, whom 
they called 'E^sra/, ro <zrct(f a,^(por\^uv hpedtfvea cclrol? ra. xgiftco;, 
because both parties committed the determination of their cause to them. 

Afterwards the Argians were excluded, and the number of the ephetae 
reduced to fifty-one, by Draco, whom some affirm to have been the first 
insti tutor of them; but others, with more probability, report that he regu- 
lated and reformed them, augmented their power, honoured them with 
many important privileges, and made them superior to the senate of 
Areopagus. In this state they continued till Solon's time, by whom their 
power was lessened, and their authority restrained ; the causes which had 
formerly been tried by them were discharged from their cognizance, and 
only those about manslaughter and chance-medley, and, as some say, 
conspiracies against the lives of citizens, that were discovered before they 
took effect, left to them. 

Fifty of them were appointed for election, five being chosen out of every 
tribe, but the odd man was appointed by lots ; all of them were men of 
good characters and virtuous lives, of severe manners, and a settled gra- 
vity ; and no person under the age of fifty years was admitted into their 
number. 

Causes were entered in this court by the (lutxiXivs, and the proceedings 
were in some things agreeable to those of the Areopagus ; for both parties, 
the plaintiff and defendant, were obliged to confirm their allegations by 
solemn oaths and curses, and then the orators having performed their 
parts, the judges proceeded to give sentence. 1 

'E«ri Ai\<pm&>, was a court of justice in the temple of Apollo Delphinius 
and Diana Delphinia. Under its cognizance came all murders wherein 
the prisoner confessed the fact, but pleaded that it was committed by per- 
mission of the laws, as in the case of self-preservation or adultery ; for it 
was allowed any one to kill an adulterer, if he caught him in the act. 2 
The first person that was tried in this court was Theseus, who, on his 
journey to Athens had slain the robbers that infested the ways between 
Troezen and that place ; and afterwards the sons of Pallas, who raised a 
rebellion against him. 3 

'E^n Hovran'tco, was a court of judicature, which had cognizance of 
murders committed by things without fife, or sense, as stones, iron, tim- 
ber, &c. which, if they killed a man by accident, or by the direction of an 
unknown hand, or of a person that had escaped, had judgment passed 
upon them in this place, and were ordered to be cast out of the territories 
of Athens by the 3>yAc/3«<r^ us. This court was as ancient as Erechtheus: 
and the first thing that was brought to trial in it was an axe, wherewith 
one of Jupiter's priests killed an ox, (an animal accounted very sacred in 
those days,) that had eaten one of the consecrated cakes, and as soon as he 
had committed the fact, secured himself by flight. 4 This place also was 



1 Pausan. Harpocr. Suidas, 2 P.ut. Solone. Hesych. voce. 3 Pollux, loc. cit. Pausan. 
Polkw, viii. 10. AttiavT^jpichf Harpocr. 4 Idem, ^Elian. V. H. viii. 3. 



118 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

the common-hall, in which public entertainments were made ; and the 
sacred lamp, that burned with a perpetual fire, was kept by widows, who 
having passed the years and desires of marriage, were devoted to the 
Mother of the gods ; which lamp, as Plutarch, in the life of Numa, tells 
us, was extinct under the tyranny of Aristion; it was always managed 
with the same rites and ceremonies that were used at Rome, about the 
vestal fires, which he saith were ordained and instituted after the pattern 
of this and another holy fire of the same nature amongst the Delphians. 

'Ev $£ia.rro7, or 'Ev ^sdrrou, was seated upon the sea-shore in the 
Pirseeus, and received its name a,vo rou ^osdros, because it stood in a pit; 
and therefore Pollux calls it 'Ev (paidcnt, or, as is more probable, from the 
hero Phreatus. The causes heard in this court were such as concerned 
persons that had fled out of their own country for murder ; or those that 
fled for involuntary murder, and had afterwards committed a wilful and 
deliberate murder. The first person that was tried in this place was 
Teucer, who, as Lycophron reports, was banished out of Salamis by his 
father Telamon, upon a groundless suspicion that he had been accessary 
to Ajax's death. The criminal was not permitted to come to land, or so 
much as to cast anchor, but pleaded his cause in his bark, and, if found 
guilty, was committed to the mercy of the winds and waves ; or, as some 
say, suffered their condign punishment; if innocent, was only cleared of 
the second fact, and, as it was customary, underwent a twelvemonth's 
banishment for the former. 1 

Thus much may suffice concerning the courts for capital offences ; it 
remains that I give an account of those which had the cognizance of civil 
affairs. 



CHAP. XXI. 

OF SOME OTHER COURTS OF JUSTICE, THEIR JUDICIAL PROCESS, &C. 

IIAPABT2TON, was either so called, as being a court of no great credit 
or reputation, having cognizance only of trivial matters, whose value was 
not above one drachm; or because it was situated h a,<pavt7 totm <rm vroki- 
c*;, in an obscure part of the city. Pollux says there were two courts of 
this name, one of which was called Ua^utrrov fiiifrv, and the other n«j- 
ufiuirrov piffov. The persons that sat as judges in the latter of these were 
the eleven magistrates called o\ "Ev^ixci. 2 On which account it is by some 
not placed among the ten courts, the commons of Athens being all per- 
mitted to judge in them; and instead hereof another court is reckoned 
into the ten, called to Ka/vov, the new court. 3 



1 Demosth. in Arist. Harpocr. Poilux, loc. ci. 2 Harpocr. Suidas, Pausan. Atticis. 
Hcsych. 3 Aristoph. Vespis, p. 430, edit. Arast. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



119 



Tglyavov was, in all probability, so called because it was triangular. 1 
To \<zrt Avxov, received its name from the temple of the hero Lycus, in 
which it was erected. The same person had a statue in all the courts of 
justice, by which he was represented with a wolfs face, and therefore 
Avkou liixcs; signifies sycophants, and rou; Ico^oxovvrot;, those who took 
bribes, who, by tens, that is, in great numbers, frequented those places.2 

To M'/iri%ou, was so called from one Metichus, an architect, by whom 
it was built. 3 

The judges in all these courts were obliged to take a solemn oath, by 
the paternal Apollo, Ceres, and Jupiter the king, that they would give 
sentence uprightly, and according to law; if the law had determined the 
point debated: or, when the law was silent, according to the best of their 
judgment. Which oath, as also that which was taken by those that judged 
in the Helisea, was given in a place near the river Ilissus, called Ardet- 
tus, from a hero of that name, who, in a public sedition, united the con- 
testing parties, and engaged them to confirm their treaties of peace by 
mutual oaths in this place. Hence common and profane swearers came 
to be called "A^tto/. 4 

Of all the judicial courts that handled civil affairs, e HX/a/a was far the 
greatest and most frequented, being so called ccrro <rov uXifyaOai, from the 
people's thronging together, 5 or rather asro rod faiov, because it was an 
open place, and exposed to the sun. 6 

The judges that sat in this court were at least fifty, but the more usual 
number was two or five hundred. When causes of great consequence 
were to be tried, it was customary to call in the judges of other courts. 
Sometimes a thousand were called in, and then two courts were said to 
have been joined ; sometimes fifteen hundred or two thousand, and then three 
or four courts met together. 7 Whence it appears that the judges were 
sometimes five hundred in other courts. 

They had cognizance of civil affairs of the greatest weight and impor- 
tance, and were not permitted to give judgment till they had taken a 
solemn oath, the form whereof was this, as we find it in Demosthenes: 8 
' I will give sentence according to the laws, and the decrees of the people 
of Athens, and the council of five hundred. I will not consent to place 
the supreme power in the hands of a single person or a few ; nor permit 
any man to dissolve the commonwealth, or so much as to give his vote, or 
make an oration in defence of such a revolution. I will not endeavour to 
discharge private debts, nor to make any division of lands or houses. I 
will not restore persons sent into banishment, nor pardon those that are 
condemned to die, nor expel any man out of the city contrary to the laws 
and decrees of the people, and council of five hundred, nor permit any 



1 Aristoph. Vespis, p. 430, 3 Pollux, &c. 6 Idem, Aristoph. Schol. Nub. 
edit. Amst. 4 Etymolog. Pollux, Suidas, Equit. Vesp. Suidas. 

2 Aristoph. Schol. Vesp. Ze- Kesych. Harpocrat. 7 Pollux, viii. 10. Harpocrat. 
nobius, Harpocr. Pollux, Suidas, 5 Ulpianus in Dcmosth. Stephen. Byzantin. v. 'HAmuu 
&c. S Orat. in Timocrat. 



120 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



other person to do it. I will not elect any person into any public employ, 
and particularly, I will net create any man archon, hieromnemon, ambas- 
sador, public herald, or synedrus, nor consent that he shall be admitted 
into any of those offices, which are elected by lots upon the same day 
with the archons, who has undergone any former office and not given in 
his accounts ; nor that any persons shall bear two offices, or be twice elect- 
ed into the same office in one year. I will not receive gifts myself, nor 
shall any other for me ; nor will I permit any other person to do the like 
by any means, whether direct or indirect, to pervert justice in the court of 
Helirea. I am not under thirty years of age. I will hear both the plain- 
tiff and defendant without partiality, and give sentence in all the causes 
brought before me. I swear by Jupiter, Neptune, and Ceres: if I 
violate this oath, or any part of it, may I perish with my whole family ; 
but if I religiously observe it, may we live and prosper.' 

These were the ten public courts in Athens. There were others of less 
note, where particular magistrates, as the Aiccityitcl), or the Tiao-aoditovTct, 
took cognizance of causes belonging to the several offices ; such was the 
court at Cynosarges, Odeum, Theseus' temple, Bucoleum, and some others. 

The method of judicial process was this : first of all, the plaintiff deliv- 
ered in the name of the person against whom he brought his action, to- 
gether with an account of his offence, to the magistrate, whose concern it 
was (zlcrdyuv) to introduce it into the court where causes of that nature 
were heard. The magistrate then examined whether the cause was one 
of those which belonged to his cognizance, and then u okcog u<ra,yuv p^o'/i ; 
whether it deserved to be tried in a court of justice ? This inquiry was 
termed avazounc. Then by the magistrate's permission, the plaintiff 
summoned his adversaiy to appear before the magistrate, which was 
termed xX'/itwuv. 1 This was sometimes done by apparitors or bailiffs, 
whom they called x,ky,toois^ or kX-att,^ ; 2 sometimes by the plaintiff him- 
self, w r ho always carried with him sufficient witnesses to attest the giving 
of the summons; and these were also termed x,\'/jroois, or *Xj?t^sj. 3 An 
example of this method we find in the Vespse of Aristophanes ; 4 

UooiTKctKovuai <r, ocrns iT, 

KA'/7T>5£ l^OVTO, X.0tl%i<p£vTCt, TOVTQVi. 

I summon thee, whoever thou art, to answer before the agoranomi for the 
damage done to my goods: this Chcsrephon is witness. This, therefore, 
was the form in which the plaintiff himself summoned his adversary: 
Ylpo<TKCiXovf/,cii tov Ituva. <rovhi u%i}&Yif&KT0S <7go$ r/jv *A0%hv TYivyi JtXyrrtGcc, 
'i%cov Toy £s7v«* I summon such a person to answer for this injury before 
this magistrate, having such a one for my witness. 5 When the plaintiff 
employed an apparitor, the form was thus varied: 'Kctmyoou tov ^i7va. 
Tov^iy Ha) ir^ovA.ot.KavfjLiu toutov ^ta, tov Oilvo; its Thy 'A^'/jv T'/ivyi' I ac- 



1 Ulpianus in Demosth. Orut. de Corona. 2 Aristoph. Schol. ad Aves. 

3 UJp. loc. cit. Suid. Harpocr. 4 Pag. 502, edit. Amst. , 5 Ulp. in Midianam. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



121 



cuse such a person of this injury- and summon him by such an one to 
answer before this magistrate. For it was necessary to mention the name 
of the x\Y r Tr,£ in the summons. Lastly, when a married woman was 
cited to appear before a magistrate, her husband was also summoned, in 
this form: T-/,v tiivoc ko.) rov zCotov' Such a woman and her lord, &c, 
because wives being under the government of their husbands, were not 
permitted to appear in any court without them. If the criminal refused 
to appear before the magistrate, he was carried thither by force. 1 

Sometimes the criminal was not summoned to appear immediately, 
but upon a certain day, which was always mentioned in the form of his 
citation. 2 

I summon Pisthetccrzcs to answer the next month of Munychion for the 
injury done me. When the plaintiff and defendant were both come before 
the magistrate, he inquired of the plaintiff, whether all his evidence was 
ready, or whether he needed any other witness to be summoned? This 
was the second a.vu.y.oi'jii, to which the plaintiff was obliged to offer himself 
under the penalty of a,Tiu/ice ; infamy. If any of his witnesses were not 
ready, or any other necessaries were wanting, he desired farther time to 
make his prosecution, swearing that this delay was not on his part voluntary ; 
to do which was termed v<r'opvvo j $a.i, and the thing itself vkmugo-'iccS The 
same excuse was likewise admitted in behalf of the defendant, who had 
also another plea, termed ^raoocy^u.^ or x-xgxpcioTvoioi, when he alleged, 
by sufficient witnesses, that the action brought against him was not Vixn 
ilffcty&iytfjLoc, a cause which could then lawfully be tried} which happened 
on several accounts: — When the injury had been committed five years 
before the accusation ; for that time being expired, the laws permitted no 
action to be preferred. When the controversy had been formerly com- 
posed before credible witnesses ; for any voluntary agreement before wit- 
nesses was valid, provided it was not about things unlawful. When the 
defendant had been formerly either punished for or legally tried and 
acquitted of the fact. Lastly, it was a just exception that the cause was 
not one of those whereof that magistrate was empowered to take cogniz- 
ance. To this KccoctyoccQn the plaintiff was obliged to give his answer, 
proved by sufficient evidence ; and both the exception and the answer 
together, as sworn by the witnesses, were termed hafAetorvgtu* But if 
the defendant, without alleging any plea or excuse, was willing to proceed 
to a speedy trial, he was said ibPuhixilv, and the trial was termed Mhkfa. 
Then an oath was required of both parties. The plaintiff swore that he 
would cc>.r^n x,xr'/iyooi7v, prefer no accusation that iuas untrue; and, if 
the crime was of a public nature, he farther swore, that he would not be 
prevailed on, either by bribes or promises, or any other temptation, to 

1 Teren. Phor. act. v. seen. 7. 3 Demosth. in Olymp. Isa»us 4 Pollux, viii. 6. Harpocra* 

2 Aristoph. Avibus, p. 572, de Philoct. et Ulpian, in Midi- tion, v, &ta t ua P TvpL». 
edit. A.mst. ana. 

L 



122 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



desist from the prosecution. The defendant swore, tchr^n avroXoyrto-uy, 
that his answer should be just and true; or, pr, o&tKuv, that he had not 
injured the plaintiff. The plaintiff's oath was termed vrzocopotrioiy the 
defendant's uvrupoc-'icc, and, as some think, uvnyaeapn ; and both together 
hufiori*. These oaths, together with those of the witnesses, and all 
other matters relating to the action, being written upon tablets, were put 
into a vessel, termed i%tvo$, and afterwards delivered to the judges. 1 

This being done, the magistrate proceeded to the election of judges, 
which was performed by lots ; and they, upon the zugta yiploa,, or appointed 
day, came to the tribunal, and took their places, the public crier having 
before commanded all those that had no business, to depart, in those 
words, Miroco-r^n 'i\ca. Then, to keep the crowds from thronging in upon 
them, the court was surrounded with a rope, by the command of a magis- 
trate, and Serjeants appointed to keep the doors, which they called K/y- 
xX/^sj, being the same with those which the Romans called Cancellatas. 2 
Now, lest any of the judges should be wanting, proclamation was made in 
this manner: E* <n? S-vgui<riv 'Hkixcrrhs, tur'iru* If any judge be without 
the doors, let him enter ; for, if any man came after the cause began to be 
discussed, he could not have admission, as not being capable of giving 
sentence, because he had not heard all that both parties could say for them- 
selves. 3 

Then the magistrate proposed the cause to the judges, and gave them 
power to determine it, the doing which they called ucrxyuv rm }'ix*jv sis ro 
'SiKa.ffT'/iDtov, the cause itself ileayuyipo;, and the person that entered 
it Eltraycuyius. For, by the laws of Athens, there were certain causes 
brought before several of the magistrates who had no power to determine 
them by a final decision, but were only to examine into the matter, and, 
if it deserved to be luard in the court, refer it to the cognizance of judges 
appointed for that purpose, upon a day fixed by himself ; and this is what 
they called hytftov'ia, ^ikoco-t^iojv. 

Then the indictment was read by the public crier, in which were con- 
tained the reasons of the accusation, with an account of the injury said to 
be received, the manner also of it, and the damage suffered by the plain- 
tiff; the heads of which the judges took in writing. 4 

If the person accused did not make his appearance, sentence was given 
against him, without any farther trouble ; and this they called \\ egfaqs 
xa.ra'bix.oKrDrivfri and t^w/iv c^XnTKavfiv. But if, in the space of ten days, 
he came and presented himself, proving that he had been detained by 
sickness, or any other extraordinary and unavoidable necessity, the former 
sentence was disannulled ; and therefore this proceeding they called Vixn 
ovirct. Then the trial was to be brought on afresh, within the space of 
two months, by the defendant, and this they called avrt\vfos, and the do- 



1 Po'.Jux, Aristoph. Schol. in Vespas. Harpocra- 3 Aristnph. ejusque Schol. Vesp. 
lion. Suidas. 4 Demosth. 

2 Pollux, viii, 10. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



123 



ing it uvri\x%uv 2/»?jv; but, if he neglected to have the cause decided in 
that time, the former sentence was to stand good, and be put in execution 
upon him. 1 Hence appears the reason for which they were always obliged 
to insert the name of the person who was witness to the citation of the 
criminal. But if any man falsely pretended that his adversary was legally 
cited, and could not produce any xXfaoftss, who were present at the cita- 
tion, he was prosecuted by an action termed yoa<ph -^iv^oxX^uocs* 2 

Before the trial began, both parties were obliged to deposit a certain 
sum of money, which they called vfourxvetct, into the hands of the magis- 
trate that entered their cause into the court, who, upon failure of the pay- 
ment, immediately expunged the cause out of the roll. If the cause in 
debate was concerning the value of a hundred drachms, or upwards, to a 
thousand, they deposited three drachms ; if its value was more than a 
thousand, and not above ten thousand, they deposited thirty, which, after 
the decision of the cause, were divided among the judges ; and the person 
that was cast, was obliged, besides the payment of other charges, to restore 
the money to his adversary. 3 

UzgaxotTzfiokri, was a sum of money deposited by those that sued the 
commonwealth for confiscated goods, or any others that were claimed by 
the public exchequer, or by private persons for the inheritances of heiresses; 
the former deposited the fifth, the latter the tenth part of the estates con- 
tended for. 4 

Hotoatrrxorii, was a drachm deposited in lawsuits about small and private 
matters, which were decided by the Aiccimra,!. 5 

'Evrafi'zXix, was a fine laid upon those that could not prove the indict- 
ment they had brought against their adversaries; so called, because they 
were obliged to pay the sixth part of the value of the thing they contended 
for, from ofioXo;, because out of every drachm they deposited one obolus, 
which is the sixth part of a drachm. 6 Some of these sums were deposited 
in all lawsuits, a very few excepted, before the trial could proceed. 

Then the witnesses were produced, and if any of them refused to make 
his appearance, he was summoned by a serjeant, whom they called xhvrhgt 
and if he seemed unwilling to be an evidence, had three things proposed 
to him, namely, to swear the fact ; to abjure it, or deny that he was privy 
to it; or, lastly, to pay a mulct of a thousand drachms. He that was fined 
for refusing the oath, or that took it out of fear, was said ixzXnrsvi^xi; 
he that was only summoned, and took it voluntarily, x.XnnviaQa.i. 1 The 
oath was taken at the altar, with all the solemnity imaginable, to which 
end they erected altars in all the courts of judicature. 

The persons that gave evidence were to be men of credit, freeborn, 
and disinterested ; for no man's oath was taken in his own cause ; and 
such as by their ill behaviour had forfeited their privileges, and were 

1 Ulpian in Demostn. Pollux, 3 Pollux, Harpocration. 6 Tdem. 
viii. 6. 4 Idem. 7 Idem. 

2 Idem. 5 Idem. 

L 2 



124 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



<KT^3i, infamous, were not thought to deserve belief: the slaves were not 
permitted to have any concern in public business, and therefore could not 
be evidences, except they were examined upon the rack, nor plead in any 
court of justice. 1 Nevertheless, the testimony of the pirotKoi and «,-7n\tu- 
fa^oi, sojourners and freedmen, seems to have been received in all cases, 
except the het/Au^rvota t in the actions called u^r^otrrotirtov Vix,ai, as the gram- 
marians inform us from Hyperides. 

There were two sorts of evidences : the first of which they called p,ecg~ 
rvg'ix, when the person that swore was an eyewitness of the fact ; the 
other, iKfjcotorv^tos., when the juror received what he testified from another 
person that had been an eyewitness of it, but was at this time either dead 
or in a foreign country, or detained by sickness, or hindered by some other 
unavoidable accident from making his appearance ; for, except in such 
cases, the allegations of absent persons were never taken for lawful evi- 
dence. 8 The witnesses were required by the laws to deliver their testi- 
mony in writing ; whereby it became impossible to recede from what they 
had once sworn, and such as had borne false witness were convicted with 
less difficulty. But the tablets of those witnesses, who, upon a citation 
before given, came from home with an intention to give their testimonies, 
were different from the tablets of such as casually came into the court ; 
the latter being only composed of wax, and ordered in such a manner, as 
gave the witness opportunity to make such alterations in the matter of 
his evidence, as afterwards, upon better consideration, appeared to be ne- 
cessary. 3 

When the witnesses were sworn, the plaintiff being placed upon the 
left hand of the tribunal, and the defendant upon the right, 4 both of them 
spoke set orations in their own behalf. These were, for the most part, 
composed by some of the orators, which custom was first introduced by 
Antiphon, a Rhamnusian. 5 Sometimes, if they desired it, the judges 
granted them ^w^yo^oi, or advocates, to plead for them, the doing which 
they called W) purQw av^yo^iiv, to plead for a fee. 6 In case, by the length 
of their orations, they should weary the judges' patience, and hinder them 
from proceeding to other business, they were limited to a certain time, 
called ha^i.ju,f.rfin^ivyi wpzga, 7 which was measured by a xXi^^a, or hour- 
glass, differing from ours in this, that instead of sand, they made use of 
water; and to prevent all fraud and deceit, there was an officer appointed 
to distribute the water equally to both sides, whom, from his business, they 
called 'TLQvbw^, or 'Eip' v'Scog. When the glass was run out, they were 
permitted to speak no farther, and therefore we find them very careful not 
to lose or mispend one drop of their water: and whilst the laws quoted by 
them were reciting, or if any other business happened to intervene, they 
gave order that the glass should be stopped. 8 Yet if any person had made 



1 Vide Petitum de Leg. AttW 3 Pollux, Harpooratinn. 
c"is. 4 Aristoteles Problem. 

2 Haxpocrat. Pollux. 5 Idem Rhetof. i. 33. 



6 Clemens Alexandria 

7 Harpocration. 
S Demosthen. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



125 



an end of speaking before the time allotted him was expired, he was per- 
mitted to resign the remaining part of the water to any other that had 
occasion : and this is meant by the orator, when he saith ra> vlSxri <r<5 
XaXuru, let him speak till what remains of my ivater be run out. 

When both parties had made an end of speaking, the public crier, by 
the command of the magistrate that presided in the court, ordered the 
judges to bring in their verdict ; and in such cases, as the laws had made 
provision, and appointed penalties for (which were called ccyum arlf^nroi), 
a single verdict, whereby the person was declared guilty, or not guilty, 
was sufficient ; but in those cases that the laws were silent in (which they 
called aywvzs rifjLYiro)), a second sentence was required, if the accused per- 
son was brought in guilty, to determine what punishment was due to his 
offence. 1 Before they proceeded to give sentence, the condemned person 
was asked what damage he thought his adversary had received from him, 
and what recompence he ought in justice to make him ? The plaintiff's 
account, together with the indictment he had delivered in before, was 
taken into consideration ; and then the circumstances on both sides 
being duly weighed, the decretory sentence was given. Sometimes the 
judges limited the punishment in criminal, as well as civil causes, where 
the laws were silent. This happened in the case of Socrates, 1 who/ ta 
apply the words of Cicero, 2 1 was not only condemned by the first sentence 
of the judges, which determined whether the criminal should be condemned 
or acquitted, but by that also which the laws obliged them to pronounce 
afterwards. For at Athens, when the crime was not capital, the judges 
were empowered to value the offence ; and it was inquired of the criminal,, 
to what value he thought his offence amounted ? Which question being 
proposed to Socrates, he replied, That he had merited very great honours 
and rewards, and to have a daily maintenance in the Prytaneum ; which 
the Grecians accounted one of the highest honours. By which answer the 
judges were incensed to such a degree, that they condemned that most 
innocent man to death/ 

The most ancient way of giving sentence was by black and white sea- 
shells , called xmoUcu ; or pebbles, called ipvjqtoi. After them, cr^ov^vkoi, 
which were pellets of brass, came into use ; which, when laid aside, nvmpet t 
or beans, succeeded. They were of two sorts, white and black: the white 
were whole, and were made use of to absolve ; the black were bored 
through, and were the instruments of condemnation. 4 Hence it is, that 
in Aristophanes,5 judges that lived upon the gifts they received for doing 
justice, are called jcvx/^or^y^, bean-eaters, and ^r,^oi, is a proverb 

not much different from al\ ov^ctv'icx,, or Amalthea capra, being usually ap- 
plied to things that bring in large gains, and are a maintenance to their 
masters. 6 



1 Harpocration. 4 Pollux, Hesvch. Harpocra- 5 Equit. 

2 Oratore, i. tion, Aristoph. Schol. Ran. et 6 Hesych. Eustath. in Iliad. 

3 Metam. xv. Vesp. &c. ./, p. 884, edit. Basil. 

l3 



126 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Thsse beans tlie judges took from the altar ; and two urns, which they 
called xuSot, or being placed, they cast in their beans through a 

little tunnel, called x'/ipo; } holding them only with three fingers, namely, 
the forefinger, middle, and thumb, that it might be impossible for them to 
cast in above one at a time. The rest of their customary rites are some- 
what the same with those I have already described in the judgments of 
the court of Areopagus, except that in private causes there were four urns 
placed in the court, as Sigonius has observed out of 1 Demosthenes. But 
this, perhaps, was occasioned by the number of the persons concerned in 
the trial ; for if there were more than two competitors that laid claim to 
an estate, each of them had a distinct urn, into which those that passed 
sentence on his side were to cast their beans, and he that had the greatest 
number obtained the victory, which Sigonius seems not to have observed. 

When all had given over voting, lest any man out of favour should sus- 
pend his suffrage, the crier made proclamation in this manner, Ei' <rig 
uypnpffros , aviffrdo-^co' If there be any that has not given his voice, let 
him now arise and give it. Then the urns were opened, and the suf- 
frages numbered in presence of the magistrate, who stood with a rod in 
his hand, which he laid over the beans as they were numbered, lest any 
person should, through treachery or mistake, omit any of them, or count 
the same twice. If the number of the black beans was greatest, he pro- 
nounced the person guilty, and as a mark to denote his condemnation, 
drew a long line, whence olvratri rtpolv pctzg/zv, in the comedian, signifies 
to condemn all : on the contrary, he drew a short line, in token of absolu- 
tion, if the white beans exceeded, or only equalled the number of the 
black ; 2 for such was the clemency of the Athenian laws, that when the 
case seemed equally disputable on both sides, the severe and rigorous com- 
mands of justice gave place to the milder laws of mercy and compassion ; 
and this rule seems to have been constantly observed in all the courts of 
Athens. 

*I<jui Si tr' Ik<tw%ov9i fj.rj SavBlv Siity . . . from the doom of blood 

Sf ri<poi rsdeloaiS Absolved, the equal number of the shells 

Shall save thee that thou die not. POTTEK. 

The plaintiff was called Awxav; the whole suit Aieofys; and the de- 
fendant Qivyvv. The indictment before conviction was named AlrU; 
after conviction, *Ekiy%o$ ; and after condemnation, 'aS/*^*. All the 
time the cause was in suspense and undetermined, it was exposed to 
public view, being engraved on a tablet, together with the name of the 
person accused, and hung up at the statue of the heroes, surnamed 
*ti»iiwpM % than which there was not a more public place in the whole 
city; this they called ixxslrGeu* and it seems to have been done with a 
design that all persons who could give any information to the court, having 
sufficient notice of the trial, should come and present themselves. 

If the convicted person was guilty of a capital crime, he was delivered 

i Orat. in Macart. 3 Eurip. Electra, v. 1265, et seq. 

- Anstojdwejusq. Schol. Ran. et Vesp. 4 Dtmosth, ejusq. Schol. in Midian. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



127 



into the hands of the "Ev^xa, to receive the punishment due to his 
offence ; but if a pecuniary mulct was laid upon him, the Tap'tai <rov ®iov 
took care to see it paid ; and in case his estate was not able to make pay- 
ment, they confined him to perpetual imprisonment. 1 If, on the contrary, 
the plaintiff had accused his adversary unjustly, and produced false evi- 
dence against him, he was in some places obliged to undergo the punish- 
ment due by law to the crime, of which he had falsely accused an innocent 
person ; but at Athens had only a fine laid upon him. Both the villain 
that had forsworn himself, and he that suborned him, were severely prose- 
cuted ; the former by an action of Wiv^opagrvg'icc, the latter of Kcc%or&%via. 
Of these, and the punishment due to such offenders, I shall speak farther 
in another place. 

When the trials were over, the judges went to Lycus' temple, where 
they returned their 'Faf^oi, staves or sceptres, which were ensigns of their 
office, and received from certain officers called KcoXenx/iron, a piece of 
money for their service, which at the first was only one obolus ; after- 
wards it was increased to two, then to three, and at length to a drachm, 
which was six oboli, as we have before observed from the scholiast upon 
Aristophanes. 2 Though these rewards may seem trifling and inconsider- 
able expenses, yet the troublesome temper of the Athenians, and their 
nice exaction of every little duty or privilege, occasioned so great a number 
of lawsuits, that the frequent payment of these small sums by degrees so 
exhausted the exchequer, that they became a burden to the common- 
wealth, and are particularly reflected upon by Aristophanes, who takes 
occasion everywhere to ridicule this litigious humour, which was then 
grown to such a height, that every corner of the streets was pestered with 
swarms of turbulent rascals, who made it their business to pick up stories, 
and catch at every occasion to accuse persons of credit and reputation: 
these they called 2v»o<puvreu, which word sometimes signifies false wit- 
nesses, but is more properly taken for what we call common barretors, 
being derived a*ro rod to ovxu, (palvuv, from indicting persons that exported 
fgs; for amongst the primitive Athenians, when the use of that fruit was 
first found out, or in the time of a dearth, when all sorts of provisions 
were exceedingly scarce, it was enacted, that no figs should be ex- 
ported out of Attica; and this law not being actually repealed, when a 
plentiful harvest had rendered it useless, by taking away its reason, gave 
occasion to ill-natured and malicious men, to accuse all persons whom they 
caught transgressing the letter of it ; and from them all busy informers 
have ever since been branded with the name of sycophants. 4 Others will 
have the stealing of figs to have been prohibited by a particular law, and 
that thence informations grew so numerous, that all vexatious informers 
were afterwards termed sycophants. 



1 Demostb. Androtian. Cornel. Pollux, Hesychius. 4 Suidas, Aristoph. Schol. 

Nop Miltiade. 3 Ran. pag. 280, edit. JEmll, Pluto, Equit. &c. 

i-Ran. \esp. item Suidas, Porti, et Scholiast, ibid. 



128 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XXII. 

OF THE TE22APAKONTA AND AIAITHTAI. 

OI Twtroigax'ovra, were forty men that went their circuits round the several 
boroughs, and had cognizance of all controversies about money, when the 
sum exceeded not ten drachms : also, as Demosthenes reports, 1 had actions 
of assault and battery brought to their hearing. Pollux tells us, that at 
their first institution, they were no more than thirty in number; but 
Hesychius reports, the magistrates or judges called Oi Tgidzovrx, were 
those that amerced the people for absenting themselves from the public 
assemblies. 

Aioumra.), or arbitrators, were of two sorts: 

1. KXn^eoroi were forty-four men in each tribe above the age of sixty, 
as Pollux, or fifty, as Suidas reports, drawn by lots, to determine contro- 
versies in their own tribe about money, when the sum was above ten 
drachms. Their sentence was not final ; so that if either of the contesting 
parties thought himself injured by it, he might appeal to the superior 
courts of justice. 3 At their first institution, all causes whatsoever that 
exceeded ten drachms were heard by them, before they could be received 
into the other courts. 3 They passed sentence without obliging themselves 
by any oath, but in other things acted in the same manner with the rest 
of the judges ; they received a drachm of the plaintiff, which was called 
vre&gK<rret(ri$ 9 or huaraffis, and another of the defendant, when they admin- 
istered the oath to him, which was termed mru/toffi*. If the parties did 
not appear at the appointed time and place, they staid expecting till the 
evening, and then determined the cause in favour of the party there pre- 
sent. Their office continued a whole year, at the end of which they gave 
up their accounts ; and if they were proved to have refused to give judg- 
ment, or to have been corrupted, 4 they were punished with anfilcc, 
infamy. Under them were certain officers called 'E\tayuyui, whose 
business it was- ua-dyuv rks dlxo&St to receive the complaints that fell under 
the cognizance of the Atetimra), and enter them into their court, 5 

2. AicthXetzrvgMf or jco.t iyriTgonkv Antirnrx), or compromissarii, were 
such as two parties chose to determine any controversy betwixt them ; and 
these the law permitted any person to request, but obliged him to stand 
to whatever they determined, without any farther appeal ; and therefore, 
as a greater obligation to justice, they took an oath that they would give 
sentence without partiality." 

The determination of the Aixtr^rct) was called SIcutx, and Itfir^onh, and 
to refer any tiling to them, Via.tr a.)> iartrgtycct. 7 



1 Orat. in Pantanet. 4 Demosth. et Ulpian, in Mi- 6 Demosth, 

2 Demosth- Orat. in Aphobura. dian. Petit. Misc. viii. 7 Pollux. 

3 Pollux, ULian. 5 Pollux. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



129 



CHAP. XXIII. 



OF THE PUBLIC JUDGMENTS, ACTIONS, &C. 



The Athenian judgments were of two sorts, tivpct&xm and ftiumxu), public 
and private: the former were about such crimes as tended to the prejudice 
of the state, and these actions were called xkt?i^iw; the latter compre- 
hended all controversies that happened between private persons, and were 
called Vikoii} Nor did they only differ as to their matter, but in their 
process and management, and particularly in this, that in private actions 
no man could prosecute the offender, besides the party injured, or some of 
his near relations; whereas in the public, the laws encouraged all the 
citizens to revenge the public wrong, by bringing the criminal to condign 
punishment. 2 

The public judgments were these : 

1. YoxQn was an action laid upon such as had been guilty of any of the 
following crimes: 3 
$ovo;, murder. 

T^acupa. Ik *govo'iaf t a wound given out of malice. 
Hv^Koi'tx, firing the city. 
^do^otzov, poison. 

BovXiuris, a conspiracy against any person's life ; or the crime of the 
city-treasurers who entered into the public debt-book persons not indebted 
to the city: 4 wherein it differs from ^iv^iyygoMpv, whereby the treasurers 
charged men with debts which were already discharged. 5 

'ligoffvx'ioi, sacrilege. 

*A<rifiuu., impiety. 

Uoo$o<r'ia, treason. 

'Eraifljjfr;;, fornication. 

Moi%sia 9 whoredom ; this was punished with a mulct. 
'Aydpiov, celibacy. 

'A«rT£«rs/«, refusing to serve in the wars. They who were convicted 
of this crime were punished with fartpitx, infamy. 6 

Asi-TrotrTgdnov, desertion of the army. This drew only a fine on the 
criminal. 7 

Asivrorccluv, a desertion of a man's station, as when any person refused 
to serve on foot, and enlisted himself among the horsemen, which by Solon's 
laws was esteemed as great a crime as a total desertion of the army. 

AttXia, cowardice. The convicted were punished with infamy. 

AurovauTiov, desertion of the fleet. The punishment was only a fine. 

'Avuvpdxtov, refusing to serve in the fleet. The. punishment was 
a.rifttc( t in fa my . 



1 Isoc. Rep. Athen. 

2 Plut Solone. 4 Harpoc. 

3 Pollux, viii. 6. Sisonias de 5 Suidas, v. •tfsvSin eyyoa<pr,. 



6 Thucyd. Schol. vi. 

7 Thucyd. Schol. loco citato. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



To pl\j/ai aftrticc, losing a man's shield. This was likewise punished 
with infamy. 

"*¥iv%iyypot,<pYi, •^iuhoy^oc^n, or •fyzvbns lyygxQvi, was the crime of those 
that f&lsely charged others, and sued them for public debts, which Harpo- 
cration calls •^ivSoxXyrua' but this seems rather to have been an action 
for false arrests, according to Pollux. The punishment was only a mulct. 

'SuxoQc&vTix, barretry, or frivolous accusation. This was punished also 
with a mulct. It differed from ^sy^a^r^/a, or false witness, the third 
act whereof was punished with krip'ict, infamy. 

Au^a, or Iw^obox'ict, taking bribes to manage any public affair, or pervert 
justice ; it was not thought enough to punish the receiver, but the person 
also that offered bribes was prosecuted, and the action against him called 
^ixatrpog. The same action in causes about the freedom of the city, was, 
by a peculiar name, termed luovfyvia.. All who had been guilty of receiv- 
ing bribes were fined in ten times the value of what they had gained, and 
punished with the highest degree of aT/^/a, infamy. But if the accuser 
could not prevail with a fifth part of the judges to credit his information, 
he was fined a thousand drachmae, and underwent the lowest degree of 
artuia., infamy. 

"Tfh^i?, beating a freeman, or binding- him as they used to do to slaves. 
'Ay^ocpov, erasing a name out of the public debt-book before the debt 
was discharged. 

'AygaQiov f^irxXXev, digging a mine without acquainting the public 
officers; for before any person could dig a mine, he was obliged to inform 
certain officers, appointed by the people, of his design, to the end that the 
twenty-fourth part of the metal might be reserved for the public use. 

'AXoytov was against magistrates that had neglected to give up their 
accounts. 

Uxgsivoptvv ygotQyi, against such as, in proposing a new law, acted con- 
trary to the old and established laws. 

EuUvvri was against magistrates, ambassadors, or other officers that had 
misemployed the public money, or committed any other offence in the 
discharge of their several trusts. That against ambassadors was some- 
times, by a peculiar name, called sra^acr^scjSs/a. 

Aoziftciff'ia, was a probation of the magistrates, and persons employed in 
public business. 

TloofioXn was an action against persons disaffected to the government, 
and such as imposed upon the people ; against sycophants, and such as at 
the celebration of any festival had caused an uproar, or committed any 
thing indecent and unsuitable to the solemnity. 

' 'AToyoK<ph was when any person, being sued for debts said to be due to 
the public, pleaded that they were falsely charged upon him, withal pro- 
ducing all the money he was possessed of, and declaring by what means 
it came into his hands. Suidas adds, that a,<7roygu<pb is sometimes taken 
for an action against such as neither paid the fines laid upon them, before 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



131 



the ninth prytanea following their sentence, nor were able to give suffi- 
cient surety to the city. 

'A<7o<px<ris was sometimes the same with ' Avroy^cKph, as we learn from 
Suidas ; but was also usually taken for the account of estates given at the 
exchange of them for the avoiding of public employment. For, when any 
man would excuse himself from any troublesome and chargeable trust, by 
casting it upon another richer than himself, the person produced by him 
had power to challenge him to make an exchange of estates, and thereby 
compel him to undergo the office he had before refused. 

2. $x<rt; was commonly taken for the discovery of any hidden and con- 
cealed injury, but more peculiarly signified an action laid against such 
as exported corn out of Attica, embezzled the public revenues, and con- 
verted them to their own private use, or appropriated to themselves any 
of the lands or other things that of right belonged to the commonwealth. 
It is sometimes taken for an action against those that were guardians to 
orphans, and either wholly neglected to provide tenants for the houses and 
lands, or let them at too easy a rate. 

3. "Ev$u%ts was against such as committed any action, or affected any 
place of which they were incapable by law ; as when a person disfranchised, 
or indebted to the public, sued for offices in the state, or took upon him 
to determine controversies in a judicial way: also against those that con- 
fessed the crimes laid to their charge, without standing the trial. 

4. ' Atrccycoyh was the carrying of a criminal taken in the fact to the 
magistrate. If the accuser was not able to bring him to the magistrate, it 
was usual to take the magistrate along with him to the house where the 
criminal lay concealed, or defended himself; and this they called \q>'/iyii<r- 
6x1, and the action ityvyno'i;. 

5. ' KvhooXyi-^tov, or 'Av^A^/as, was an action against such as protected 
persons guilty of murder, by which the relations of the deceased were 
empowered to seize three men in the city or house, whither the malefactor 
had fled, till he was either surrendered, or satisfaction made some other 
way for the murder. 

6. EtcrccyyiX'ict was of three sorts: the first was about great and public 
offences, whereby the state was brought into danger. Such actions were 
not referred to any court of justice, but immediately brought before the 
senate of five hundred, or the popular assembly, before whom it was intro- 
duced by the thesmothetae at the first convention in the Prytanea, where 
the delinquent was severely punished, but the plaintiff underwent no 
danger, although he could not prove his indictment, except he failed of 
having the fifth part of the suffrages, and then he was fintd a thousand 
drachms. The second sort of Et<rctyy&Xtx was an action of Ka^&xr^, of 
which I shall speak in another place ; it was brought before the archon, to 
whom the plaintiff gave in his accusation, but was not liable to have any 
fine laid upon him, though sentence was given against him. The third 
was an action against the Atatrnrxi, preferred by persons that thought 



132 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



themselves unjustly dealt with by them, who ran the hazard of being dis- 
franchised, and forfeiting their freedom, if they were not able to make 
good their accusation. Indeed in all the forementioned accusations, the 
'Eitra.yyiXiou only excepted, this penalty, together with a fine of a thousand 
drachms, was inflicted upon the plaintiff, if he had not the fifth part of the 
suffrages. 



CHAP. XXIV. 

OF THE PRIVATE JUDGMENTS, ACTIONS, &C. 

AAIKIOT otzw, an action xoltu, ruv ocraffcxovv uoizovvruiv, against such as 
had done any sort of injury} A fine was laid on the delinquent, which 
was to be doubled, if not paid within the ninth piytanea. 2 

Kciryiyogicc; 1\xn was an action of slander, by which the criminal was 
fined five hundred drachms. 

Atxiag Vtxn was an action of battery, in which case there was no set 
penalty inflicted by the laws, but the judges took an account of the dama- 
ges suffered by the plaintiff, and compelled the delinquent to make suffi- 
cient retribution. 

BixtMv, or Blot? Vizyi, was an action against such as had ravished women, 
or used violence towards any man's person. 

BKufiv; Winy was an action of trespass, being against those that had 
endangered another man's estate, lands, houses, clothes, &c. 

Kxzeocritv; Yty.yi, ygetQy), or titrccyyiX'ix, was an action entered by heir- 
esses against their husbands, by parents against their children, and orphans 
against their guardians, when they were ill used or injured by them. 

'Atfovro/xvrri; Vixn was an action of divorce, when the husband had put 
away his wife. On the contrary, when the womau fled from her husband, 
the action was called ' AcraXsn^s&z? Vixn. 

KXovrtis tixn was against thieves. Demosthenes 3 reports, that if any 
man had stolen above fifty drachms in the daytime, he was to be indicted 
at the tribunal of the eleven. But if any theft was committed in the 
night, it was lawful to kill the criminal, if he was caught in the fact, or 
to pursue him, and if he made any resistance, to wound him, and so haul 
him to the eleven ; and this action was termed Wayuyj. He was not 
permitted to give security for restitution, but suffered death. If any 
person surreptitiously conveyed any thing of the smallest value out of the 
Lyceum, Academy, Cynosarges, or any of the gymnasia, or out of havens, 
above the value of ten drachms, he was adjudged to die. If any man was 
convicted of theft from a private person, he was to make retribution to the 
person he had injured, by paying him double the value of what he had 



1 Efyraoiogiei Auctor. 



2 Harpccration. 



2 Tiraocratea. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



133 



deprived him of; nor was this punishment alone thought sufficient to 
expiate his offence, but it lay in the judge's power to keep him in bonds 
five days, and as many nights, and expose him in that condition to the 
view of all the people. We are farther informed by Andocides, 1 that 
artjutcc, infamy was the punishment of this crime. 

Ux^xKcurcc^xr,; llx* was against such as refused to restore any thing 
committed to their charge. 

XfiUv; was a suit between debtors and usurers. 

IvjApJoXct'iou Vtxn was an action against those that would not stand to their 
contracts or bargains. Not much different from this was "Svvfaxwv y&xq \ 
only 'S&j&fiokcust are distinguished from ^uvtiyxett in this, that these chiefly 
imply private contracts about the loan of money, division of inheritances, 
and references to the Atatrvirai* whereas, the others are extended, as well to 
public negotiations between public bodies, as to bargains made by private 
persons. Others there are that acknowledge no such difference betwixt 
them. 

E/? ^c&tyitcjv aloifftv WW was an action against such persons as would not 
consent to make a division of goods or estates, wherein other men are 
sharers with them. 

Aiu^ixxir'ias Vixn was an action vrtoi ^o'/iuoiruv, n <zi(n xTYifAciraiv, concern- 
ing money or possessions, as it is defined by 2 Ulpian, and seems to be a 
term of equal extent with ccptpifffiyirntris or xolcri;, which are general names 
for all lawsuits. But it was sometimes taken in a more limited sense, 
for the controversies of those, who being appointed to undergo some of the 
public duties (Xurouoyicci), excused themselves by informing against others 
more wealthy, as has been elsewhere shown. 

'ErtdixaffUs Vixu, when daughters inherited the estates of their parents, 
they were obliged by law to marry their nearest relation. This was the 
occasion of this suit, which was commenced by persons of the same family, 
each of which pretended to be more nearly allied to the heiress than the 
rest. The virgin, about whom the relations contested, was calledVEsn^***. 
'"EtflxX'/ioo; was a daughter, that had no brothers lawfully begotten, and 
therefore inherited her father's whole estate. 'B^i^oixog was one that had 
brothers, and shared the estate with them. 

' A(t(pi(T$-/iTn<ri$ was a suit commenced by one that made pretensions to 
the estate of a deceased person, as being his son either by nature or adop- 
tion. This term is sometimes taken in a larger sense. 

Tltt.oa,xa.Tct$o\h was an action entered by the relations of the deceased, 
whereby they claimed a right to his estate, as belonging to them by reason 
of their consanguinity, or bequeathed by will. It was so called oltto 
rod vrugaxccTctfiocXXuv, because the plaintiff deposited the tenth part of the 
inheritance, if the cause was private, and the fifth, if it was a public estate 
he contended for; this he was to forfeit if he could not make his plea 
good. 



1 De Mysteriis. 



M 



2 In Timocrateam, 



134 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



'Avr/y^a^rj was a lawsuit about kindred, whereby any person claimed 
a relation to such or such a family, and therefore it seems to have been of 
the same nature with Hct^xccrccpooXri. 

Aixpetgruoice, was a protestation that the deceased person had left an heir, 
made to hinder the relations from entering upon the estate. 

'Enttrwipis was an action whereby the AixpocgTvgta was proved to be 
false and groundless. 

'"Evgsr/V^^a was when any person claimed some part of another man's 
goods, which were confiscated and sold by auction. 

2<rov when a husband divorced his wife, the Jaw obliged him to 
restore her portion ; or, in case he refused that, to pay her for each pound 
nine oboli every month ; upon failure of which he was liable to have this 
action entered against him in the Odeum by his wife's 'Eor/V^cra*, or 
guardian, whereby he was forced to allow her a separate maintenance. 

MurQuffiw; oUov, &c. Vinn, sometimes called <£a<r/s, was an action against 
guardians who were negligent in the management of the affairs of their 
pupils, and either let out their houses or estates at too small a price, or 
suffered them to lie void of tenants. When any house was vacant, it was 
customary to signify such, by fixing an inscription upon the door, or some 
other part of it. 1 

9 iZTtir(>ojrm Yik'a was an action against guardians that had defrauded their 
pupils. It was to be commenced within five years after the pupil was 
come to age, otherwise it was of no force. 

'Evoikiou t'iKvi. when any man laid claim to a house, he entered an action 
against the person that inhabited it, whereby he demanded the rent of the 
house. If he claimed an estate of land, the action was called Xugiov ^lx'/i, 
or Kxptov ViK'/ij because the fruits of the ground were demanded. If the 
plaintiff cast his adversary in either of the former suits, he entered a se- 
cond action against him, whereby he laid claim to the house or land, as 
being a part of his estate, for which reason it was called Ouuias ^Ixn. After 
this, if the person in possession continued obstinate, and would not deliver 
up the estate to the lawful owner, there was a third action commenced, 
which was named 'E^o-jX*? Vm*, from \Zl\\u, to eject; because the plain- 
tiff was l?iXXop<vos, ejected, or hindered from entering upon his estate. 
The same term was used when any other thing was unjustly detained 
from its owner, vrtot cc\coa.Tohov, xu.) ^avrog <P'/xrt n$ ubrcjj ftirsTvcti' con- 
cerning a slave, and every other thing which any person calls his own ; 
as we are informed by Suidas. 

Bifia.iw(noo; was an action whereby the buyer compelled the seller 
to confirm, or stand to the bargains which he before had given a pledge to 
ratify. 

E/j cvpavwv xa.-a.(;ra.ffiv oi'xti was designed as an inquiry about some- 
thing that was concealed, as about stolen goods. 



1 — — Inscripsi illico Over the door I wrote, 

JEdes mercede this house is to be LET.— Ter. Hesut act.i. seen 1. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



135 



'EfoJ££r&»5 was against a freeman that endeavoured to give a slave 
his liberty without his master's consent. 

*A5t^wiFsuriou dixit was an action against sojourners that neglected to 
choose a patron : of which custom I have spoken in another place. 

' Avrasrrxo-i'cu dixn was an action commenced by a master, or patron, 
against his clients : such as the freed slaves, when they refused to perform 
those services they were bound to pay to him. 

' AQiour,; $4*n was a suit about money put into the banker's hands, 
which the ancient Athenians called : AQoofjw, and the modern, 'EvtiriKv. 

"Atpxrt; was when a person deeply indebted desired the people to remit 
part oi his debt, upon pretence that he was unable to make payment. 

'i'ivhou.a.oTuoiaiv Ytxn was against false witnesses. 

Kxxors%vi£uv Vixn was against those that suborned false witnesses, 

iS.iiTrcucco-vo'icv Ytxn vras against such as, having promised to give evi- 
dence in a cause, disappointed the person that relied upon them. 

Several other judgments we meet with in ancient authors, some of 
which I have already spoken of in other places, and the names of the rest, 
are so well known that I need not give any explication of them; such 
were BoXiVoa Vixn, 'A%oLP:o-r'ia$ %xn, and some others. 1 



CHAP. XXV, 

OF THE ATHENIAN PUNISHMENTS AND REWARDS. 

The most common and remarkable punishments inflicted at Athens, on 
malefactors, were these: 

Zyipia.) which, though sometimes it be used in a large and general sense 
for any punishments, yet has often a more limited and restrained signifi- 
cation, being taken for a pecuniary mulct, or fine, laid upon the criminal 
according to the merit of Iris offence. 

'Art/aicc, infamy, or public disgrace. Of this there were three degrees: 
1. When the criminal retained his possessions, but was deprived of some 
privilege, which was enjoyed by other citizens. Thus, under the reign of 
the tyrants, some were commanded to depart out of the city, others for- 
bidden to make an oration to the people, to sail to Ionia, or to some other 
particular country-. 2. When he was for the present deprived of the pri- 
vileges of free citizens, and had his goods confiscated. This happened to 
those who were indebted to the public exchequer, till their debts were 
discharged. 3. When the criminal, with all his children and posterity, 
were for ever deprived of all rights of free citizens, both sacred and civil. 
This was inflicted on such as had been convicted of theft, perjury, or other 

1 Hesj'chius, Hajpourati.-.n. Suidas, Pollux, Ulplanus in Demosthen. Sigonius de Rep, Athen. et 
Rousaeus in Arch. Attic, iidemque ub'que in Lis capitibus sunt consulendi. 

m 2 



136 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



nctorious villanies.i Out of these men the Scholiast upon Aristophanes- 
tells us they appointed whom they pleased to labour at the oars ; to which 
drudgery, Plutarch reports, it was usual also to put their prisoners of 
war. 3 

Aouki'ioi, servitude, was a punishment by which the criminal was re- 
duced into the condition of a slave. It was never inflicted on any besides 
the "Anftot, sojourners and freed servants, because it was forbidden by one 
of Solon's laws that any freebom citizen should be treated as a slave. 

UTtypara, was a severity seldom exercised upon any but slaves, or some 
very notorious malefactors, of which I have spoken more at large in another 
place. 

2<tj?x»7 was, as the word imports, a pillar, whereon was engraven, in 
legible characters, an account of the offender's crime. The persons thus 
exposed to the laughter and reproaches of the people were called Sr^xiVa/. 
Hence, ffrsikiziurtxas >/oyo; is taken for any invective or defamatory ora- 
tion. 

Aut/hos was a punishment by which the criminal was condemned to im- 
prisonment or fetters. ' The prison was called by a lenitive name, O'lxr,- 
y,u, or house j for the Athenians used to mitigate and take off from the 
badness of things by giving them good and innocent appellations; as a 
whore, they would call a mistress ; taxes, rates ; garrisons, guards ; and 
this, saith Plutarch, seemed at first to be Solon's contrivance, who called 
the releasing of the people from their debts a*Kra%4ux f * a throwing off a 
burden. 1 Plato tells us, the Athenians had three sorts of prisons ; the first 
was near the forum, and was only designed to secure debtors or other per- 
sons from running away. The second was called ^lutyprnvrr^iw, or a house 
of correction, such as our bridewell. The third was seated in an uninha- 
bited and lonesome place, and was designed for malefactors guilty of capi- 
tal crimes. 5 One of their most remarkable prisons was called N^o^/ia- 
xiov, and the gate through which criminals were led to execution, X^w- 
vi7ov, from Charon, the infernal ferryman. At the prison door was erected 
the image of Mercury, the tutelar deity of the place, called Spgjtyvfcj 
from o-TgoQivs, the hinge of a door. 

Of fetters there were several sorts; the most remarkable are these: 
KvQuv, a collar, usually made of wood, so called from xvvrvea, because it 
constrained the criminal to bow down his head. This punishment was 
called Kvtp&jvio-ju.os, and hence pernicious fellows or things are sometimes 
named z$Qw$<sJ? Hesychius will have it applied \<r) vrdvrwv $vff%toa>v xa.) 
oXetglav, to all things hurtful and destructive. Others call it xXotls or 
wM, from zki'ia), because the criminal's neck was shut or inclosed 
within it. Some grammarians tell us, the neck, hands, and feet, were 
made fast in it ; and therefore it is probable it was the same with the 
|wXov vrivntTusiyyov, or fetters with five holes, mentioned by Pollux, and 



1 Andocides de Mysteriis. 

2 Ranis. 



3 Lysandro. 

4 Plutarch. Solcne. 



5 Plato de Legib. lib. x. 

6 Aristoph. Schol. Pluto. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



137 



stems to resemble the punishment of binding neck and heels, used amongst 
our soldiers. Aristophanes calls it %6kov rsr^svav. 1 

Tla.u<Tixa.Kr iy a round engine put about the neck, in such a manner that 
the sufferer could not lift his hand to his head. 

X«wf signifies fetters, in which the feet or legs were made fast, as we 
are informed by Aristophanes in his Plutus, where speaking of an insolent 
slave, he saith he deserves to be set in the stocks: 

■ al Kvruicu os aov poZ<riv You're ripe, you rogue, for fetters; the stocks 

'Iov. low 1 Toy joiViicay, xai ray w68mf irodoiirai. groan for yOU. 

Xot much unlike this seems to have been the cro^>***>?, <roloziZxxn, or 
TohffToafin, sometimes called tyXov, from the matter it was made of. 2 
But sibSmobxsj and xoborroafin seem to have differed in this, that in xobo- 
<?T£a,$n the feet were tortured; whereas in *oboKaxxn they were only made 
last without pain or distention of joints. Though perhaps this distinction 
will not be found constant and perpetual. 3 ?a,v); was a piece of wood to 
which the malefactor was bound fast. 4 Besides these, many others occur 
in authors, which barely to mention, would be both tedious and unneces- 
sary. 

^•-jyr,, perpetual banishment, whereby the condemned persons were 
deprived of their estates, which were publicly exposed to sale, and com- 
pelled to leave their country without any possibility of returning, unless 
they were recalled, (which sometimes happened) by the same power that 
expelled them ; wherein it differed from 'Oeroaxicrpoi , which only com- 
manded a ten years' absence, at the end of which, the banished persons 
were permitted to return, and enjoy their estates, which were all that 
time preserved entire to them. 5 The latter was instituted not so much 
with a design to punish the offender, as to mitigate and pacify the firry of 
the envious, that delighted to depress those that were eminent for their 
virtues and glorious actions, and by fixing this disgrace upon them, to 
exhale part of the venomous rancour of their minds. The first who under- 
went this condemnation was, as Plutarch reports, Hipparchus the Cho- 
largian, a kinsman to the tyrant of the same name. Eustathius makes it 
much more ancient, and carries it as high as Theseus' time, who, he tells 
us, out of Theophrastus and Pausanias, was the first that suffered it. 6 Hera- 
clides will have it to have been first instituted by Hippias the tyrant, a 
son of Pisistratus ; 7 Photius, by one Achilles, the son of Lyco; 8 and 
.•Elian, by Clisthenes, who also, as he tells us, was the first that under- 
went it. 9 It was never inflicted upon any but great persons ; Demetrius 
the Phalerean, as Plutarch reports, will have it to have happened to none 
but men of great estates, and therefore, as an argument to prove the plen- 
tiful condition of Aristides (whom he maintains to have been possessed of 

1 A ri staph. Schol. in Lysis- 4 Aristoph. Thesmophor. 7 Lib. de Rep. 

tratum. 5 Aristoph. Schol. Equit. et 8 Excerp. ex Ptol. Hephaest 

2 Aristoph. Schol. Equit. Veso. vi. 

3 Conf. Ulp. in Timocrat. He« 6 'Iliad, i. 9 Var. Hist. xiv. 24. 
sychiuS; Suidas. 

M 3 



1SS 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



a large fortune, contrary to the opinion of most other writers), he alleged, 
that he was banished by ostracism. But my author is of another opinion, 
and not without reason, for all persons were liable to the ostracism, who, 
for reputation, quality, riches, or eloquence, were esteemed above the 
common level, and exposed to the envy of the people, insomuch that even 
Damon, preceptor to Pericles, was banished thereby, because he seemed 
a man of more than ordinary sense. Afterwards, when base, mean, and 
villainous fellows became subject to it, they quite left it off, Hyperbolus 
being the last whom they banished by ostracism. This Hyperbolus was 
a very rascally fellow, who furnished all the writers of comedy in that 
age with matter for their satirical invectives ; but he was wholly uncon- 
cerned at the worst things they could say, and being careless of glory, 
was also insensible of shame ; he was neither loved nor esteemed by any 
body, but was a necessary tool to the people, and frequently made use of by 
them, when they had a mind to disgrace or calumniate any person of 
authority or reputation. The cause of his banishment was this : Alcibi- 
ades, Nicias, and Phseax, at that time were of different factions, and each 
of them bearing a great sway in the city, lay open to the envy of the 
inferior citizens, who, at Hyperbolus' persuasion, were very eager to 
decree the banishment of some one of them. Alcibiades, perceiving the 
danger they were in, consulted with Nicias, or Phseax (for it is not agreed 
which), and so contrived matters, that by uniting their several parties, 
the ostracism fell upon Hyperbolus, when he expected nothing of it. 
Hereupon the people being offended, as if some contempt or affront had 
been put upon the thing, left off, and quite abolished it. It was performed 
in this manner: every one taking an octt^ukov, or tile, carried it to a cer- 
tain part of the market-place, surrounded with wooden rails for that pur- 
pose, in which were ten gates appointed for the ten tribes, every one of 
which entered at a distinct gate. That being done, the archons numbered 
all the tiles in gross, for if they were fewer than six thousand, the ostra- 
cism was void ; then laying every name by itself, they pronounced him 
whose name was written by the major part, banished for ten years, enjoy- 
ing his estate. 1 This punishment was sometimes called lLioa.ft.uxai fiuffr^, 
from x.ioa,ijbo: i because the oerr^AtsM, by which the people gave their suf- 
frages, were earthen tiles, or pieces of broken pots. 2 The like was used 
at Argos, Megara, and Miletus; 3 and the Syracusian JliraXtcruc; was 
instituted upon the same account, in the third year of the S6th Olympiad; 
but differed from it in this, that this banishment was but for five years, 
and instead of oVr^a^a, the people made use of vlrctXct, or leaves, usually 
those of the olive-tree, in giving their voices. 4 

Qtivwro;, death, was inflicted on malefactors several ways, the chief of 
which were these : 

a sivord, with which the criminal was beheaded. 



1 Plutarch. Aristide, Alcibiade., Nicia, Themislocle. 
3 Aiistoph. Scliol, Equit. 



2 Hesych. in v. 
4 Diodor, Sic. xi. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



139 



Boc%o;, with which he was either strangled after the Turkish fashion, 
or hanged in the manner usual amongst us ; for that this was a very anci- 
ent, but withal a very ignominious punishment, appears from Homer, in 
whom Ulysses and Telemachus punish the men that took part with the 
young gentlemen who made love to Penelope, only with a common and 
ordinary death; but the maid-servants that had submitted to their lusts, 
and behaved themselves with scorn and contempt towards their masters, 
as being guilty of a more notorious crime, they ordered to be hanged. 1 

^JloftciKov, poison, of which there were many sorts ; but what they most 
commonly made of was the juice of the herb Kumov^ cicuta, not much 
unlike hemlock, which, through its extreme coldness, is poisonous. A 
draught of this gave Socrates his death* 

Kovpvo;, a precipice, from winch the malefactor was tumbled headlong. 

Tvp-rccvci, or Tvravcc, were cudgels of wood, with which malefactors 
were beaten to death, 3 being hanged upon a pole, which was also called 
Tvpvrctvov: and therefore nrvuTrxvi^i-r/zi is, by Suidas and the Etymologist, 
expounded xg'spccraf, and \~vu,<7rxnffh<roLv, Ixo-ptiffSno-a.v by Hesychius ; for 
their conceit is vain and ridiculous, who would thence infer it to have 
been a kind of gallows or cross. No less groundless is their opinion, who 
imagine it to have been an instrument on which criminals were distended, 
like the covering of a drum, which the Greeks called tv^vtocvov, and to 
have been of the same nature with the Roman Jidiculce, which were little 
cords by which men were stretched upon the rack, and seem to have 
resembled the Greek cr^voi, used in the punishment called ff^tvio-^o;, 

^tcluoc;, the cross, mentioned in Thucydides, 4 was used in Greece, but 
not so frequently as at Rome. It consisted of two beams, one of which 
was placed across the other; the figure of it was much the same with that 
of the letter T, as Lucian tells us,& differing only from it, because the 
transverse beam was hxed a little below the top of the straight one. The 
malefactor was hanged upon the beam that was erect, his feet being fixed 
to it with nails, and his hands to each side of that which was transverse. 

Ba^a^ov was a deep pit belonging to the tribe Hippothoontis, into 
which condemned persons were cast headlong, It is sometimes called 
"Ocuypx, whence the public executioner received the appellation of 'O int 
tZj oovypctn. It was a dark noisome hole, and had sharp spikes at the 
top, that no man might escape out; and others at the bottom, to pierce 
and torment such as were cast in. 6 From its depth and capaciousness, it 
came to be used proverbially for a covetous miser or voracious glutton, 
that is always craving, and can never be satisfied ; such a one the Latins 
called barathro." 

A place of the same nature was the Lacedaemonian Kxidlxs, into which 
Aristomenes the Messenian being cast, made his escape after a wonderful 
manner. s 



1 Odyss. , K \ v. 465. Hesvchius, Etvmol. Pollux, et 6 Aristoph. Piuto, Schol. 

2 Pers. Satir. iy. v. 1. ubique in hoc capite. 7 Lucret. iii. Hor. i. Sat. ii. 

3 Arist, Schol. Piuto, Suidas, 4 Lib. i. 5 Atxy (puivrjtvTw* 3 Pans. Messeniac 



140 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Arfofiokta, or lapidation, was a common punishment, and usually inflicted 
by the primitive Greeks upon such as were taken in adultery, as we learn 
from Homer. 1 

Aaivov %*oo xitZvo, tcaxZv IW, oootx lopyay. For all your villanies you shall be stoned to death. 

Many other punishments there were, which they inflicted for particu- 
lar crimes, some of which I shall treat of in their proper places. 

As the laws inflicted severe penalties upon offenders, to deter men from 
vice and wickedness, and from base dishonourable designs, so they confer- 
red ample rewards upon such as merited them, to incite others to the 
practice of virtue and honesty, and the performance of good and glorious 
actions ; and upon the just and equal dispensation of these two things, it 
was Solon's opinion, that the safety of the commonwealth chiefly depend- 
ed. 2 Not to mention public honours and state-preferments, to which even 
those of the inferior sort might not despair of advancing themselves in a 
popular state, if by their eminent services they approved themselves to 
the people ; there were several public rewards and honours conferred upon 
such as were thought worthy of them; the chief of which were these: 

n^as^/a, or the privilege of having the first place at all shows, sports, 
banquets, and public meetings. 3 

fJkuv, or the honour of having & picture or statue erected in the citadel, 
forum, or other public places of the city. 4 

2ri(pKvoi, or crowns, were conferred in the public assemblies by the suf- 
frages of the people, or by the senators in their council, or by the tribes 
to their own members, or by the Ajj^ora/ in their own (tripos) borough. 
The people were not allowed to present crowns in any place except their 
assembly, nor the senators out of the senate-house ; it being the lawgiver's 
intention that the Athenians should uyxyratv lv airy t»j tf'oXu rtpuftivdi hicl 
Inpov, acquiesce in the honours paid them by their own people, and not court 
the favour and esteem of other cities. For this reason, the Athenians 
never rewarded any man with crowns in the theatre, and at the solemn 
games, where there was commonly a great concourse of people from all 
parts of Greece ; and if any of the criers there proclaimed the crowns 
with which any man's tribe or borough had presented him, he was 
punished with ocrif&'icc, infamy. Iritpix-voi coronce hospitales, 

were, notwithstanding, sometimes presented by foreign cities to parti- 
cular citizens of Athens, but not till the ambassadors of those cities 
h^d first obtained permission from the people of Athens, and the men for 
whom that honour w r as intended had undergone a public examination, 
wherein their course of life was inquired into. Lastly, the crowns pre- 
sented by the Athenians themselves to any of their own citizens, were 
kept in the families of those who had obtained them, as monuments of 
honour, and those which were sent from other cities were dedicated to 
Minerva, the protectress of Athens. 5 But as these were for the most part 



1 Iliad, v '. v. 57. 3 Aristoph. Equit. eju6que 4 Demosthen. Orat. de Falsa 

% Cieeron. Epist. ad M. Btat- »Scholiast. et Su'tdas. Legat. aliique. 

urn. 5 .Esch. in Ctesiph. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



141 



bestowed upon those who had signalized themselves by their valour, I shall 
give a farther account in another place, when 1 come to speak of military 
rewards. 

% KriXtct was an immunity from all public duties, taxes, and contribu- 
tions, except such as were required for carrying on the wars, and building 
ships, which no man was excused from, but the nine archons. This hon- 
our was very rare ; but yet there were instances of it, as particularly those 
of Harmodius and Aristogiton's whole families, which enjoyed it for many 
generations. 1 

2iT<ar., 5ra^af/T/«, trtry<ri$ h Hovrce.vua>, was an entertainment given in 
the Prytaneum, to such as had deserved well of the commonwealth, and 
in particular to those who had been ambassadors. Solon made a law that 
no man should be entertained in the Prytaneum oftener than once.2 But 
this being afterwards abolished, some were uutrnoi, constantly maintained 
there ; 3 whence Socrates, being asked by the court what punishment he 
thought himself to deserve ? replied, ut ei victus quotidianus in Prytaneo 
publici prceberetur, ' that the}' should allow him a constant maintenance 
in the Prytaneum ;' qui honos apiid Gracos maximus habetur, 1 which is 
reputed one of the greatest honours amongst the Greeks,' as we are in- 
formed by Cicero. 4 Sometimes we find the privilege granted to whole 
families, for the service of their ancestors, as particularly to those of Hip- 
pocrates, Harmodius, and Aristogiton. Their common fare was a sort 
of cakes, or puddings, called puga. Upon holidays they had an allowance 
of bread ; 5 which Solon appointed, (jupov 'pivo; rov "Op'/jiov, in imitation of 
Homer, whose heroes used to feast in that manner. Besides other provi- 
sions, the tenths of all the bellies of animals offered in sacrifice were 
always reserved for them ; which if any man neglected to send, he was 
liable to be punished by the cj^yravs*. 6 

Such as had received any honour or privilege from the city, were under 
its more particular care and protection : and the injuries done to them 
were resented as affronts to the whole commonwealth : insomuch, that 
whoever did vfioi^uv, tfuracrauv, jcxxw; £<Vs?v, affront, strike, or speak ill 
of any such person, was by the law declared anpo:, infamous. 7 If the 
children of those who had been eminently serviceable to the common- 
wealth were left in a poor condition, they seldom failed of obtaining a plen- 
tiful provision from the public: thus Aristides' two daughters were publicly 
married out of the Prytaneum, the city decreeing each of them three hun- 
dred drachms for her portion. Nor is it to be wondered, says Plutarch, 
that the people of Athens should take care of those who lived in the 
city, since, hearing that Aristogiton's grand-daughter was in a low r con- 
dition in the isle of Lemnos, and on account of her poverty like to want 
a husband, they sent for her to Athens, married her to a person of consi- 
derable quality, and bestowed upon her a large farm as a dowry. Of which 



1 Demosth. Orat. in Leptin. 3 Pollux. Athenaeus, iv. &c. 
cjnsque Interpret. 4 De Oratore, i. 6 Anstoph. Equit. 

2 i'Jut. Solone. 5 Demosth. loc. cit. Poll. ix. 5. 7 Demosth. in Mid. 



142 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



bounty and humanity, says he, this city of Athens, even in this age, has 
given many demonstrations, for which she is deservedly held in great 
honour and admiration. 1 

Whilst the ancient virtue and glory of the Athenians lasted, it was ex- 
ceedingly difficult to obtain any of the public honours: insomuch, that 
when Miltiades, after he had delivered Greece from the Persian army at 
Marathon, petitioned for a crown, he received this answer from one of the 
people, That when he conquered alone he should be crowned alone. But 
in the days of Aristophanes honours were more common. 2 In later ages, 
the Athenians grew lavish of their public honours, as may be seen from 
the stories of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Demetrius the Phalerean, 3 to 
which we have already alluded. 



CHAP. XXVI. 

OF THE ATHENIAN LAWS. 

It was an observation of Cicero, that most of the arts and inventions which 
are necessary to the management of human life owe their origin to the 
Athenians, from whom they were carried into the other parts of Greece, 
and thence spread among foreign countries for the common benefit of man- 
kind. But of all the inventions commonly ascribed to them, none has 
been of greater or more general use to the world than that of laws, which, 
as iElian 4 and others record, were first established in Athens; though 
some ascribe the first invention of laws to Zaleucus the Locrian, or to 
Minos, king of Crete. 5 Most other ingenious contrivances respect the 
conveniences of human life, but upon this depends the very foundation of 
all civil government, and of all mutual society amongst men ; for by them 
the magistrate is directed how to govern, and the people how far to obey ; 
the magistrate by them is settled in the possession of his authority over the 
people, and the people, too, by them are secured from the arbitrary power 
and unreasonable demands of the magistrate, as well as from the fraud, 
violence, and oppression of each other. 

The poets tell us, that Ceres first taught the Athenians the use of laws, 
and to commemorate this benefit, the festival @i<rpo<pogioi was celebrated, in 
which she was worshipped by the name of ©urpotp'ogos, the Legislatrix, which 
exactly answers to the Latin name of Legifera in Virgil. 6 The occasion of 
this opinion seems to have been, their ascribing to this goddess the invention 
of tillage. After this, the lands being not as yet divided into equal por- 
tions, controversies used to be raised ; for the composing of which Ceres gave 



1 Plut. Aristide. 3 Conf. Plut. Demet. 5 Clemen. Alexand. 6 JEa, iv. 57. 

2 Equit. act. i. seen. 3. 4 iii. 38. Strom, i. p. 309. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



143 



directions which afterwards were imitated in all other affairs. Some of 
the laws of her favourite Triptolemus are still extant. But to pass by- 
poetical fictions, tins much is certain, that the Athenians were governed 
by laws before the dissolution of their monarchy, as may be observed from 
what Plutarch relates of Theseus, namely, that when he divested himself 
of sovereign power, and established a commonwealth in Athens, one of 
the prerogatives that he thought fit still to retain, was the custody or pro- 
tection of the laws. 

The first who gave laws to the Athenians after Theseus was Draco, 
who was archon in the first year of the 39th Olympiad. His laws, iElian 1 
tells us, were properly called ®ar/xo), but were remarkable for nothing but 
their unreasonable severity ; for by them every little offence was punished 
with death, and he that stole an apple was proceeded against with no less 
rigour than he that had betrayed his country. But these extremities could 
not last long; the people soon grew weary of them, and therefore, though 
the}' were not abrogated, yet by tacit consent they fell into desuetude, till 
Solon, the next lawgiver, repealed them all, except those which concerned 
murder, called <pwxo) vcuot ; and, having received from the people power 
to make what alterations he thought necessary, new-modelled the common- 
wealth, and instituted a great many useful and excellent laws, which, to 
distinguish them from Draco's ®nrpo\, were called 2$opot. Lest, through 
the connivance of the magistrates, they should in time be neglected, like 
those of his predecessor, he caused the senate to take a solemn oath to 
observe them : and every one of the thesmothette vowed, that if he violated 
any of the statutes, he would dedicate a golden statue as big as himself to 
the Delphian Apollo ; and the people came under an obligation to observe 
them for a hundred years. 2 

But all this care was not sufficient to preserve his laws from the inno- 
vations of lawless and ambitious men ; for shortly after, Pisistratus so far 
insinuated himself into the people's favour, that the democracy instituted 
by Solon was dissolved, and himself invested with sovereign power, which, 
at his death, he left in the possession of his sons, who maintained it for some 
years. Though Pisistratus himself, as Plutarch reports, 3 and his sons after 
him, in a great measure, governed according to Solon's directions, yet they 
followed them not as laws, to which they were obliged to conform their 
actions, but rather seem to have used them as wise and prudent counsels, 
and varied from them whenever they found them to interfere with their 
interest or inclinations. 

The family of Pisistratus being driven out of Attica, Clisthenes under- 
took to restore the constitutions of Solon, and enacted many new laws, 4 
which continued in force till the Peloponnesian war, when the form of 
government was changed, first by the four hundred, and then by the thirty- 
tyrants. These storms being over, the ancient laws were again restored 

1 Var. Hist. viii. 10. 3 Solone. 

2 Plut, Solone, Diogen. Laert, .^Elian, loc cit. 4 Herod, Plut. Pericle, Isocrat. Areopag, 



144 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



in the archonship of Euclides, and others established at the instance of 
Diocles, Aristophon, and other leading men of the city. Last of all, De- 
metrius the Phalerean being intrusted with the government of Athens by 
the Macedonians, was the author of many new, but very beneficial and 
laudable constitutions. 1 These seem to have been the chief legistators of 
Athens, before she submitted to the Roman yoke ; two others are men- 
tioned by Suidas, namely, Thales and iEschylus. 

Besides these, the Athenians had a great many other laws, enacted 
upon particular exigencies by the suffrages of the people ; (not to speak of 
l?9i<p'iffftaru rm fiovX^s, the decrees enacted by the authority of the sena- 
tors, whose power being only annual, their decrees lost all their force and 
obligation when their offices expired.) The maimer of making a law was 
this: when any man had devised a measure, which he thought might con- 
duce to the good of the commonwealth, he first communicated it to the 
prytanes, who received all informations of things that concerned the pub- 
lic: the prytanes then called a meeting of the senate, in which the new 
project, after mature deliberation, was rejected, if it appeared hurtful or 
unserviceable ; but if otherwise, it was agreed to, and then called Hoo&ov- 
k$t/pa. Tins the prytanes wrote upon a tablet, and thence it was called 

No law was to be proposed to the assembly unless it had been written 
upon a white tablet, and fixed up, some days before the assembly, at the 
statues of the heroes called 'Esrwvt^w, that so all the citizens might read 
what was to be proposed at their next meeting, and be able to give a more 
deliberate judgment upon it. When the multitude assembled, the decree 
was read, and every man had liberty to speak his mind about the whole, 
or any clause of it: and if, after due consultation, the assembly thought it 
inconvenient, it was rejected ; if they approved of it, it passed into a Wr.tpur- 
ftx, or N^a;, winch were the same as to their obligation, but differed in 
this, that N-5^/5? was a general and everlasting rule, whereas "ty'tgio-ftx re- 
spected particular times, places, and other circumstances, 2 

No man, without a great deal of caution, and a thorough understanding 
of the former laws and constitutions, durst presume to propose a new one, 
the danger being very great, if it suited not with the customs and inclina- 
tions of the people. Not much unlike this severity was the ordinance of 
Zaleucus the Locrian lawgiver, that whosoever proposed the enacting of 
a new law, or the abrogation of an old one, should come into the assembly 
with a halter about his neck, and in that habit give his reasons for what 
he proposed, and, if these were thought good and sufficient, his proposal 
was embraced; if not, he straightway poured out his soul under the hang- 
man's hands. But the Athenians were not quite so rigid, except upon 
some extraordinary occasions, when the giddy multitude was hurried on 
with unusual rage and vehemence. If any man established a law that 



1 Plut. Aristide, 



2 Demosth. ejusque emu-rater Ulpiau in Leptin. et alibi. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



145 



was prejudicial to the commonwealth, he might be called in question for 
it any time within the space of one year ; after that period, the laws took 
no notice of him. If he had not published his proposal in due time, if 
he proposed it in ambiguous and fallacious terms, or, if he proposed any 
thing contrary to any of the former and received laws, — a writ for trans- 
gressing the laws, called HetouvofAias yguQh, might take hold of him ; and 
therefore, if any of the old laws were found to oppose what they designed 
to offer, they always took care to have them repealed beforehand. 1 Those 
who had preferred a law, which was eragav^oj, or un^iry^no?, contrary 
to the former laws, or the interest of the commonwealth, were first 
arraigned before the thesmothetae, or, sometimes before the thesmo- 
thetae and sometimes before the other archons, according to the dif- 
ferent nature of their crimes, every archon having the cognizance of dif- 
ferent affairs. The accusation being heard, the archon did tlerdyuv tl$ to 
^tftctw/igiovf introduce the cause into that court of justice where such affairs 
were examined. If the defendant was declared guilty, he was usually 
punished by a fine proportioned to his offence, which he was obliged to pay 
under the penalty of («t^<«) infamy. This last punishment was imme- 
diately inflicted on those who had been tin-ice convicted of this offence, 
and who were, on that account, ever after excluded from all public assem- 
blies. 

If the judges acquitted the defendant, then the plaintiff was amerced in 
a thousand drachmae, as a punishment of his false accusation. 2 Though he, 
who had been the occasion of enacting any unjust law, could not be pun- 
ished after a whole year was expired, yet it was lawful to cite him before 
a magistrate, and there compel him to show the design and tendency of 
his law, to prevent any damage which might ensue from it. But as, not- 
withstanding all this caution, it sometimes happened that new laws were 
enacted contrary to the old, it was ordered that the thesmothetae should 
carefully peruse the laws once every year ; and if they found any of them 
oppose another, it was to be proposed to the people, who were to proceed 
about it in the method that was used in abrogating other laws, and so one 
of the laws should be made void. In other cases, it was unlawful for any 
man to endeavour to have any law repealed, without preferring a new one 
in its place. 

As the change of time and other circumstances make great alterations 
in affairs, and as ordinances, which were formerly useful and necessary, 
by the different state of things become unprofitable, and perhaps incon- 
venient and prejudicial, it was ordained by Solon that once every year the 
laws should be carefully revised and examined, and that if any of them 
were found unsuitable to the present state of affairs, it should be repealed; 
this was called i*ri%tigorovta rcov Sofiav, from the manner of giving their 
suffrages, by holding up their hands. The method of doing it was this: 

1 Demosth. ejusque enarrator Ulpian. in Lep- 2 Demosth. Timocratca, ibique Ulpianus, 
tin. et alibi. 

N 



146 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



on the 11th day of the month Hecatombaeon, when the prytanes held their 
first stated assembly, after the K^y| had, according to custom, made a 
solemn prayer before the assembly, the laws were read over in this order: 
first, those that concerned the senate ; next, those that respected the people 
and the nine archons, and then the other magistrates in their order. This 
being done, it was demanded, whether the laws then in being were suffi- 
cient for the commonwealth? and if it seemed necessary to make any 
alteration in them, the consideration was deferred till the fourth of Met- 
agitnion, upon which day was the last stated assembly, under the first 
rank of the prytanes, as the repetition of the laws had been at the first. 
In all this, the ®zo-po), or laws concerning such matters, were nicely and 
punctually observed, and the prytanes and proedri severely punished, if 
any thing was omitted. For this was the difference between ®z<rpcg and 
Na^a?, that Szo-ju.6; \trrt vopog vras z^zt voy.ohruv % ®z<rpo$ is a law directing 
how laws (vcpof) are to be made. 1 Upon the first of Metagitnion, another 
assembly was called, and the proedri reported the matter to the people, 
who did not proceed to the determination of it themselves, but substituted 
the nomothetae to do it ; and appointed five orators, called 'ZuvSixot, to de- 
fend the ancient laws in the name of the people. If the prytanes neglected 
to convene the forementioned assembly, they were to be fined a thousand 
drachmae; but if the assembly met, and the proedri then neglected to 
propound the law to the people, they were fined only forty drachmas ; on 
{*>ctpvrZ()ov Itrriv o\a; to pr\ o-uvec%xi rov o^vpov zi; T*jv zxxX'/io-'ioiv, rov fih vcro- 
ficcXXziv' It being a greater crime to neglect the calling of the people to- 
gether, than the propounding of any particular business to them. Any 
man was permitted to arraign the prytanes and proedri, thus offending, 
before the thesmothetae, whom the laws obliged to impeach the criminals 
in the court of heliaea, upon neglect of which they were denied admission 
into the senate of Areopagus. The nomothetae having heard what the 
orators could say in defence of the old law, gave their opinions accor- 
dingly, and their sentence was ratified by the people in the following 
assembly. 2 

Solon, and after his example, the rest of those that enacted laws in 
Athens, committed their laws to writing, 3 differing herein from Lycurgus, 
and the lawgivers of other cities, who thought it better to imprint them in 
the minds of their citizens than to engrave them upon tablets, where it 
was probable they might lie neglected and unregarded, as Plutarch hath 

1 Libanius in Argument. Lep- We are told by Diodorus, I. 1. we give credit to the authority of 
tiruae. that the Egyptians had their the Locrian fragment, preserved 

2 Libanius in Argument. Lep- laws written so early as in the by Stobaeus, it would apptarthat 
tinea;. time of Moses: and we learn some of the cities of Greece were 

3 Potter, upon the authority of from Plutarch, that the written rot without written laws before 
Andocides, telis us that. Solon laws of Numa were buried along the time of Solon. Dr Bentley 
was the first among the Atheni- with him. The jus civile papy- has proved Zeleucus prior to 
ans who employed written laws, n'anam, which w<is promulgated Pythagoras; therefore, lie must 
This seems to be rather extraor- at Rome shortly after the death have been either contemporary 
dinary, as committing their laws of the first Brutus, was also pro- with Solon, or prior to him. 

to writing had been tne custom bably committed to writing see Drummond. 
of legislators in other countries Bevers History of the Legal 
fr^m much nigher autiquity. Polity of the Roman State.) If 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



147 



informed us in his life of Numa Pompilius : 1 It is reported,' says he, 1 that 
Numa's body, by his particular command, was not burned, but that he 
ordered two stone coffins to be made, in one of which he appointed his 
body to be laid, and the other to be a repository for his sacred books and 
writings, and both of them to be interred under the hill Janiculum ; imi- 
tating herein the legislators of Greece, who having wrote their laws on 
tablets, which they called Kuofiut, did so long inculcate the contents of 
them whilst they lived, into the minds and hearts of their priests, that 
their understandings became as it were living libraries of those sacred 
volumes, it being esteemed a profanation of such mysteries to commit 
their secrets unto dead letters/ In some places, especially before the 
invention of letters, it was usual to sing their laws, the better to fix them 
in their memories ; which custom, Aristotle tells us, was used in his clays, 
among the Agathyrsi, a people near the Scythians ; and this he fancies 
was the reason why musical rules for keeping time were called No^o;. 1 

But Solon was of a contrary opinion, esteeming it the safest way to 
commit his laws to writing, which would remain entire, and impossible 
to be corrupted, when the unwritten traditions of other lawgivers, through 
the negligence and forgetfulness of some, and the cunning and knavery 
of others, might either wholly perish in oblivion, or by continual forgeries 
and alterations be rendered not only altogether unprofitable to the public, 
but abundantly serviceable to the designs and innovations of treacherous 
and ambitious men. Whence we find an express law, kyoatyoo vo/xm to,; 
ugz*; p-n xgrifffat (tntk tr*gt svc?> that no magistrate should in any case 
make use of an unwritten laiv. 2. The tablets in which Solon penned his 
laws, Plutarch tells us, were of wood, called "A|«vs$, and so fashioned that 
they might be turned round in oblong cases; some of them, he says, 
remained till his time, and were to be seen in the Prytaneum at AthenSj 
being, as Aristotle affirms, the same with the Kvofiu;. But others ara 
of opinion, that those were properly called Kv^fius 9 which contained the 
laws concerning sacrifices, and the rites of religion; and all the rest 
v A|ov£?. 3 Apoilodorus, as he is quoted by the scholiast upon Aristophanes, 4 
will have Kv^us to be of stone, and to signify any tablets, wherein laws 
or public edicts were written, and to have received their name Tu^a ro 
z,i7&oov$u>ffQoci us vyos, because they ivere erected up on high: or from the 
Corybantes, the first inventors of them, as Theopompus reports in his 
' Treatise of Piety.' Aristotle adds, in his account of the republic of 
Athens, that they were triangular, and is seconded herein by Pollux. 5 
who farther remarks, that the "A?ovi$ were quadrangular, and made 
of brass. Ammonius 6 will have the distinction to consist in this: that 
the Atom; were four-square, containing the laws that concerned civil 
affairs ; whereas the Kvgfi&ig were triangular, and contained precepts about 
thcworship of the gods. What number there was of them it is impossible 



1 Probl. sect xix. probl. 3S. 

2 Autocides de Mysleriis. 



3 Pint in Solone. 

4 Nubibus et Avibus. 

N 2 



5 Lib. viii. JO. 

6 Lib. de Different. Voc. 



148 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



to divine, since none of the ancient authors have given us any light in 
this particular. They were kept in the citadel, but afterwards removed 
to the Prytaneum, that all persons might have recourse to them upon any 
occasion ; x though some report, that only transcripts of them were carried 
thither, and that the original, written by Solon's own hand, remained still 
in the citadel. Hence, as Pollux is of opinion, the laws came to be dis- 
tinguished into rovs xurcoQiv and rov? av&)0iv vcfiov;, the former signifying 
the laws that were in the Prytaneum, which was in the lower city, the 
latter those that were kept in the citadel or upper city. Others are of 
opinion, that by b yArcaS-v v'opo;, Demosthenes, whose expression it is, 
meant no more than the lower part of the tablet: but then, without dis- 
pute, he would have mentioned the number of the tablets, as in other places 
he and others usually do, and not have left us in the dark which of the 
tablets he meant. Besides, the lower part of the tablet might sometimes 
happen to contain the first part of the law, which it is improper to call toy 
xoirafev, because that word seems to import something beneath the rest, 
and towards the latter end ; for one tablet was not always large enough to 
contain a whole law, as appears from Plutarch," in whom we find that the 
eighth law was engraved in the thirteenth tablet. Petitus will have De- 
mosthenes to mean no more by b xoiruhv vbpos than the law which beneath, 
or afterwards in the same oration, is cited by him. Others imderstand it 
of the lower line, because the laws are said to have been written /3<wr£5- 
Qfihov, which is, as Pausanias explains it, 3 when the second line is turned 
on the contrary side, beginning at the end of the former, as the husband- 
men turn their oxen in ploughing, in this manner: 
EK A I O 2 A P- 

It was against the law for any man to erase a decree out of any of the 
tablets, or to make any alterations in them ; and for their greater security, 
there were certain persons, called from their office r^a^ars/V, whose 
business it was to preserve them from being corrupted, 4 and, as their 
name imports, to transcribe the old, and enter the new ones into the 
tablets : they were elected by the senate ; and to render their office more 
creditable, had several marks of honour conferred upon them. That no 
man might pretend ignorance of his duty, the laws were all engraved on 
the wall in the Bacrt'ktx.n ffrox, or royal portico, and there exposed to public 
view. But this custom was not begun till after the thirty tyrants were 
expelled. 5 Thus much of the Athenian laws in general: their particular 
laws, most of which have been collected by Samuel Petitus, were the fol- 
lowing: 



1 Pollux, de Different. Voc. 

2 Solone. 



3 Eliac. 

4 Polliut, viii. 8. 



5 Andocides de Jlysteriis. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



143 



ATTIC LAWS. 



Laws relating to Divine Worship, Temples, Festivals, and Sports. 
Let sacrifices be performed with the fruits of the earth. One of Tripto- 
lemus's laws. 1 See book ii. chap. 4. 

Let it be a law among the Athenians for ever sacred and inviolable, 
always to pay due homage in public towards their gods and native heroes, 
according to the usual customs of their country; and with all possible 
sincerity to offer in private first-fruits with anniversary cakes. One of 
Draco's laws. 2 It must be here observed, that no strange god could be 
worshipped at Athens till he was approved by the Areopagite senate. 
See book i. chap. 19. 

One drachm shall be the price of a sheep, eighteen of a medimn. One 
of Scion's sumptuary laws. 3 

Cattle designed for sacrifice shall be culled. 4 This law provided that 
the best of the cattle should be offered to the gods. See book ii. 
chap. 4. 

It is ordered, that the sacriheer cany part of Ms oblation home to his 
family. 5 See book ii. chap. 4. 

All the remains of the sacrifice are the priest's fees. 6 See book ii. 
chap. 3. 

Whosoever easeth nature in Apollo's temple shall be indicted, and 
seutenced to death. 7 One of Pisistratus's laws, enacted when that tyrant 
built Apollo's temple in the Pytheum, where the Athenians used to ease 
nature in contempt of the tyrant. 

All slaves and foreigners are permitted to come to the public temples, 
either out of curiosity of seeing, or devotion. 8 

They who survive the report of being dead, are prohibited entrance into 
the temple of the Furies. 9 See book ii. chap. 4. 

Let no violence be offered to any one that flies to the temples for suc- 
cour. 10 A very ancient law. See book ii. chap. 2. 

While the celebration of the new moon, or other festival, continues at 
Athens, it is ordered that no one be defamed or affronted in private or 
public, and that no business be carried on which is not pertinent to this 
feast. 11 See for this and the following laws, which relate to the festivals, 
book ii. chap. 19, 20. 

All who fiequent the panathenaea are forbid the wearing of apparel dyed 
with colours. 12 

It is enacted, that at the institution of panathenaea majora, Homer's 
ihapsodies be repeated. 13 



3 Plut. Solone. 

4 Piut. Ice. c",t 

5 Avistoph. Schol. in Plutum. 

6 Idem in Vespas. 



7 SuVJ. Hesych. Vatic. Pro- 
verb. aDpend. cent. i. prnv. 82. 

o L'emosth. Orat. in Nfajram. 

9 Hesvch. Pbavor. v. Asvrf^o- 
to-uoj, Plut. Ouaest. Roman. 

NO 



10 Aristoi'h. Schol. in Equiies, 

11 Demcsth. Timocrat. 

12 Lucic.n. Nigrino. 

13 Lycorg. in LeocraU -fiiiaru 
Var. Hist. viii. 2. 



150 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Sojourners are commanded to carry about at public processions, little 
vessels framed after the model of a boat, and their daughters water-pots 
with umbrellas. 1 See book i. chap. 10. 

No foreigner is to be initiated into the holy mysteries. 2 

Death shall be his penalty who divulges the mysteries. 3 

The persons initiated shall dedicate the garments they were initiated in, 
at the temple of Ceres and Proserpine. 4 

No woman shall go in her chariot to Eleusis ; and whoever commits 
theft, during the feast kept at that place, shall be fined 6000 drachms.^ 

Let no petitionary address be made at the mysteries. 6 

No one shall be arrested or apprehended during their celebration. 7 

An assembly of the senate shall convene in the Eleusinian temple, the 
day following this festival. One of Solon's laws. 8 

The festival called Gurftotpogtec is to be annual, at which time there is to 
be a jail delivery. 9 

Evagoras hath caused it to be enacted, that when there is a procession 
in the Piraseus to the honour of Bacchus, and likewise at the Lenzean pro- 
cession, comedies shall be acted; and that, during the celebration of the 
Aiovt/<r'iaza, in the citadel, young men shall dance, and tragedians and 
comedians act, and that at these times, and while the Qagyfai* continue, 
no suit of law, bailment, or suretyship shall be made. If trespass be 
made against any one of these particulars, let the person herein offending 
be prosecuted in the usual manner at the popular assembly held in the 
theatre of Bacchus. 10 

It is established, that the prytanes, the day subsequent to these obser- 
vances, call a senate in the theatre of Bacchus, upon the Havola, where 
the first thing in debate shall be touching the sacred rites ; after that, the 
drawing up of all the indictments to be executed on the forementioned 
criminals at the feasts. 11 

No arrestment shall be attempted on the Aiovv>nec. 12 

Execution of condemned prisoners shall be deferred till the eivgo) return 
from Delos. 13 See book ii. chap. 9. 

No oblation of victims shall be on the l AX»a. 14 

He who comes off conqueror at the Olympic games shall receive as his 
reward 500 drachms; — at the Isthmic, 100. 15 

Fifteen persons shall go to the constitution of a tragic chorus. 16 

It is forbid that iEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, be brought on the 
stage; wherefore license is given that the city-clerk read them publicly. 17 
This law was enacted out of respect to these three tragedians. 

An emulatory performance among the tragedians is ordered to be in the 



1 Harpocr. v. S«a0»?0opot. 

2 Aribtoph. Schol. in Plutum. 

3 Sopater in Divis. Quaest. 

4 Aristoph. Schol. in Plutum. 

5 Plut. Lycur<;o rhetore. 

6 Andoc. de Myet. 



7 Demosth. in Midian. 

8 Andoc. de Myst. 

9 Tlieoc. Schol. in Idyll. V. 

10 Demosth. in Midian. 

11 Ibid. 

12 Ibid. 



13 Plato Phaedone, Xenopb. 

'Anonvrtpov. iv. 

14 Demosth. in Neasram. 

15 Plut. Solone. 

16 Pollux, xiv. 15. 

17 Plut. Lycurso. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



151 



theatre on the feast called Xt/rg«, and he that acts his part best shall be 
chosen denizen. 1 

No one under thirty years of age shall be an actor. Others, instead of 
thirty years, read forty years. 2 

Let no archon be exposed by any malignant aspersion in a comedy. 3 

If any reflections are designed, let them be palliated under a feigned 
name. This law was enacted to restrain the old comedy, wherein men 
were reflected on by name. 4 

Let all the different airs and specific kinds of music be observed, and 
each of them be made use of at its peculiar festival. This was an ancient 
law, whereby they who confounded the several kinds of music, being first 
convicted before the masters of music, were liable to be punished. But 
this practice was afterwards laid aside. 5 

All spectators shall sit with due attention and decorum in the theatre, 
and the archons shall cause their sergeants to turn him out who shall 
cause any noise or disturbance ; but if any one persevere in his rudeness a 
fine shall be his punishment. 6 This law relates to the Dionysia, where 
the chief archon was president, the care of other games being committed 
to other magistrates, as that of the Lenaea, and of the Anthesteria, to the 

Sports exhibited in honour of Neptune are to be in the Pirseeus, graced 
with three dances performed in a ring, where the reward to those who 
come off best shall be ten fivai; to those whose performance is one degree 
below, eight, and to the third victors, six. This law was enacted by 
Lycurgus the orator. 7 

One day yearly there is to be a public cock-fighting. 8 See book ii 
Chap. 20, in ' AXixrovovcav ocyuv. 

Sacrifices are required to be at the beginning of every month.9 See 
book ii. chap. 20, in Nov/awla. 

Laws concerning them who officiate in Holy Rites. 
The Bao-iXzui; is to take care that the parasites be created out of the 
people, whose duty it is, each of them to reserve out of his allowance a 
hecteum of barley, without the least deceit, for the maintenance of the 
genuine citizens' feast, to be kept in the temple, according to the custom 
of the country. The Acharnensian parasites are to lay up a hecteum of 
their dole in Apollo's reservatory, to which deity they are to sacrifice ; the 
BatrtXtos also for the time being, likewise the old men, and women that 
have but one husband, are obliged to join in the sacrifices. See book ii. 
chap. 3. 

Out of those of spurious birth, or their children, the parasites shall elect 



1 Plut. Lycurgo. 

2 Aristoph. Schol. in Nubes. 
a Id. ibid. 

4 Hermog, de SUlibus. 



5 Plato, iii. de Legibus. 
6Demosth. ejusq. Schol. in 
Mid.ana. 

7 Plut. Lycurgo rhelore, 



8 .Elian. Var. Hist. ii. 38. 

9 Athenaius, vi. 



152 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



a priest, who shall officiate in the monthly sacrifices ; and against him 
who declines to be a parasite, an action shall be entered. 1 

Two of the sacred ceryces must undergo parasiteship, for the space of 
one year, in Apollo's temple at Delos. 2 

The third part of the choicest of the oxen is to be conferred on the 
victor of a prize, the two remaining shall be divided between the priests 
and parasites. 3 This law was engraved in the Anaceum. 

Let there be given a just value of money, to be disbursed by the 
priests, for the reparation of the temple, of the 'A^s^v, or treasury of the 
temple, and the Uagst<rlnov, or place set apart for the parasites executing 
their office. 4 

Out of the most vigorous of the old men, there are to be created ®xXkc- 
(poaa, namely, persons to carry sprigs of olive in the panathentea, in 
honour of Minerva. 5 See book ii. chap. 20, in YLnvcc^mtia, 

It is hereby appointed, that the consort of the BoicriXzb;, shall be a citi- 
zen of Athens, and never before married. e See book i. chap. 12. 

Not the priests only shall give an account of their demeanour in the 
priesthood, but likewise the sacred families. 7 See book ii. chap. 3. 

No impure person shall be elected into the priesthood. 8 See as before. 

Laws relating to the Lazes. 

As for the review of the laws Cwei%u£oroviu vopuv), I have purposely 
omitted it, as being spoken of in the former part of this chapter. 

The Decree. 

Tisamenus hath established with the consent and by the authority of the 
people, that Athens shall keep her ancient form of government, and make 
use of Solon's laws, weights, and measures, with Draco's sanctions, as 
hitherto: if new ones shall seem requisite, the nomothetse, created by the 
senate for that purpose, shall engross them on a tablet, and hang them up 
at the statues of the Eponymi, that they may be exposed to the public 
view of all passers by ; the same month they are to be given up to the 
magistrates, after they have obtained the estimation of the senate of five 
hundred, and the delegated nomothetae. Be it also farther enacted, that 
any private man may have free access to the senate, and give in his sen- 
timents concerning them. After their promulgation, the senate of Areo- 
pagus is required to take care that the magistrates put these laws in exe- 
cution, which, for the conveniency of the citizens, are to be engraved on 
the wall, where before they had been exposed to public view. 9 This law 
was enacted after Thrasybulus had expelled the thirty tyrants. See the 
former part of this chapter. 



1 Atlienreus, vi. 

2 Id. ibid. 

3 Ibid. 



4 Athenaeus. iv. Pollux, vi. 7. 7 iEsch. in Ctesiph. 

5 Xenoph. Symposio. 8 iEsch. in Tima'rch. 

6 Demosth, in Neasram. 9 Andoc. de Myst. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



153 



He that propounds a law contrary to the common good shall be indicted. 1 
See as before. 

The proposer of a law, after the year's end, shall be accused, if his law 
be pernicious, but yet shall be liable to no penalty. See as before. 

No law shall be repealed before reference be made of it to the nomo- 
thetse, which being done, any Athenian may endeavour its repeal, sup- 
posing he substitutes a new law in its stead. Both these the proedri shall 
refer to the votes of the people: the first proposal shall be concerning the 
old law, whether it be any longer conducible to the public good ; then the 
new one shall be proposed, and which of the two the nomothetse shall 
judge best, that shall be in force ; yet this caution must be observed, that 
no law shall be enacted, which gainsays any of the rest ; and the person 
who shall give in a law inconsistent with the former constitutions, shall be 
dealt with according to the rigour of the act against those who promote 
prejudicial laws. 2 See as before. 

He who, to abrogate an old law, promiseth to make a new one, and 
doth not, shall be fined. 3 

The thesmothetce shall yearly assemble in the repository of the laws, 
and cautiously examine whether one law bears any contradiction to 
another: whether there be any law unratified, or duplicates about the 
same things. If any of these shall occur in their examination, it shall be 
written on a tablet, and published at the statues of the Eponymi : which 
done, by the epistata's order the people shall vote which of them shall be 
made void, or ratified. 4 See as before. 

No man shall enact a lav/ in favour of any private person, unless six 
thousand citizens give leave by private votes. This was one of Solon's * 
laws. 5 

It shall be a capital crime for any man to cite a fictitious law in "any 
court of justice. 6 

The laws shall be in force from the archonship of 7 Euclides. This law 
was enacted after the expulsion of the thirty tyrants, and intimates, that 
what had been done under their usurpation should not henceforth be in- 
quired into, an act of amnesty having been passed. 

Diocles hath enacted, that the laws which were made during the free- 
dom of the commonwealth, before Euclides was archon, and also those that 
were made in his archonship, shall be in full force henceforward. Those 
which have been enacted since the archonship of Euclides, or hereafter to 
be enacted, shall be in force from the day wherein each of them shall be 
enacted, unless a particular time, wherein their force shall begin is speci- 
fied in the law. Those which are now in force, shall be transcribed into 
the public records by the notary of the senate within thirty days; but the 
laws hereafter to be made shall be transcribed, and begin to be in force 
from the day of their being enacted. 8 This law gave perpetual force and 



1 Demosth. in Timocr. 4 iEsch. in Ctesiph. 6 Demosth. Orat. ii. in Arist. 

2 Demosth. ibid, et in Leptin. " 5 Andoc. de Myst. iEneas Ga- 7 Ando. de Myst. 

3 Ulpian. in Leptin. zjsus in Theophr. 8 Demosth. in Timocrat. 



154 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



authority to the laws of Solon, which were at first enacted only for a hun- 
dred years, as has been elsewhere observed. 

Laws referring to Decrees of the Senate and Commonalty. 

'Yr l (p'i(r//.arx, or decrees of the senate, are to be but of one years con- 
tinuance. 1 See book i. chap. 18. 

No psephism shall pass to the commons before the senate's supervisal. 2 
One of Solon's laws. See as before. 

The tablets on which the psephisms are engraved, are by no means to 
be removed. 3 

Let no psephism be of greater authority than the laws, the senate, or 
the people. 4 

No sophistication is to be contained in a psephism. 5 

Laws concerning Native and Enfranchised Citizens. 

All laws are to be alike obligatory towards the whole body of the people. 
One of Theseus' laws. 6 

All priests and archons are to be elected out of the nobility (ilvraro'idai), 
whose duty it is to interpret all laws, both civil and divine. Another of 
Theseus' laws. 7 See book i. chap. 3. 

The ®Jjt«j, or those of the meanest sort, shall be capable of no magis- 
tracy. This and the following law are Solon's. 8 See book i. chap. 4. 

The ®%ns shall have right of suffrage in public assemblies, and of being 
elected judges. 

Let all the citizens have an equal share in the government, and the 
archons be indifferently elected out of them all. This law was enacted by 
Aristides. 9 See book i. chap. 11. 

No persons but such as have suffered perpetual banishment, or those 
who with their whole families have come to Athens for the conveniency of 
trade, shall be enrolled among the denizens. One of Solon's laws. 10 See 
book i. chap. 9. 

Let no person that is a slave by birth be made free of the city. 11 See 
book i. chap. 10. 

No one shall be admitted citizen, unless a particular eminence of virtue 
entitle him to it: and if the people do confer a citizenship on any one for 
his merits, he shall not be ratified, before the Athenians, at the next 
meeting of the assembly, honour him with six thousand private votes ; the 
prytanes likewise shall give them, before the entrance of the strangers, the 
boxes with the calculi, and take away the largesses. Now these persons, 
after enfranchisement, shall be altogether incapable of being archons or 
priests; as for their children they may officiate, if born of a free woman; 
if the persons made free presume the taking up of any office, any free- 

1 Demosth. in Aristocr. 5 JEsch. in Ctesirli. 9 Pint Aristide. 

2 Plut. So one. 6 Pint. Theseo. 10 Piut. Solone. 

3 Pint. PericK 7 Ibidpm. 1] Dio Chrysosi Orat. xv. 

4 Demosth. Timocr. 8 Plut. Solone. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



155 



born man may bring an action against them, as interlopers on his privi- 
leges. 1 This law was enacted after the victory over Mardonius, near 
Platsea. See book i. chap. 9. 

There shall be a disquisition made, whether they who are inserted in the 
register of citizens, be so or not; they who shall not be found citizens on 
both sides, let them be erased out. The determination of this shall be by 
their own borough, by whom, if they be cast, and acquiesce in their sen- 
tence, without any further appeal to a higher court, they shall be ranked 
among the sojourners ; but they that after appeal shall be condemned by 
the higher court, shall be sold for slaves; or if acquitted, shall continue in 
their freedom. 2 See as before. This law was enacted when Archias was 
archon. 

It is permitted any Athenian to leave the city, and take his family and 
goods along with him. 3 

Laws appertaining to Children, Legitimate, Spurious, or Adopted. 

They only shall be reckoned citizens whose parents are both so 4 See 
book i. chap. 9. This law was enacted at the instance of Pericles. 

He shall be looked on as a bastard whose mother is not free. 5 This was 
enacted by Aristophon the orator. 

Let none of spurious birth, whether male or female, inherit either in 
sacred or civil things, from the time of Euclides being archon. 6 

That inheritance shall pass for good, which is given by a childless per- 
son to an adopted son. 7 

Adoption must be made by persons living: 8 that is, not by their last 
testament. 

No one, except the person who adopted shall have a legitimate son, 
shall relinquish the family into which he is adopted, to return into his 
natural. One of Solon's laws. 9 See book iv. chap. 15. 

Parents may give their children what names they will, or change those 
that they have for others. 10 See book iv. chap. 14. 

Whenever parents come to enrol their children, whether genuine or 
adopted, in the public register of the <pga,rogi$, they are obliged to profess 
by oath, that they were lawfully begotten of a free woman. 11 See book i. 
chap. 9. 

Beasts designed at this time for the altar, are to be of a certain weight ; 
a goat to weigh fifty y.m7, and two sheep forty-eight. 

The Oath to be taken by the Ephebi. 
I will never do any thing to disgrace this armour; I will never fly from 
my post, or revolt from my general, but I will fight for my country and 

1 Demosth. Qra.t. in Neaeram. 5 Carystio Histor. 'Xnofuv. iii. 9 Isaeus de Hasred. Philoctem. 

2 Ar?. Demosth. Qrat. 6 Demosth. in Macavt. Ifirpocr. 

B^5o..XuV e0«(i S (,.[. 7 Demosth. in Leoch. 30 Demosth. Orat. in Boentum 

3 Plato Critone. 8 Liban. Arg. Orat. Demosth. de Nomine. 

4 Piut, Pericle. in Leoch. 11 Isasus de Hacred, Apollod. 



156 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



religion, in an army or single combat. I will never be the cause of 
weakening or endamaging my country; and if it be my fortune to sail on 
the seas, my country thinking fit to send me in a colony, I will willingly 
acquiesce and enjoy that land which is allotted to me. I will firmly adhere 
to the present constitution of affairs ; and whatsoever enactions the people 
shall please to pass, I will see nobody violate or pervert them, but I will 
either singly by myself, or by joining with others, endeavour to revenge 
them. I will conform to my country's religion. I swear by these follow- 
ing deities, namely, the Agrauli, Enyalius, Mars, Jupiter, the Earth, and 
Diana. 

If occasion require, 1 will lay down my life for my native country. 

My endeavours to extend the dominions of Athens shall never cease 
while there are wheat, barley, vineyards, and olive trees without its 
limits. 1 

Parents shall have full right to disinherit their children. 2 See book iv. 
chap. 15. 

No one shall sell his daughter, or sister, unless he can prove her a 
whore. 3 One of Solon's laws. See book i. chap. 10. 

The first institution of youth is to be in swimming, and the rudiments 
of literature ; as for those whose abilities in the world are but mean, let 
them learn husbandry, manufactures, and trades ; but they who can afford 
a genteel education, shall learn to play on musical instruments, to ride, 
shall study philosophy, learn to hunt, and be instructed in the gymnastic 
exercises. One of Solon's laws. 

Let him be artu,o; f infamous, who beats his parents, or does not pro- 
vide for them. 4 One of Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 15. 

If any man, being found guilty of abusing his parents, frequent prohi- 
bited places, the eleven shall fetter him, and bring him to trial at the 
Heliaean court, where any one, who is empowered thereto, may accuse 
him. If he is here cast, the Helisean judges shall inflict upon him what 
punishment they please ; and, if they fine him, let him be clapt up in jail 
till he pays the whole. 5 Another of Solon's laws. See as before. 

No bastards, or such as have been brought up to no employment, shall 
be obliged to keep their parents. 6 Another of Solon's laws. See as before* 

If any one's estate, after his decease, shall be called in question, the 
enjoyer of it is obliged to prove the lawfulness of his parents getting it, 
according to that golden precept, honour your parents. 7 

He that is undutiful to his parents shall be incapable of bearing any 
office; and farther, 8 be impeached before the magistrate. See book i v. 
chap. 15. 

If, through the infirmity of old age, or torture of a disease, any father 



1 Stobaeus, Pollux, Pint. Al- 
cib. Ulp. in Demosth. Orat. cie 
Falsa Legat. 

% Demosth. Orat. in Boeotum. 



3 Plut. Solnne. 

4 Diog. Laert. iEsch. in Ti- 
march. 

5 Demosth. Orat. in Tirnoer. 



6 Pint. Solone. 

7 Demosth. in Callippum. 

8 Xenophon. 'A7ro/*i'»?/*. i. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



157 



be found crazed and distempered in his mind, a son may forthwith have 
an action against him, wherein if he be cast he may keep him in bonds. 

Laws relating to Sojourners. 

Every sojourner is to choose his patron out of the citizens, who is to 
pay his tribute to the collectors, and take care of all his other concerns. 
See book i. chap. 10; as also in the following laws. 

Let there be an action against them who do not choose a patron, or pay 
tribute. 

In this action no foreigner shall appear as a witness. 

Let them be cast into prison before sentence is passed, without any 
grant of bail, on whom the action of gsv/« is laid ; but if condemned they 
shall be sold. Whoever is acquitted of this imputation may accuse his 
adversary of bribery. 1 See book i. chap. 2. 

Laws relating to Slaves and Freed Servants. 
He that beats another man's servant, may have an action of battery 
brought against him. 2 See book i. chap. 10, and in several of the follow- 
ing laws. 

No one may sell a captive for a slave, without the consent of his former 
master. If any captive hath been sold, he shall be rescued, and let his 
rescuer put in sureties for his appearance before the polemarchus. 3 

If any slave's freedom hath been unjustly asserted by another, the 
asserter shall be liable to pay half the price of the slave. 4 

Any slave unable to drudge under the imperiousness of his master, may 
compel him to let him quit his service for one more mild and gentle. 5 

Slaves may buy themselves out of bondage.6 

No slaves are to have their liberty given them in the theatre ; the crier 
that proclaims it shall be centos, infamous. 7 

All emancipated slaves shall pay certain services and due homage to 
the masters who gave them liberty, choosing them alone for their patrons, 
and not be wanting in the performance of those duties to which they are 
obliged by law. 8 

Patrons are permitted to bring an action of 'Atfoffroieiov against such 
freed slaves as are remiss in the forementioned duties, and reduce them to 
their pristine state of bondage, if the charge be proved against them ; but 
if the accusation be groundless, they shall entirely possess their freedom. 9 

Any who have a mind, whether citizens or strangers, may appear as 
evidence in the abovementioned cause. 10 

He that redeems a prisoner of war, may claim him as his own, unless 
the prisoner himself be able to pay his own ransom. 11 



1 Hyperides in Aristag. 

2 Xenoph. de Ath. Rep. 

3 Plut. Lycurgo ihet. iEsch. 
in Timar. 



4 Arg. Pemosth. Orat. in 8 Conf. Lexicog. V. 'Au-eX 
Theocr. fliooe. 

5 Plut. de Supers. 

6 D!o Chrysost. Ovat. xv. 

7 JEsch, in Ctesiph. 



9 Conf. eosdem. v. 'ATroordtnor. 

10 Harpocr. ex Hyperide. 

11 Demosth. in Nicost. 



15S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Maintenance is by no means to be given to a slave careless in his 
duty. 1 

Laws concerning the Senate of Five Hundred, and the Popular Assembly. 

No one is to be twice an epistata. 2 See book i. chap. 18. 

The oath of the senate I pass by, as before treated of, book i. chap. 18. 

The establishment of Phocus runs, that senators, with the rest of the 
Athenians, shall keep the feast called ' 1 Avrctrovota., as is usual by the cus- 
tom of the country, and that there shall be an adjournment of the senate, 
and vacations of lesser courts, for five days from the time in which the 
protenthse begin to celebrate the solemnity. 3 See book ii. chap. 20, in 

' AvTC&TOVOlCl. 

The crier shall pray for the good success of affairs, and encourage 
all men to lay out their endeavours on that design. 4 See book i. chap. 18. 

The crier shall curse him openly with his kindred and family, who shall 
appear in the court, and plead, or give his voice for lucre. 5 

Let the most ancient of the Athenians, having decently composed their 
bodies, deliver their most prudent and wise thoughts to the people ; and 
after them, let such of the rest as will, do the like, one by one, according 
to seniority. 6 One of Solon's laws. See book i. chap. 17, and in the two 
next laws. 

In every assembly let there be one tribe elected to preside, and to look 
after the laws. 7 

The prytanes are not to authorize the people to vote twice for the same 
thing. 8 

The senate of five hundred may fine as far as five hundred drachms. 9 
See book i. chap. 18, and in the two following laws. 

Let the senate of five hundred build new ships. 10 

Such as have not built any shall be refused the donation of crowns. 11 

This senate shall give an account of their administration ; and they who 
have executed their offices well shall be rewarded with crowns. 12 



None shall be magistrates but they who have competent estates. 13 One 
of Solon's laws. See book i. chap. 11, and in the following. 
The election of magistrates shall be by beans. 1 * 

It shall be punishable with death to pass two suffrages for the same can» 
didate. 15 

The archons shall be created by the people. 

No one shall bear the same office twice, or enter on two several the same 



Laws which concern Magistrates. 



year. 16 



1 U!n. in Midian. 

2 Pollux, viii. 9. 

3 Ex Athenaeo. 

4 Dinarch. in Aristogeit. 

5 Ibid. 

6 iEsch. in Ctesiph. 

7 ^Esch. in Timarch. 



8 Nicize Orat. apud Thucyd. vi. 12 JEsch. in Ctesiph. Demosth. 

9 Demosth. in fcuerg. et Mne- etUlp. inAndrot. 
sibul. 13 Pluta. Solone. 

10 Demosth. et Ulp. in^Androt, 14 Lucian. 

itomque in ejusdem arg. Liban. 15" Demosth. in Boeoturn, 

11 Ibid. 16 Ulp. in Timocr. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



159 



All magistrates that are elected by suffrages, surveyors of public works, 
and they who have any authority in the city upwards of thirty days, with 
those who preside over the courts of judicature, shall not enter on their 
respective offices till they have undergone the accustomed examination; 
and after the expiration of those offices, they shall give an account of the 
discharge of their trust before the scribe and logistse, as other magistrates 
are obliged to do. 1 

This shall be the manner: So much I received from the public, so much 
I laid out, or in the reverse. 2 

Such as have not made up their accounts, shall expend none of their 
money in divine uses, nor make wills ; nor shall they have license to 
travel, bear another office, or have the honour of a crown conferred on 
them. 3 

It is death for any one indebted to the public exchequer, to be invested 
with a public trust. 4 

It is also death to usurp the government. 5 

Let him be outlawed who shall continue in his magistracy after tho 
dissolution of democratical government ; whereupon it shall be lawful for 
any one to kill such a person, and make seizure of his goods. 6 

A Psejmism. 

This decree was made by the senate and Athenian state, the tribe 
JEantis being prytanes, Cleogenes clerk, Boethus chief president, and De- 
mophantus its iugrosser; the date of this psephism is from the election of 
the senate of five hundred, and thus it runs: — If any one levels at the 
ruin of the commonwealth, or after its subversion bears any office, let that 
man be censured as an enemy to the state, and dispatched out of the way ; 
let all his goods, saving the tenth part to be confiscated to Minerva, be 
exposed to sale ; he that kills him with all his assistants, shall be blameless 
herein, and free from the guilt of Iris death. All Athenians likewise, in 
their several tribes, are obliged by oath to attempt the killing of that man 
who shall in the least seem to affect the crimes here set down. 7 

The Oath. 

I will endeavour, with my own hands, to kill that man who shall dis- 
solve the Athenian republic, or after its subversion shall bear any office ; 
and he shall be reputed by me wholly free from guilt, in respect of the gods 
or daemons, who will take away his life, or encourage another to do it: 
farther, in the distribution of his goods, I will pass my vote that the slayer 
shall have half; and he that in the attempt shall have the misfortune to 
lose his own life, shall, with his heirs, have due respect and honour from 
me, as Harmodius and Aristogiton, with their posterity. 8 



1 JEsch. in Ctesiph. 3 Ibid. 5 Plut. Solone. 7 Ibid. 

2 Ibid. -i Demosth. Lcptinea. 6 And jc. de Myst. S Lycursr. in Leocr. 



160 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



All oaths that shall be taken in time of war, or any other juncture, if 
inconsistent with the Athenian constitution, shall be null and void. 

No office imposed by the people shall be refused by oath before the se- 
nate. 1 

Whoever casts scurrilous abuses on a magistrate while officiating, shall 
be fined. 2 

The Examination, and interrogatory Disquisition of the Archons, 

Whether they are citizens by a lawful lineage of progenitors for three 
generations, and from what family they assume their pedigree; whether 
they derive their progeny from Paternal Apollo, and Jupiter Herceus. 3 
See book i. chap. 12, and in the following: 

Qwest, Hark you, friend, who is your father ? 

Answ. What, sir, do you mean my father? N. or X. 

Quest. What kindred can you produce to make evidence? 

Answ. Sufficient, sir; first of all, these cousins; then these persons who 
have right to the same bmying-place with us; these here of the same 
phratria ; and these related to Apollo Patrius, and Jupiter Herceus ; lastly, 
these gentlemen of the same borough, who have reposed the trust and 
management of offices in me, and honoured me with their suffrages. 

Quest. Do you hear, friend? Who is your mother? 

Answ. What, mine, do you mean? N. or N 

Quest. What kindred have you to show? 

Answ. These first, these second cousins, and those of the same phra- 
tria and borough. 

Then the case is to be put, Whether they have honoured their pa- 
rents? — fought for their country? — possession of an estate, and all their 
limbs sound ? 

The Awhoji's Oath. 

I will be punctual in the observance of the laws, and for every default 
herein I will forfeit a statue of gold of equal proportion with myself to the 
Delphian Apollo. 4 See as before, and in the following. 

An archon that shall be seen overcharged with wine shall suffer death.5 

If any one is contumeliously piquant, beats any thesmotheta, or blasts 
his reputation, a crowned archon's, or any other's whom the city privileges 
with an office, or confers any dignity upon, let Mm be Sc<tj/uo$, infamous. 5 

The Areopagite senate, when vacancies fall, shall yearly be recruited 
out of the archons. 7 See book i. chap. 19, and in the following. 

The Areopagites shall have inspection into the deportment and behavi- 
our of the Athenians.s 

Let no Areopagite make a comedy. 9 



1 JSsch. cle Falsa Lf gat. 

2 Lvsias pro Milite. 
i Pollux, Viii. 9. 



4 Pint. Solone, Pollux, viii. &c. 

.5 Leert. Solon*-. 

6 Deinosth. in Midian. 



7 PluL Solone. 

8 Tbid. 

S Piut. de Glor. Athec. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



161 



The senate of Areopagus shall give an account of their management 
before the logistse. 1 

Let a ^.TpaTnyos have children lawfully begotten, and enjoy an estate 
within the confines of Attica. 2 See book iii. chap. 5. 

The Oath of the ^rgarr,yos. 
I will twice a year make an incursion into the Megarensian territories. 3 
Let such of the ^oa.rr,yo) be arraigned as shall endamage the fleet of 
their allies. 4 

No one shall be created syndic or astynomus above once. 5 See book i. 
chap. 15. 

The quastors shall be chosen by suffrages of the people. 6 
A qusestorslup must not be kept above five years. 7 

It is death to go on an embassy without commission from the senate or 
people. 8 See book i. chap. 15. 

No one shall be secretary above once under the same magistrate. 9 See 
book i. chap. 15, 

Laws respecting Orators. 
No one under the age of thirty years shall speak an oration in the senate 
or popular assembly. See book i. chap. 15. 

. An Inspection into the Orators'' Lives. 

Let no one be a public orator who hath struck his parents, denied them 
maintenance, or shut them out of doors ; who hath refused going into the 
army in case of public necessity, or thrown away his shield ; who hath 
committed whoredom, or given way to effeminacy ; who hath run out his 
father's estate, or any inheritance left him by a friend: if, notwithstanding 
any of these crimes, any one shall dare to deliver a public oration, let those 
who are commissioned bring him to the test in open court. 10 

Let an orator have children lawfully begotten, and let him be master of 
an estate within the borders of Attica. 11 

If an orator, either before the senate or people, hath not pertinently 
and distinctly handled the thing propounded, or hath descanted twice on 
the same subject; hath been piquantly censorious, and hath abusively ani- 
madverted upon any one's behaviour; hath spoken of other things besides 
those propounded by the proedri, or hath encouraged any one so to do; or if 
he hath abused the epistata after the rising of the assembly or senate ; such 
an one's insolence shall be punished by the proedri with a mulct of fifty 
drachms: the vgoizrogi; shall have intelligence of his misdemeanour; and 
if his penalty shall seem too light for his crimes, besides his fine, let him 



1 JEsch. in Ctesiph. 

2 Dinarch. in Detncslh. 

3 Piutarch. Pericle. 

4 Dem0Sth< Trtfi riip'tv Tttppv 



5 Demosth. in Leptin. et pro- 
cem. 64. 

6 T~lp. in Androt, 

7 Plut. Lycurg. lhet. 

o 3 



8 Demosth. de Falsa Legat. 

9 Lysias in Nicomachum. 

10 Cont iEseh. in Timarch. 

11 Dmarcli. in D&nostlb 



A 



162 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



he hauled to the next convention of the senate or assembly, where, if con- 
demned by private votes, the proedri shall exact a fine from him, to be 
paid to the wgaxrogis for his Tct^avo^ia, or breach of the laws. 1 

Laws treating of Duties and Offices. 

The archons shall appoint in the assembly, by lots, a certain number of 
flute players, to be at the x c i°h or public dancings. 2 

No stranger shall join in a dance with a chorus ; if he do, the choragus 
shall be fined a thousand drachms. 3 

Let it be lawful to inform against a stranger to the archon, before his 
entrance into the theatre to dance. 4 

A stranger, if indicted by a Xognyos for dancing before the archon, 
shall be fined fifty drachms ; and a thousand, if he persist after prohibi- 
tion. 5 

Those dancers, who are cLi-ipoi, infamous, are to be driven off the 
stage. 6 

Sixteen men are to be chosen out of all the public companies, to contri- 
bute equally towards the building of a man-of-war, which service they are 
to engage in from twenty-five years of age to forty. 7 

The qualification for a trierarch is, that he be worth ten talents, accord- 
ing to which estimation he is to be chosen : but if his estate is rated more, 
let him build ships equivalent; yet at most but three with a skiff: they 
who are not worth so much shall be joined together, so many of them, till 
their estates make up the sum. 8 

The trierarchs, and overseers of the navy, shall be commissioned to 
register their names, who, being of the same 'Sv/upogix, are indebted to the 
commonwealth for ship-rigging, for which they shall sue them. 9 See book 
i. chap. 15, and in the following. 

He that owes rigging, shall either give it, or give security. 10 

All trierarchs elect shall betake themselves to the ships they are consti- 
tuted over. 11 

All trierarchs are to render an account of their administration. 12 

There shall be a yearly appointment for the exchange of offices, where 
he that shall be designed a Kurovgyh, shall be exempted from serving, if 
he can produce any vacant person richer than himself ; and if the person 
produced confess he is more wealthy than the other, he shall be put into 
the other's place among the three hundred ; but if he denies it, let them 
exchange estates. 13 See as before, and in the following. 

His house shall be sealed up who shall offer himself in the exchange. 

Those who quit their own estates for those of their neighbours shall be 
obliged by oath to discover them in tins form: I will fairly and honestly 



1 iEsch. in Timarcli. 

2 Demosth. in Midian. 

3 Ibid, ibique Ulp. 

4 Ibid. 

5 Ibid. 



6 Ibid. 

7 nemosth. de Corona. 

8 Ibid. 

9 Ibid, in Euerg. et Mnesib. 

10 Jbid. 



11 Idem uro Polycle. 

12 JEsch. in Ctesiph. 

13 Demosth. in Leptin. et in 
Phaan. et in sequent. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



163 



make known the estimate of all my possessions, except such as consist in 
those silver mines, which the laws exact no duties from. 

Three days shall be allowed for those who are to make exchange of their 
estates, to produce them. 

No one shall be compelled to exhibit his estate which lies in mines. 

Laws about the refusal of Offices. 
No man shall be obliged to take two offices at the same time. 1 
No man except the archons, shall be excused from the trierarchship. 8 

See book i. chap. 14. 

No one shall be exempted from contributing to the assessment for the 

levying of soldiers. 3 

Laws concerning Honours to be conferred on those who have deserved 
well of the commonwealth. 

No person shall be entertained in the Prytaneum oftener than once. 4 
See book i. chap. 25. 

He who shall be invited and refuse to come shall be fined. 5 

They who are entertained in the Prytaneum, shall have maza, and on 
festivals bread.6 See as before, and in the following laws. 

All crowns, if presented by the people, shall be given in the popular 
assembly ; if by the senators, in the senate, and in no other place shall 
they present. 7 

None except the whole body of the senate, and popular assembly, with 
particular tribes or boroughs, shall be privileged to confer crowns. 

No tribe or borough may presume on the authority of bestowing crowns 
in the theatre upon any of their own members : if they do, the crier that 
proclaims them shall be clrt^os^ infamous. 

No citizen shall have a fyvixos <rri<poivo$, hospital crown given him in 
the theatre without the people's consent; when given, it shall be conse- 
crated to Minerva. 

Every one who is honoured with an hospital crown, shall bring certifi- 
cates of a regular and sober life. 

! No one of the wealthy citizens, unless he be of the kindred of Harmo- 
dius and Aristogiton, or an archon, shall claim immunity from serving 
in public offices: from this time hereafter the people shall gratify no one 
with such an exemption ; but he who supplicates for it, shall be urtpos, 
infamous, together with all his house and family, and shall be liable to the 
action of and "Evhifys ; by which, if convicted, he shall suffer the 

same fate with those who, though indebted to the public, officiate as jud- 
ges. 8 This law was enacted by Leptines in the first year of the 106th 
Olympiad, and abrogated in the year following, at the instance of Demos- 
thenes. 



1 Deinosth. pro. Polyclo, 

2 Demosth. in Leptin. 

3 Ibidem, ibique Ulp. 



4 Plut. Solone. 

5 Ibid. 

6 A then. iv. 



7 Conf. Msch. in Ctesiph. et 
in sequent. 

8 Damosth. in Leptin. 



164 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Honours conferred by the people shall stand good ; but with this pro- 
viso, that if the persons so dignified prove, after examination, to be un- 
worthy of them, they shall be void. 1 

Laws relating to the Gymnasia. 

No school shall be opened before sunrising, nor kept open after sunset. 

None except the schoolmaster's sons, and nephews, and daughters' hus- 
bands, shall be permitted entrance into school, if beyond the customary age 
for sending youth thither, whilst the lads are in it ; to the breach of this 
law the penalty of death is annexed. 

No schoolmaster shall give any adult person leave to go to Mercury's 
festival: if he transgress herein, and do not thrust him out of the school, 
the master shall suffer according to the law enacted against the corrup- 
ters of freeborn children. 

Let all choragi, elected by the people, be above forty years of age. 3 
All these laws were designed as a guard to the boys' chastity. See book 
ii. chap. 20. in e/ E^«;«. 

No slave shall presume to anoint, or perform exercises in the Palaes- 
tra. 3 See book i. chap. 10. 

Laws relating to Physicians and Philosophers. 

No slave or woman, shall study or practise physic. 4 See concerning 
this and the next law, book iv, chap. 14. 

All freeborn women have liberty to learn and practise physic. 

Let no one teach philosophy. 5 This law was made when the thirty 
tyrants had the dominion of Athens, and abrogated upon their expulsion. 

No one is to keep a school of philosophy, unless by the senate and peo- 
ple's approbation: he that doth otherwise shall be put to death. 6 Tins 
was enacted by Sophocles the son of Amphiclides the Sunian, about the 
third year of the 118th Olympiad, but in a short time abrogated, and a 
fine of five talents was imposed upon Sophocles, at the instance of Philo. 

Laws concerning Judges. 

After a magistrate's determination, appeal may be made to the courts 
of justice. 7 One of Solon's laws. See book i. chap. 20. 

They w r ho are degraded from the senate, may sit as judges in the 
courts. Another of Solon's laws. See as before. 

All the Athenians shall be capable of being appointed by lots to judge 
in the several courts of justice. 8 Another of Solon's laws. See as before. 

The protestation of the heliastas I omit, as before treated of, book i. 
chap. 21. 



1 Demosth. et istius Orat. 
A rgumentum. 

2 /BjRjb. in Timasch. 

3 Ibidem. 



4 Kygin. Fab. 274. 

5 X^noph. 'A-rropLvriLt. i. 

ti Diog. Wrt. Theophr. 
7 Fiui, Solone. 



8 Demosth. Orat. i. in Aristo- 
geit. et Aristoph. Schoiiastes in 
Plutum. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



165 



Of Laws relating to Lawsuits. 
Let the bailiff, or person that arrests, be registered. 1 See book i. 
chap. 21. 

Whoever doth not appear on the day appointed for the trial of his cause, 
shall suffer for his remissness by an action called A/*»j l^py, and be fined 
a thousand drachms ; but if a just excuse be brought for his staying away, 
his punishment shall be redressed by another action called M'h <j2Va, or 
the annulling of the former. 2 See book i. chap. 21. 

Laws respecting Preparatories to Judgments. 

The archons shall propose questions to both parties, to which they shall 
answer. 3 See as before, and in the following laws. 

The plaintiff shall promise upon oath, that he will prosecute the action, 
if he has his evidences and all things in order ; but if not, he shall demand 
time for providing and preparing them. 4 

The archons shall summon the contesting parties to make their appear- 
ance, and introduce them into the court. 5 

Let the judges be elected by lots. 6 
r " No judge shall give sentence the same day in two different courts. 7 

A Form of the Oath taken by Judges after Election, 
I will show equity in all causes, and my judgment shall be agreeable 
to the laws, in those things which are determined by them ; in the rest, 
my sentence shall, as near as may be, agree with justice. 8 

Laws referring to Judgment 
- Every judge shall put down the heads of those suits he is to determine 
in his table-book. 9 See as before, and in the following laws : 
His cause shall be overthrown who runs away for fear. 10 
Criminals have liberty of making their own defence. 11 
No slave shall plead in any cause. 12 

The crier shall pronounce verdict against the party into whose urn the 
greater number of pebbles bored with holes are cast ; and on his side to 
whom the whole ones belong. 13 

When on both sides there shall be an equal share of votes, the prisonei 
shall be acquitted. 14 

Let there be a number of urns, or vote-boxes, equal to the number ol 
those who hold the contest. 15 

The judges shall propose such and such penalties, the defendant also 
shall offer to their consideration such a punishment as himself shall think 

1 Demosth. in Midian. 6 Idem, Orat. i. in Aristogeit. 12 Toren. Phorm. act i. seen. 

2 Ibidem. 7 Demosth. et Ulp. in Tirnocr. 2. 

3 Isaeus de Haerad. Philocio 8 Pollux, viii. 10. ]3 iEsch. in Timarch. 
menis. 9 Hesych.v. Atd -rravrbs Kptrt'is. 14 Eurip. Elect, v. 1265. 

4 Demosth. iu Midian. 10 Demosth. in Olympiod. 15 Demosth. in MacarL 
b Demosth. in Olympiod. 11 Plato Socr. ApoL 



166 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



reasonable; after which, the whole matter shall be committed to the 
judge's determination. 1 

The court shall not sit after sunset. 2 

If any one hath bribed the Heliaean court, or any other court of judica- 
ture among the Athenians, or hath called a senate, or entered into con- 
spiracy in order to overturn the popular government ; if any lawyer hath 
accepted a reward to carry on any public or private cause, he shall be 
liable to be indicted before the thesmothetce by the action called Tgsctpv. 2 

All private bargains that are struck up between parties before witnesses 
shall stand good in law. 4 

Do not make any covenant or bargain contrary to the laws. 

There shall be no after-wranglings raised concerning those things which 
have been once agreed on. 6 

Any man shall be permitted to nonsuit his adversary, if the action 
laid against him be not entered. 7 

They who receive damages may prosecute within five years. 8 

There may be actions entered about contracts made out of Attica, or 
wares exported out of it to any other place. 9 

Laws concerning Arbitrators. 
People that have any lawsuit about private matters, may choose any 

arbitrator, but so as to stand to his definitive sentence, whatsoever it is. 10 
Such arbitrators are to swear before verdict is given. 11 
The arbitrators are to wait for the plaintiff 's appearance till sunset ; and 

then, in case he does not appear, shall inflict such a penalty as shall be 

convenient. 12 

It is lawful to make appeal from arbitrators chosen by lots to other 
courts of justice. 13 See book i. chap. 22. 

A Law about Oaths. 
Oaths shall be attested by three gods, ^Kurias or the supplicant's presi- 
dent, Kudocgtrio;, the purifier, 'E%ctKS<rTngio; 9 the dispeller of danger or evil. u 
See book ii. chap. 6. 

Laws treating of Witnesses. 
Their evidence shall not be taken, who are art/aoi. 15 
No slaves shall appear as evidences. 16 See book i. chap. 10. 
No one shall be evidence for himself, either in judicial actions, or in 
rendering up accounts. 17 See book i. chap. 21, and in some of the follow- 
ing laws. 

1 Ulp. in Timoc. Cic: i. de 7 Idem, Orat. i. in Stej.li.de U Pollux, viii. 12. Hesych. v. 
Oratore. Fais. Test. TpeTj W. 

2 Sto^aeus, Serm. i. 8 Idem pro Phorm, 15 Demosth. in Neaeram. 

3 Demosth. Orat. i. in Stejh- 9 Ibidem. 16 Terent. Phorm. act. i. seen, 
an. de Fals. Test. 10 Idem in. Midi?na. 2. 

4 Idem in Phaenip. 11 Demosth. in Callipum. 17 D°mosth. in Stephan. de 

5 Arist. Rhet. i. '25. 12 UJp. in Midianam. Fals. Test. Orat. ii. 

6 Demosth. in PanUenetum. 13 Lucian Abd:c. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



]67 



Both plaintiff and defendant are obliged to answer each other's ques- 
tions, but their answers shall not pass for evidence. 1 

There shall be no constraint for friends and acquaintances, if contrary 
to their wills, to bear witnesses one against another. 1 

Let the penalty of the action called "^ivbouao-voiot. be in force against 
those who bear, or suborn false witness. 1 

Evidence shall be declared in writing. 1 

Witnesses being once sworn, shall by no means draw back from wha* 

they are to attest. See as before, and in the following. 

Eye-witnesses shall write down what they know, and read it, s 

His evidence shall suffice, that can give his ukoyi, or what he heard 

from a person deceased; or \x(A*6rvoia, i.e. an attestation received from 

one going to travel, supposing the traveller hath no possibility of returning. 3 
That witness who declines his evidence shall be fined a drachm. 4 
One cited for a witness, shall either give in his evidence, swear he 

knows nothing of it, or incur a mulct of a thousand drachms, to be paid 

to the public exchequer. 5 

Let contesting parties, if they will, make use of the ^lapct^Tv^ta.? See 

as before. 

False witnesses shall be prosecuted with the action called Aiz'/i ^iubo- 
ftcegrveteov ; he that suborned them, with Aixvi zx%ots%v(&v. 7 See book i. 
chap, 24. 

Laws touching Judgments already passed. 

There shall be no renewing of any thing despatched by judges, either 
in public or private matters, or by the people, according to the enactions 
of their decrees: there shall be likewise no suffraging and impeaching any 
one contrary to the prescription of the laws. 8 

All judgments or verdicts whatsoever, delivered by the judges in the 
popular state, shall stand good ; but all acts and decrees that are made 
under the thirty tyrants shall be void. 9 

Laws relating to Punishments. 

The judges are not to proceed so strictly, as that corporal and pecuni- 
ary punishments shall be inflicted at one and the same time. 10 They who 
run into errors unwittingly, shall not be arraigned in the public court, but 
some adhortatory lessons of their duty are to be privately inculcated. 11 

The most sufficient and wealthiest of the Athenians shall be exiled by 
ostracism for ten years, lest they should rise up and rebel. 12 See book i. 
chap. 25. 

No one is to harbour an exile : he that doth, is to participate the same 
fate with him. 13 



1 Ibid. Orat. ii. 

2 Idem in 5tephan. Orat. ii. 
Ibid. 

■i idem in Timo'.h. 



5 lb. Suid. Harpocr. 

6 Demostb. in Leoch. 

7 Idem in Euerg. et Mnesib, 

8 Idem in Tiraociaiem. 



9 Ibid. 10 Idem. 

11 Plato, Apolog. Soc. 

12 Pint. Pericle. 

13 Demosth, in Fo^clem. 



168 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Let both delinquent and abettor receive punishments alike. 1 
He that professeth himself guilty before arraignment, shall be con- 
demned. 2 

Criminals who have been fined shall be obliged to pay from the very 
day the fine was due, whether they are registered in the debt-book or not: 
and he that doth not make payment within the ninth prytany, shall be 
obliged to pay double. 3 

No one indebted to the city shall enter on any office. 4 

That man, who being indebted to the city, hath been convicted of mak- 
ing an oration to the people, shall be one of the eleven. 5 

Debtors to the city, till they have cleared off all, shall be aripoi, infa- 
mous; but if they die, not having fully discharged their debts, their heirs 
shall be infamous, till they make satisfaction. 6 

After payment is made, the debtor's name shall be erased out of the 
debt-book. 7 

Three parts of the debtor's goods which are forfeited to the exchequer, 
shall fall to any private person that informs against him. 8 

Let those who are debtors to the public, and have not their names 
enrolled, be sued by the action called "Ev}u%i$, 9 

They who have been unjustly registered as debtors shall be struck out, 
and their names who registered them be put in their place. 10 

If any debtor shall be blotted out of the albe, or register, before he hath 
discharged his debt, let the action called 'Ayga^av be brought against him 
in the court of the thesmothetse. 11 See book i. chap. 23. 

Whosoever hath been branded with infamy before Solon's archonship, 
shall be privileged, except those whom the areopagites, ephetee, or prytanes 
have banished, by the appeal of the Bx<ri\ihs, for murder, burglary, or 
treason, when this law was promulged. 12 One of Solon's laws. 

No intercession shall be made for any disfranchised person, nor for any 
one indebted to the public exchequer, or the gods, towards the investing 
the former with his privileges, and erasing the latter's name out of the 
debt-book, unless the Athenian people, by six thousand private votes, 
permit it. If any one puts up an address to the senate or people, for them 
whom the judges, senate, or people have already cast, or the debtor sup- 
plicate for himself before payment be made, let the writ called "Evfosfys be 
issued out against him, after the same manner as against those who, though 
indebted, presumed to act as judges; if any other body, before restitution 
of the debt be made, intercede for the debtor, let all his goods be exposed 
to sale ; and if a proedrus give a debtor, or any other person on his account, 
leave to propose the petition to be voted before accounts be made up, he 
shall be a,ripo$. 13 

1 Andoc. de Mvst. 6 Liban. An?. Orat. in AristO' 10 Demosth. Orat. i. in Aristo- 

2 Demosth. in Timoc. geit. Ulp. in Timocr. geit. 

3 Liban. Arg. Orat. in Aristo- 7 Demosth. in Theocr. 11 Id. in Theocr. 
geit. et in Androt. 8 Id. in Nicostr. 12 Pint. Solone. 

4 Id. Argum. Androtlanae. 9 Id. in Theocr. 13 Demosth. Timocr. 

5 Dinarch, in Aristo^eit. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



169 



Laws referring to Receivers of Public Revenues, the Exchequer, and 
Money for Shows 

The senate of five hundred shall put such as farm the public revenues, 
and are negligent to pay their rent, in the stocks. 1 

If the above-mentioned officers do not bring in their rents before the 
ninth prytany, they shall pay double. 3 

If they do not give security to the public, let their goods be confiscated. 3 

They who are intrusted with money for the carrying on of religious 
affairs shall render it up in the senate ; which if they neglect, they shall 
be proceeded against in the same mamier as they who farm the public 
revenues. 4 

They who employ the public stock a whole year for their own use, shall 
be obliged to restore double; and they who continue thus squandering 
another year, shall be imprisoned until payment be made. 5 

A thousand talents are yearly to be laid by for the defending of Attica 
against foreign invasions ; which money if any person propose to lay out 
on any other design, he shall suffer death. 6 

At the eruption of a sudden war, soldiers shall be paid out of the re- 
mainder of the money designed for civil uses. 7 

If any one proposes that the soldiers' pay should be taken out of the 
money designed for the exhibition of shows, he shall be put to death. 8 
This law was enacted by Eubulus to ingratiate himself with the common- 
alty. See book i. chap. 14. 

Laws about Limits and Landmarks. 
If there be a public well within the space of a hippicum, any one may 
make use of that; but otherwise, every person shall dig one of his own. 9 
One of Solon's laws, to prevent contentions about water, which was very 
scarce in Attica. 

If any one digs a well near another man's ground, he must leave the 
space of an lay via. betwixt it and his neighbour's enclosure. 10 Another of 
Solon's laws. 

He that digs a well ten ooyuia) deep, and finds no spring, may draw 
twice a day out of his neighbour's six vessels of water called %o&$. n An- 
other of Solon's laws. 

Let him who digs a ditch, or makes a trench nigh another's land, leave 
so much distance from his neighbour, as the ditch or trench is deep. 13 
Another of Solon's laws. 

If any one makes a hedge near his neighbour's ground, let him not pass 
his neighbour's landmark; if he builds a wall, he is to leave one foot 



1 Andoc. de Myst. 

2 Deraosth. in T imocr. 

3 If), in Nicostr. 

4 IJ. in Timocr. 



5 Anonymus Arg. Timocr. 

6 Andou. de Pace Laced. 

7 Demosfh. in Neaeram. 

8 UJp. in Olynth. i. 

P 



9 Pint. Solone. 

30 Gaius, iv. ad. leg. xii. Tab. 

11 Plut. Solone. 

12 Id. et Gaius, loc. cit. 



170 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



betwixt him and his neighbour; if a house, two.' This was also enacted 
by Solon. 

He that builds a house in a field, shall place it a bowshot from his 
neighbour's. 2 This was also enacted by Solon. 

He who keeps a hive of bees, must place them three hundred feet from 
his neighbour's. 3 Another of Solon's laws. 

Olive and fig-trees must be planted nine feet from another's ground, 
but other trees five. 4 This was likewise one of Solon's laws. The trees 
here mentioned are said to spread their roots wider than others. 

If any one plucks up the sacred olive-trees at Athens, besides the two 
yearly allowed to be used at the public festivals or funerals, he shall pay a 
hundred drachms for every one unlawfully pulled up, the tenth part of 
which fine shall be due to Minerva. The same offender shall also pay a 
hundred to any private person who shall prosecute him: the action shall 
be brought before the arehons, where the prosecutor shall deposit vrouruviTa. 
The archons, before whom the action is brought, shall give an account 
of the fine laid on the convicted criminal, to the U^kto^s, and of that 
part which is to be deposited in Minerva's treasury, to her questors; 
which if they do not, themselves shall be liable to pay it. 5 

Laws respecting Lands, Herds, and Flocks. 
Men shall not be permitted to purchase as much land as they desire. 6 
One of Solon's laws, designed to prevent men from growing too great and 
powerful. 

All wild extravagants, and spendthrifts, who lavishly run out the 
estates left them by their fathers, or others, shall be clrtpotj Another of 
Solon's laws. 

Any one who brings a he-wolf shall have five drachms, and for a she- 
wolf one. 8 One of Solon's laws, in whose time Attica was infested with 
wolves. 

No one shall kill an ox which labours at the plough. An old law. 9 See 
book ii. chap. 4. 

No man shall kill a lamb of a year old. No man shall kill an ox. 
These laws were enacted when those animals were scarce in Attica. 10 
Hurt no living creatures. One of Triptolemus' laws. 11 

Laws relating to Buying and Selling. 

If any person sues for the title of land, he shall prosecute the possessors 
with the action called a/ksj xaovrov; if of a house, with Awn hotjciov. 12 See 
book i. chap. 24. 

There shall be no cheating among the market-folks. 13 

1 Gaius, loc. cit. 7 Diog. Laert. jEschin. in Iliad, d. 

2 Eclug. BaoiXucZv. Timaich. 11 Porph. 7rsp2 'Awo#. Hieron. 

3 Piut. Solone. 8 Piut. Solone. in Jovin. ii. 

4 Id. et Gaius, \oc.. cit. 9 iElian. Var. Hist. v. 14. 12 Lysias in Demosth. Curet, 

5 D^inobth. in Macart. 10 Athen. i. et ix. Eustath. in 13 Demoslh. Lept. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



171 



That fishmonger shall incur imprisonment, who shall overrate his fish, 
and take less than he first proffered them for. 1 

Fishmongers shall not lay their stinking fish in water, thereby to make 
them more vendible. 2 

Laws appertaining to Usury and Money. 
A banker shall demand no more interest-money than what he agreed 
for at first. 3 

Let usurers' interest-money be moderate. 4 

Nobody, who had put in surety for any thing, may sue for it, he or his 
heirs. 5 

Pledges and sureties shall stand but for one year. 6 
No one to clear his debt shall make himself a slave. 7 One of Solon's 
laws. 

He who does not pay what has been adjudged, in due time, shall have 
his house rifled. 8 

The fine ensuing the action called 'E^cuX'/i, shall go to the public. 9 

A hundred drachms shall go to a ^v«. 10 One of Solon's laws, who regu- 
lated the Athenian weights and measures. 

All counterfeiters, debasers, and diminishers of the current coin, shall 
lose their lives. 11 This law obtained in most cities. 

Let no Athenian or sojourner, lend money to be exported, unless for 
corn, or some such commodity allowable by law. 

He who sends out money for other uses, shall be brought before the 
masters of the custom-house, and prosecuted by an action called $x<rts, 
after the manner of them who are caught transporting corn unlawfully: 
let such a one have no writ or warrant permitted him against the person 
to whom he lent money, neither shall the archons let him enter any trial 
in the judicial courts. 12 

Laws about Wares to be imported to, or exported from Athens. 

All olives are exportable, but other fruits are not ; so that the archon 
shall openly curse the persons that exported them, or else be amerced a 
hundred drachms. This law was enacted by Solon, by reason of the bar- 
renness of Attica. 13 The conquerors in the games on the Panathenseau 
festival were excepted. 14 

Figs are restrained by law from exportation. 15 See book i. chap. 23. 

If any Athenian factor or merchant convey corn anywhere else than to 
Athens, the action called <&a.<ng is to be brought against him, and the in- 
former shall claim half the corn 16 



1 Alexis Comicus Lebete. 

2 Xenar. irop^upo. 

3 Lysias, Orat. i. in Theoinn. 

4 Utp. in Timocr. extrem. 

5 Demosth. in Spud, 
ti Id. in Aputur. 



7 Plut. Solone.. 

8 Ulp. in Miciian. 

9 Demosth. Midian. 

10 Plut. Soione. 

11 Demosth. Lept. et Timocr. 

12 Id. in Lacrit.' 

p 2 



13 Plut. Solone. 

14 Pindari Schol. Nens. CM. x. 

15 Aristoph Schol. in Plulum. 
lb' Demosth. Timocr. 



172 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

He who impleads a merchant on slight grounds, shall have both the 
actions of J/ Ev^s/|/? and 1 Anuycoyh brought against him. 1 

He shall be fined a thousand drachms, and wholly debarred from issuing 
out the actions of T^utyh, <f>c£<ri$, ' KacLywyh, and 'E(pnyyi<rt;, who shall desist 
from the prosecution of any merchant accused by him, or doth not acquire 
the fifth part of the suffrages. 2 

Let no inhabitants of Athens buy more corn than fifty phormi will con- 
tain. 3 

No one shall export wood or pitch. 4 These were necessary towards 
the building of ships. 

All controversies and compacts made by bonds between mariners, either 
sailing for Athens, or bound elsewhere, shall be brought under the cogniz- 
ance of the thesmothetse : if any mariners, in any of the marts bound to 
Athens, or for any other place, are found guilty of injustice, they shall be 
put into custody till the fine which shall be imposed on them is paid ; any 
of them may nonsuit his adversary, if he be illegally prosecuted, 5 

No waterman and masters of ships shall "carry passengers anywhere else 
than was agreed to at first. 

Laivs respecting Arts. 

Any one may accuse another of idleness. 6 This law is ascribed to 
Draco, Solon, and Pisistratus. 

No man shall have two trades. 7 

No man shall sell perfumes. One of Solon's laws.8 

Foreigners shall not be privileged to sell wares in the market, or pro- 
fess any calling. 9 

Any one may bring an action of slander against him who disparages or 
ridicules any man or woman for being of a trade. 10 See book i. chap. 8. 

He who by his profession gets best repute, and is reckoned the most 
ingenious in his way, shall have his diet in the Prytaneum, and be hon- 
oured with the highest seat. 11 

That ferryman shall be prohibited the exercise of his employment, who 
overturns his boat, though unwillingly, in wafting over to Salamis. 12 

Laws concerning Societies, with their Agreements, 
If fellow-burgesses, those of the same $^Tj/a, those who are occupied 
in the same sacerdotal function, namely, the 'Opyzuvzg, ®ioc<raj<rou, or they 
who diet together, have equal claim to the same burying-place, travel 
together for the buying corn and other traffic, if any of these persons make 
any bargains not inconsistent with the laws, they shall stand good. 13 
If any one recede from a promise made to the commons, senate, or 



1 Demosth. in Theocr. 

2 lb. 

3 Lysias in Frumenti Emp- 
tores. 

4 Aristoph. Schol, in Equites. 



5 Arg. Orat. Demosth. in Xe- 
nnth. 

6 Plutarchus. 

7 Demosth. et Ulp. Timocr. 

8 Athen. xiii. et xv. 



9 Demosth. in Eubulidem. 

10 lb. 

11 Aristoph. Ranis. 

12 JEsc\u in Ctesiph. 

13 Gaius, iv. ad leg, xii. Tab. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



173 



judges, he shall be proceeded against with the action called EifayytkU, 
and, if found guilty, be punished with death. 1 

He that doth not stand to an engagement made publicly, shall be 
ari/uiosj infamous? 1 

He, his heirs, and all who belong to him, shall be anuot, who hath 
received bribes himself, tampered others with them, or used any other 
insinuating artifice to the prejudice of the state. 3 

He who, being in a public office, receive bribes, shall either lose his 
life, or make retribution of the bribes tenfold. 4 

Laws belonging to Marriages. 

No man shall have above one wife. 5 One of Cecrop's laws. See book 
i. chap. 2, and book iv. chap. 11. 

No Athenian is to marry any other than a citizen. See book iv. chap. 
11, as before. 

If an heiress is contracted lawfully in full marriage by a father, brother 
by the father's side, or grandsire, it is lawful to procreate with her freeborn 
children; but if she be not betrothed, these relations being dead, and she 
consequently an orphan, let her marry whom the law shall appoint ; but 
supposing she is no heiress, and but low in the world, let her choose whom 
she pleases. 6 

If any one marry a stranger, as his kinswoman, to an Athenian citizen, 
he shall be tirtpos, his goods published for sale, the third of which shall fall 
to the impeacher, who shall make him appear before the thesmothetee, 
after the manner of those who are prosecuted with the action of Ssv/a. 7 

A stranger that settles with a citizen woman may be sued by any one 
empowered thereto, in the court of the thesmothetae, where, if the law 
goes against him, he shall be sold, and the third part of what he is sold for, 
and of his estate, be given to the accuser; in the same maimer foreign 
women shall be dealt with who marry freedmen, and besides that, the man 
shall forfeit a thousand drachms. 8 

No Athenian woman shall marry herself into an exotic family. 9 

Any one may make a sister by the father's side his wife. 10 See book iv. 
chap. 11. y 

No heiress must marry out of her kindred, but shall resign up herself 
and fortune to her nearest relation. 11 

Every month, except in that called 'ZxippoQovitvv, the judges shall meet 
to inspect into those who are designed for heiresses' husbands, and shall put 
them by as incapacitated who cannot give sufficient credentials of their 
alliance by blood. 12 See book iv. chap. 15. 

If any one sues another by a claim to the heiress, he must deposit crap/A- 



1 Demosth. Lspt. 

2 Dinar, in Phiiocl. 

3 Demosth, Midi. 

4 JD inarch, in Deir.osUi. 



5 Athenseus, xiii. 

6 Demosth. in Steplian. Test. 

7 Id. in Neajram. 

8 lb. 

P 3 



9 Tel. et Ulp. Timocr. 

10 Cornel. Nep. Cimone. 

11 Is;EUsd<*H;sred. Aristarohi, 

12 Demostli. in Stephen. Test. 



274 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



staralioX.fi, or the tenth part of her portion; and he who enjoys her sbaJI 
lay his case open to the archon ; but in case he makes do appeal, his right 
of inheritance shall be cut off; if the heiress' husband, against whom the 
action is brought, be dead, the other, within such a time as the nature of 
the thing doth require, shall make an appeal to the archon, whose business 
it is to take cognizance of the action. 1 

If a father bury all Ms sons, he may entail his estate on his married 
daughters. 2 

If an heiress cannot conceive children by her husband, she may seek 
aid among the nearest of her husband's relations. 3 One of Solon's laws. 
See book iv. chap. 11. 

All men are obliged to lie with their wives, if heiresses, three nights at 
least in a month. 4 

He that ravishes a virgin shall be obliged to marry her. 5 

A guardian shall not marry the mother of those orphans with whose 
estate he is intrusted. 6 One of Solon's laws. See book i. chap. 10 

Slaves are allowed the familiarity of women. 7 

When a new married woman is brought to her husband's house, she 
must carry with her a fyvytrgov, in token of good housewifery. 8 One of 
Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 11. 

Let a bride, at the first bedding with her bridegroom, eat a quince.9 
Another of Solon's laws. See as before. 

Laws respecting Dowries. 

A bride shall not carry with her to her husband above three garments, 
and vessels of small value. 10 One of Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 11, 
and in the following. 

They who are next in blood to an orphan virgin that hath no fortune, 
shall marry her themselves, or settle a portion on her according as they 
are in quality; if of the TLivraKotriopib'tfAvoi, five hundred drachms; if of 
the 'Ior^s?, three hundred ; if of the Zvytrat, one hundred and fifty ; but 
if she hath many kindred equally allied, all of them severally shall put in 
a contribution, till they make up the respective sum: if there be many 
orphan virgins, their nearest relation shall either give in marriage, or take 
one of them to wife ; and if he doth neither, the archon shall compel "him ; 
but if the archon does connive at the neglect, he himself shall be fined a 
thousand drachms, to be consecrated to Juno. Whoever breaks this law 
may be indicted by any person before the archon. 11 

That woman who brings her husband a fortune, and lives in the same 
house with her children, shall not claim interest-money, but live upon tha 
common stock with her children. 12 



i I I. in Mar.art. 

H la&as de Haered. Pyrrhi. 

.3 Plat. Solone. 

4 lb. 



5 \b. Herm"?. Schol. 

6 Lnert. Solone. 

7 Piut. Amatorio. 
S Pollux, i. 12. 



9 Plat. Soloni?. 
10" lb. 

11 DemostTi. in Macart. 

12 Id. in Phsnip. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



175 



An heiress' son, when come to man's estate, shall enjoy his mother's 
fortune and keep her. 1 

He that promises to settle a dowry on a woman, shall not be forced to 
stand to it, if she dies without heirs. 2 

Laws referring to Divorces. 
He who divorces his wife must make restitution of her portion, or pay 
in lieu of it nine oboli every month; her guardian otherwise may prose- 
cute him in the odeum, with the action called lirou Vow, for her mainten- 
ance. 3 

If a woman forsake her husband, or he put away his wife, he who gave 
her in marriage shall exact the dowry given with her, and no more. 4 

That woman who hath a mind to leave her husband, must give in a 
separation-bill to the archon with her own hand, and not by a proxy. 5 See 
book iv. chap. 12. 

Laws belonging to Adulteries, 

He that deflowers a free woman by force, shall be fined a hundred 
drachms. 6 One of Solon's laws. 

He who in the same manner violates a young maiden's chastity, shall 
be fined a thousand drachms. 7 

He that catches an adulterer in the fact, may impose any arbitrary 
punishment. 8 This law was enacted by Draco, and afterwards confirmed 
by Solon. See book iv. chap. 14. 

If any one is injuriously laid up on suspicion of adultery, he shall make 
his complaint by appeal to the thesmothetas, which if they find justifiable, 
he shall be acquitted, and his sureties discharged from their bail ; but in 
case he be brought in guilty, the judges shall lay on him, death only 
excepted, what punishments they will, and he be forced to get friends to 
pass their word for his future chastity. 9 

If any one commit a rape on a woman, he shall be amerced twice as 
much as is usual otherwise. 10 

No husband shall have to do with his wife any more after she hath de- 
filed his bed, and her gallant convicted ; and if he does not put her away, 
he shall be esteemed xnpos ; hereupon she is prohibited from coming to 
public temples, where, if she does but enter, any man may inflict any 
penalty, except death. 11 

No adulteress shall be permitted to adorn herself; she that doth, shall 
have her garments cut or torn off her back by any that meets her, and 
likewise be beaten, though not so as to be killed or disabled. 12 One of So- 
lon's laws. 

No woman of innocent conversation shall appear abroad undressed : she 



1 Id. in Steph. Testem. 

2 Isaens de Haered. Pyrrlii. 

3 Demosth. in Neseram. 

4 Isieus de Haered. Pyrrlii. 



5 Plutarch. Alcibiade. 

6 Id. Solone. 

7 Hermog. Scliol. 

8 Lysias de Csede Eratos. 



9 Demosth. in Neaeram. 

10 Lysias dc Casde Er„tos. 

11 Demosth. in Neaar, 

12 uEsch, in Timar. 



176 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



that doth shall forfeit a thousand drachms. 1 This was enacted by Pliih'p- 
pides. 

Women are forbidden to travel with above three gowns, or more meat 
arid drink than they can purchase for an obolus ; neither shall they carry 
with them above a hand-basket, or go out anywhere at night but in a cha- 
riot, with a lamp or torch carried before it. 2 One of Solon's laws. 

Laics relating to the Love of Boys, Procurers, and Courtezans. 

No slave shall caress or be enamoured with a freeborn youth ; he who 
is, shall receive publicly fifty stripes. 3 See book i. chap. 10. This was 
one of Solon's laws. 

If any one, whether father, brother, uncle, or guardian, or any other 
who hath jurisdiction over a boy, take hire for him to be effeminately em- 
braced, the catamited boy shall have no action issued out against him, but 
the chapman and pander only, who are both to be punished after the same 
manner; the child, when grown to a maturity of age, shall not be obliged 
to keep his father so offending; only when dead, he shall bury him with 
decency suitable to a parent's obsequies. 4 See book i. chap. 9. 

If any one prostitute a boy, or woman, he shall be prosecuted with the 
action called YouCn, and if convicted, punished with death. 5 _ 

Any Athenian, empowered so to do, may bring an action against him 
who hath vitiated a boy, woman, or man freeborn, or in service, for the 
determination of which the thesmothetae are to create judges to sit in the 
Helisea, within thirty days after the complaint hath been brought before 
them, or, suppose any public concern hinders, as soon as occasion will per- 
mit: if the offender is cast, he shall immediately undergo the punishment, 
whether corporal or pecuniary, aimexed to his offence ; if he be sentenced 
to die, let him be delivered to the w Ev$s««, and suffer death the same day; 
if the vitiated servant, or woman, belong to the prosecutor, and he let the 
action fall, or doth not get the fifth part of the suffrages, he shall be fined 
a thousand drachms ; if the criminal be only fined, let him pay within 
eleven days at the farthest, after sentence is passed ; if it be a freeborn 
person he hath vitiated, let him be kept in bonds till payment thereof. 6 

He that hath prostituted himself for a catamite, shall not be elected an 
archon, priest, or syndic ; shall execute no office, either within or out 01 
the boundaries of Attica, conferred by lot, or suffrage ; he shall not be sent 
on an embassy, pass verdict, set footing within the public temples, be 
crowned on solemn days, or enter the purified precincts of the forum : if 
any one is convicted of the above-mentioned laseiviousness, by offending 
against this law, he shall sutler death. 7 

Persons who keep company with common strumpets shall not be ac- 



] Harpocr. 
% Plut. Solone. 



3 Plut. Solone, .Esch. 4 Ibid, 
in Timarchum. 5 Ibid. 



6 Plut Solone, De- 
niosth. in Midian. 

7 -Esch. in Timar. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



177 



counted adulterers, for such shall be in common for the satiating ox lust. 1 
See book iv. chap. 11, and in the following laws. 

Whores shall wear as a badge of distinction, flowered garments. 

Laws appointed for the drawing up of Wills, and right Constitution of 
Heirs and Successors . 
The right of inheritance shall remain in the same family. 3 An old law, 
which was abrogated by Solon. See book i. chap. 10. 

Boys or women are not to dispose by will above a medimn of barley. 4 
All genuine citizens, whose estates were impaired by litigious suits 
when Solon entered the praetorship, shall have permission of leaving their 
estates to whom they will, admitting they have no male children alive, or 
themselves be not crazed through the infirmities of old age, the misery of 
a distemper, or the enchantments of witchcraft ; or if they be not hen- 
pecked, or forced to it by some unavoidable necessity. 5 See book iv. chap. 
15. 

The wills of such as, having children, yet dispose of their estates, shall 
stand good, if the children die before they arrive to maturity. 6 

Any one, though he hath daughters alive, may give his estate to another 
body, on this proviso, that the person enjoying it shall marry the daugh- 
ters. 7 . , 

Adopted persons shall make no will, but as soon as they have children 
lawfully begotten, they may return into the family whence they were 
adopted ; or if they continue in it to their death, then they shall return 
back the estates to the relations of the person that adopted. One of So- 
lon's laws. 

All legitimate sons shall have an equal portion of their father's inheri- 
tance^ See as before. 

He that, after he hath adopted a son, begets legitimate children, shall 
share his estate among the legitimate and adopted. 10 

The estate of him that dies intestate, and leaves daughters, shall come 
to those who marry them ; but if there are no daughters, these shall enjoy 
it, namely, his brothers by the father's side, and their sons: if he hath 
neither brothers nor nephews, then males descended from them, though 
very far distant in kindred ; but if none of the grandchildren remain down 
to the second cousins by the man's side, the wife's relations shall put in for 
the inheritance ; if there are none living of either side, they who have the 
nearest pretence to kindred shall enjoy it : as for bastards, from the archon- 
ship of Euclides, they shall pretend no right to kindred;" if there is a law- 
fully-begotten daughter and an illegitimate son, the daughter shall have 
preference in right to the inheritance, both in respect of divine and civil 
affairs. 11 

1 Demosth. in Neaer. Lyaias in 5 Demosth. in Stephan. Tes- 8 Deiuosth. in Leocharem. 
Theom. Orat. i. tam. Orat. ii. 9 Isteus de Haired. Philoct. 

2 Suidas, Artemid. ii. 13. 6 Ibid. ]0 Ibid. 

3 I J lut. Solone. 7 Isaus da H«ered. Pyrrhi. 11 Demosth. in Macart. 

4 Isaeus de Hajred. Aristarchi. 



176 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



No bastard shall have left him above five ^va?. 1 

All the year round, except in the month ^Kippoipo^, legacies shall be 
examined by law, so that no one shall enjoy any till it has been assigned 
by due course of law. 2 

He that issues a writ against one settled in an inheritance, shall bring 
him before the archon, and deposit <pra,^ccKcx.ra.(hoXyi, as is usual in other ac- 
tions ; for unless he prosecutes the enjoyer, he shall have no title to the 
estate: and if the immediate successor, against whom the action is brought, 
be dead, the other, within such a time as the nature of the action doth re- 
quire, shall make an appeal to the archon, whose business it is to take cog- 
nizance of this action, as also it was of the former action of the man in 
possession of the estate. 3 

Five years being expired after the death of the immediate successor, 
the estate is to remain secure to the deceased person's heirs, without being 
liable to lawsuits. 4 

Laws appertaining to Guardianship, 

No one can be another's guardian who is to enjoy the estate after Ids 
death. 5 One of Solon's laws. 

Guardians shall let out their pupils' houses. 6 See book i. chap. 24. 

The archon shall be obliged to take care of orphans, heiresses, decayed 
families, women that remain in the houses* of their deceased husbands, 
pretending to be with child; and to protect them from violence and 
abuses: if any one is injurious or contumelious, the archon shall fine him 
as far as the limits of his power extend ; if the offender herein transgress 
beyond his commission of punishing, the archon having first imposed on 
him as he thinks fit, shall compel him, at five days' warning, to make ap- 
pearance at the court of Helisea, where, if he be convicted, that court 
shall impose on him, arbitrarily, either a pecuniary or corporeal penalty. 7 

No pupil, after five years' space, shall sue a guardian for the misman- 
agement of his trust. 8 

Laws about Sepulchres and Funerals. 

Let the dead be interred. 9 One of Cecrops' laws. See book iv. ch. 6. 
No tomb is to consist of more work than ten men can finish in three days ; 
neither is it to be erected arch-wise, or adorned with statues. 10 One of 
Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 6. 

No grave is to have over it, or by it, pillars of more than three cubits 
high, a table, and labellum, or little vessel to contain victuals for the 
ghost's maintenance. 11 This law was enacted by Demetrius the Phalerean. 

He that defaceth a sepulchre, or lays one of a different family in that of 



1 Suidas, v. Ik-ikXijoo.. 4 Isseus de Haered. Pyrrhi, 8 Id. in Neusim. 

2 Demosth.in Stephanum Tes- 5 Laert Solone. 9 Cic. ii. de Lc,", 
tern. Orat. ii. fj Demosth. in Aj -hobum. 10 Ibid. •* 

3 Id. in Macart. 7 Id. in Macart. 11 Ibid. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



179 



another, breaks it, erases the inscription, or beats down the pillar, shall 
suffer condign punishment. 1 One of Solon's laws. 

No one shall come near another's grave, unless at the celebration of 
obsequies. 2 One of Solon's laws. 

The corpse shall be laid out at the relation's pleasure; the next day fol- 
lowing, before daylight, shall be the funeral procession; the men shall 
proceed first, the women after them. It is unlawful hereby for any 
woman, if under threescore, and no relation, to go where the mournful 
solemnity is kept, or after the burial is solemnized. 3 See book iv. chap. 4. 

Too great a concourse of people is prohibited at funerals. 4 

Let not the corpse be buried with above three garments. 5 One of 
Solon's laws. 

Let no women tear their faces, or make lamentations or dirges at fune- 
rals. 6 Another of Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 5. 

At every one's death there shall be paid to the priestess of Minerva, 
who is placed in the citadel, a choenix of barley, the like of wheat, and an 
obolus. 7 This law was enacted by Hippias. 

No ox shall be offered to atone for, or appease the ghost of the deceased. 8 
One of Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 8. 

Children and heirs shall perform the accustomed rites of parentation. 9 

Slaves, when dead, shall not be embalmed, or honoured with a funeral 
banquet. 10 See as before. 

Let there be no panegyrics, unless at funerals publicly solemnized, and 
then not spoken by kindred, but one appointed by the public for that pur- 
pose. 11 See as before. 

They who fall in the field are to have their obsequies celebrated at the 
public charge. 12 See book iii. chap. 11. 

Let the father have the privilege of giving that son a funeral encomium 
who died valiantly in the fight. 13 

Pie shall have an annual harangue spoken in his honour on the day he 
fell, who receives his death with undaunted prowess in the battle's front. 14 

Let him who accidentally lights on an unburied carcass cast earth upon 
it, and let all bodies be buried westwards. 15 See book iv. chap. 1. and 6. 

Do not speak evil of the dead, no, not though their children provoke 
you. 16 One of Solon's laws. See book iv. chap. 1. 

Laws against Ruffians and Assassins. 

The Areopagite senate shall sit in judgment upon cases of wilful mur- 
der, of wounds given wilfully, setting houses on fire, or killing by poison. 17 
See book i. chap. 19. 

The assassin's counsel shall not make any preliminary apology, use any 

1 Cic. ii. de Leg. 8 Plut. Solone. 13 Polemo arg. r£Sy Ix-ircKpiwv 

2 Plut. Solone. 9 Demos th. in Timocr. Isasus \6ywv. 

3 D-mosth. in iMacrat. de Heered. Cleonymi. 14 Cic. de Orat. 

4 Cic de Leg. 10 Cic. luc. cit. 15 MW. Var. Hist. v. 14. 

5 Pint. Solone. 11 Ibid. ] 6 Piut. Solone. 

6 Id et Cic- , 12 Thucyl. ii. * 17 Demosth. in Aristocr. 

7 Aristot. (Ecumen. ii. 



ISO 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



motives for the gaining of compassion, or speak any thing foreign to the 
cause. 1 See as before. 

The thesmothetse shall punish murderers with death. 2 
The assassin shall suffer death in the murdered person's country ; and 
being dragged away to the thesmothetse, according to the appointment of 
the law, he shall be liable to no other violence or ill-usage, besides what 
his capital punishment includes. Nobody shall take money for Ins par- 
don: he that doth, shall pay double the money he received of the criminal; 
his name likewise by any body shall be carried in to the archons. But 
the heliastic court alone shall pass judgment upon him. 3 One of Solon's 
laws. 

If any one kills, or assists in killing a murderer, who abstains from the 
forum, consecrated places, public sports, and the amphictyonic festivals, 
he shall undergo the severity of the law as much as if he had killed a citi- 
zen of Athens. The ephetas are to take cognizance of this matter. 4 Tins 
relates to a murderer uncondemned. 

One accused of murder shall have nothing to do with city privileges. 5 

He that puts him in trouble, who was forced to make flight out of 
Attica for chance-medley, shall undergo the same penalty with him who 
doth the like to any citizen of Athens. 6 

He who commits chance-medley, shall fly his country for a year till 
satisfaction be made to the dead person's kindred ; then he shall return, 
sacrifice, and be purified. 7 An ancient and celebrated law. 

He shall not have an action of murder brought against him, who binds 
him over to his appearance before the magistrate, that returned from 
banishment before his limited time is completed. 8 One of Draco's laws. 

If any one hath unadvisedly given his antagonist in the exercises Ins 
death, or killed by chance a man lying in ambuscade, or being in the 
brunt of an engagement in war, or one debauching his wife, mothei", 
sister, daughter, miss, or the nurse of his legitimate children, let not such 
a one be banished. 9 See book iv. chap. 12. 

It shall be lawful to kill that person who shall make an assault on the 
innocent. 10 

If any one, being banished for chance-medley, shall have an indictment 
of wilful murder laid to his charge, before he hath made up the difference 
with those who banished him, he shall make his defence before the court 
h ^zocrroT, in a little vessel, which shall not be permitted to come to 
shore, but his judges shall give sentence on the land. If he is cast he 
shall answer justice for wilful murder ; but if absolved, shall only midergo 
the former sentence of banishment for chance-medley. 11 See book i. 
chap. 20. 

If any archon, or man in private capacity, is instrumental in the depra- 

1 Pollux vi'ri. 10. 5 Antipho de Choreuta. 8 Demosth. in Aristocr. 

2 Demosth. in Aristocr. 6 Demosth. in Aristocr. 9 Ibid. 

3 Ihid. 7 Ibid, Eurm. Schol. aliique 10 Ibid. 

4 Ibid. pluses. ' 11 Ibid. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



131 



vat ion or repeal of these statutes, let him and his children be AdpUj and 
his goods be sold. 1 

It shall be lawful to haul a murderer, if found in any religious place, 
or the forum, to jail, and if proven guilty, to put him to death ; but if 
the committer of him to jail do not procure the fifth part of the votes, he 
shall be fined a thousand drachms. 3 

If any one comes to an untimely end, his nearest relations may bring 
the action of 9 AvfyoXntya against those people they suspect, either to be 
abettors of the murder, or protectors of the felon ; and till such time as 
these either make satisfaction, or surrender the delinquent, the murdered 
man's relations are privileged to seize three men of their body. 3 

The right of the prosecution of the murderers belongs to the kindred of 
the murdered kinsfolks' children, their sons-in-law, fathers-in-law, sisters' 
children, and those of the same ^occr^oc the murderers have liberty 
granted of imploring the father of the murdered to be mild and favourable ; 
but if he is not alive, then his brother or sons altogether shall be entreated ; 
for without the joint consent of them all, nothing shall prevail. If these 
i'orementioned persons are all dead, and the death of the person came by 
chance-medley, according to the determination of the fifty ephette, ten of 
the same ^oaroicc may, if they think fit, convene, and delegate one-and- 
fifty out of the nobility to the ephetee. All they who were murderers, 
before the making of this law, shall be subject to its obligation. If any 
one hath been murdered in any of the boroughs, and nobody removes him, 
the demarchus shall give orders to his friends to take him away, bury him, 
and perform the duty of histration towards the borough that very day on 
which he was killed. When a slave is murdered, he shall inform the 
master; when a freeman the succeeding heirs ; but if the person murdered 
was not a monied man, or had no possessions, the demarchus shall 
acquaint the relations; and supposing they give no heed, and neglect to 
take him away, the demarchus himself shall see him taken away and 
buried, and take care the borough be lustrated; but all this with as little 
charges as may be ; which if he neglect, he shall be fined a thousand 
drachms, to be paid to the public exchequer. He shall take of the mur- 
dered person's debtors double the money he expended for the funeral, 
which if he neglect, he shall pay it himself to those of his borough.' 1 

He who is felo de se, shall have the hand cut off that did the murder, 
which shall be buried in a place separate from the body. 5 
No murderer shall be permitted to be within the city. 6 
Inanimate things, which have been instrumental to people's deaths, 
shall be cast out of Attica. 7 One of Draco's laws. See book i. chap. 20. 

He who strikes the first blow in a quarrel, shall be liable to the action 
termed Alzix; 



1 Upmosth. in Aristocr. 

2 [bid. 

3 Ibid. 



4 Demosth. in Macart. 

5 .-Eschin. in Ctesiph. 
li Suidas, v. 'iwpo 5 . 



7 JEsnhin. iu Ctesiph. 
b Demosth. in Aristocr. 



132 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



He who hath maliciously hurt another's body, head, face, hands, or feet, 
shall be proscribed the city of that man to whom he offered the detriment, 
and his goods be confiscated ; if he return, he shall suffer death. 1 

A Law relating to Accusations. 
Any one is permitted to inform against another that hath done an in- 
jury to a third person. 2 One of Solon's laws. 

Laws concerning Damages. 

He who wilfully infers damage, shall refund twice as much: he who 
does it involuntarily, an equivalent. 3 

His eyes shall be both plucked out, who hath blinded any one-eyed 
person.* One of Solon's laws. 

That dog shall be tied up with a chain four cubits long, which hath bit 
any body. 3 Another of Solon's laws. 

Laws belonging to Theft. 

He who steals shall pay double the value of the thing he stole to the 
owner, and as much to the public exchequer. 

If any body hath had any thing stolen from him, and has it restored, 
the thief, with the abettor, shall pay double the value ; but in case the 
thief doth not make restitution tenfold, and be set in the stocks five days 
and as many nights, if the heliasts so order it ; this order shall then be 
made, when they consider what punishment to inflict upon him. 6 These 
two laws were enacted by Solon. 

If any one hath filched away any thing by day, worth above fifty 
drachms, let the action called 'Atfccyayh be put in execution against him 
before the eleven ; but if in the night, any one hath liberty to kill him, or, 
upon his making away, to wound him, and to issue the same action out 
against him ; by which, if he be cast, he shall die, without any concession 
for sureties, to put in bail for the restitution of the stolen goods. He, 
farther, that shall pilfer out of the Lyceum, Academia, Cynosarges, or 
any of the gymnasia, any thing of the least value, as a garment, oil-viol, 
&c, or above ten drachms out of the baths, or ports, shall suffer death. 7 

He that puts a man in prison for thievery, and cannot prove it upon 
him, shall be fined a thousand drachms. 8 

All cut-purses, burglars, and kidnappers, if convicted, shall suffer 
death. 9 

He who makes search for thieves in another's house, must have only a 
thin garment hanging loose about him. 10 

He that takes away any thing which is not his own, shall be liable to 
die for it. 11 One of Draco's laws. See book i. chap. 26. 



1 Lysias pro Callia, in Cim. 

2 Plut. Solone. 

3 Demostli. Midiena. 

4 Laert. Soi^.e. 



5 Vint. Solone. 

C A. Geliius, xi. 18. Demosth. 
Tiniocr. 
7 Demosth. ibUl. 



8 Suidas. 

9 Xenoph. 'Arouvij/tov. i. 

10 Aristoph. Scholiast. Nuk 
HPiut. Sol. A Geilius, xi IS. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



L83 



It is a capital crime to break into a man's orchard, and steal his figs. 1 
This law was abrogated by the following: 

They who steal figs shall be fined. 2 See book i. chap. 21. 
They who steal dung shall be punished corporally. 3 

Laivs restraining Reproaches. 

No one shall calumniate or defame any person while alive, in the tem- 
ples, judicial courts, treasuries, or places where games are celebrated 
The delinquent herein shall pay three drachms to the injured man, anc 
two to the public treasury. 4 One of Solon's laws. 

He shall be fined who slanders any man. 5 Another of Solon's laws. 

He shall incur a mulct of five hundred drachms, who twits any one 
with committing some heinous offence against the laws. 6 

No one shall call another cut-throat, or murderer. 7 

He that upbraids another for casting away his buckler shall be fined. 8 
See book iii. chap. 13. 

Laws about the Management of affairs. 
They who have been negligent in carrying on any business shall answer 
for that neglect. 9 

No woman shall have any farther to do in affairs than a medimn of 
barley will satisfy for performance. 10 

Laivs referring to Entertainments. 

No entertainment is to consist of above thirty guests. 11 

All cooks hired to dress up dishes for entertainments, are to carry in 
their names to the Gynaeconomi. 12 

None but mixed wines shall be drunk at banquets. 13 

Let pure and unmixed wines be reserved till afterwards, for a relish- 
ing taste to the honour of the good genius. 14 See book iv. chap. 20. 

The Areopagites shall take cognizance of all drunkards. 15 

A Law relating to Accusations concerning Mines. 
If any one hath prohibited another from working in the mines, or hath 
carried fire into them, carried away another's utensils or tools, or if he 
hath dug beyond his limits, such a one may be prosecuted with the action 
called a/*>? fMraXXiH^. 16 

A Law appertaining to the Action 'Eicra'yyiX'a. 
Timocrates hath enacted, that whatsoever Athenian is cast by the action 
E/VayysX/'a, before the senate, and shall be secured by imprisonment 

1 Festus. 7 Lysias loc cit. Athen. vi. 

2 Suidas. 8 Ibid. 12 Menand. Cecryph. 
Aristoph. Schol. Equit. 9 Demosth. in Aphob. 13 Alexis jEsopo. 

4 Hlut. Solone. 10 Dio Chrysost. Orat. 14 Athenajus, vi. 

H i.ysias, Orat. i. in Theomn. iirurrtas. 15 Idem, ibid. 

6 Isof. in Lochitero. 11 Lync. Sam. in Apopbtb. 16 Demosth. in V&rimn. 

Q 2 



184 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



before or after the indictment, his name not being inserted according to 
law by the scribe of that prytany in the accusation note, and carried up to 
the thesmothetee, the thesmothetae, within thirty days after the receipt of 
the bill, unless some great emergency of state intervene, shall appoint the 
eleven to sit in judgment over it, before whom any Athenian may accuse 
him ; if he be convicted, the Heliaea shall inflict upon him punishment, 
either corporal or pecuniary ; if the latter, he shall be imprisoned till he 
pay it. 1 See book i. chap. 23, 

Military Laws. 

The time for military service shall be from eighteen years to forty. 

Till twenty, men shall remain within Attica to be ready in arms : 
after that they shall serve in the army without Attica. 2 See book iii. 
chap. 2. 

He shall be an/uos, who offers to serve in the horse, before he has un- 
dergone the accustomed probation. 3 See book iii. chap. 3. 

The cavalry shall be detached out of the most puissant and wealthy 
Athenians. 4 

Soldiers shall not observe the punctilios of spruceness and foppery in 
their hair, &c. 5 This law was enacted by Cineas and Phrynus. See 
book ii. chap. 8. 

None shall pawn their arms. 6 

He shall suffer death who hath betrayed a garrison, ship, or army. 
All deserters to the enemy shall undergo the same penalty. See book 
iii. chap. 13. 

There shall be no marching before the seventh of the month. 7 See 
book iii. chap. 7. 

The ceremony for proclaiming of war shall be by putting a lamb into 
the enemy's territories. 8 See as before. 

The polemarch shall lead up the right wing of the army.9 See book 
iii. chap. 4. 

All public revenue keepers, and dancers at the Aiowtriaxu, shall be 
exempted from serving in the army. 10 See book iii. chap. 2. 

Of Military Punishments and Rewards. 

They who have maintained their post with courage, shall be advanced, 
and others degraded. 11 See book iii. chap. 13. 

All refusers to go into the army, cowards, and runaways, shall be 
expelled the forum, shall not be crowned, or go to the public temples. He 
who offends against this law shall be put into bonds by the eleven, and 
carried before the heliastse, where any one empowered may accuse him: 
if he is proved guilty, the heliastae, shall pronounce sentence, and inflict 

1 Idem in Timocr. 5 Aristoph. Schol. ad Equites. 9 Herod. Erato. 

2 Ulp. in Olyn. iii. 6 Idem ad PI utu in. 10 D iinostli. in Xeaer. rt in 
V> Lvsias in Alcib. 7 Zenobius. Ont. iii. prov. 79. Midian. 

4 Xenoph. Hippar, 8 Diogen. Cent. ii. prbv. Dti 11 Xenoph. Hippar 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. 



185 



upon him as the nature of his crime requires, a mulct, or corporal pen- 
ance ; if the former, he shall lie in jail till he pays it. 1 See as before, and 
in the laws following. 

Let him he urifto;, who casts away his arms. 3 

He who, during the war by sea, runs away from his ship, and he who 
being pressed doth not go, shall be cln^o;. 3 See book iii. chap. 22. 

All disabled and wounded soldiers shall be maintained out of the public 
fund. 4 This was enacted by Pisistratus. 

Their parents and children shall be taken care of, that are cut off in 
war. If parents are killed, their children shall be put to school at the 
public charge ; and when come to maturity of age, shall be presented with 
a whole suit of armour, settled every one in his respective calling, and 
honoured with the first seats in all public places. 5 One of Solon's laws. 

Miscellaneous Laws. 

They shall be prosecuted for ingratitude who do not retaliate kind- 
nesses. 6 

The borough, and name of every one's father shall be written down in 
all deeds, compacts, suits, and other concerns. 7 

A discoverer, who alleges truth, shall be secure ; but if falsehood, shall 
suffer death. 8 

He shall be ctnpo$ who stands neuter in any public sedition. 9 This 
law was enacted by Solon, to oblige every Athenian to promote the wel- 
fare of the commonwealth to his utmost. 

He shall die who leaves the city for residence in the Piraeus. 10 This 
law was enacted by Solon to prevent discord amongst the Athenians. 

He shall be fined who is seen to walk the city streets with a sword by 
his side, or having about him other armour, unless in case of exigency. 11 
One of Solon's laws. See book iii, chap. 4. 

He shall be denied burial within Attica, and his goods exposed to sale, 
who hath been convicted of perfidious behaviour towards the state, or of 
sacrilege. 12 See book i. chap. 4. 

He that hath betrayed his country shall not enter into the borders of 
Attica ; if he do, he shall expiate his crime by the same law as they who, 
though condemned by the Areopagites to banishment, return. 13 

These compacts shall stand good which have been approved of by the 
judges. 14 

Let there be an amnesty of all former dissensions, and no one be liable 
to be called in question, or reproached for any thing done formerly. 15 This 
law was made after the expulsion of the thirty tyrants, to reconcile all 



1 Demosth. in Timocr. iEsch. 
in Ctesiph. 

2 Lvsias, Orat. i. in Theomn. 

3 Plut. Solone. 

4 Laert Solone. 

5 Lucianus Ahdic. Valerius 



Maximus, v. 3. 

6 Demosth. in Bceotum. 

7 Andocides de Mysteviis. 

8 Plut. Solone. 
[) Suidas. 

10 Lucian. Anacharside. 

Q3 



11 Xenoph. 'EXX^viwuif. 

12 Dinarchus in Demosth. 

13 Demosth. Halor.es. 

14 Cicero, Philip, i. 

15 Lysias in Ctesiph. 



186 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



former quarrels, and was sworn to by the archons, senate of five hundred, 
and all the commonalty of Athens. 

When any person is accused contrary to this oath, use may be made of 
the plea called Tlaigecypciipv. The archons shall have cognizance of this 
matter, and he that makes the plea shall make his defence first. The 
party that is cast shall have the fine called l«*<y/3sXwz imposed upon him. 1 
This lav/ was enacted by Archinus, as a security to the former. 

No stranger shall be wronged or injured. 2 

Put the bewildered traveller in his way, and be hospitable to strangers. 3 
"No seller of rings shall keep by him the signature of a ring when sold. 4 
One of Solon's laws. 



1 Andocides de Myster-iis. 

2 Xeno^lu ' Kno^t*;?. ii. 



3 Cicero de OfSc. iii. 

4 Loertius Soio:ie 



ARCILEOLOGIA GR/ECA; 

OR, THE 

ANTIQUITIES OF GREECE. 

BOOK II CHAP. I. 

OF THE FIRST AUTHORS OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP IN GREECE. 

Herodotus, 1 in the second book of his history, is of opinion that the Greeks 
derived their religion from the Egyptians; but Plutarch, who loves to 

contradict that author, peremptorily denies it, 2 as being neither mentioned 
by Homer, nor any of the ancients. Aristophanes 3 and Euripides 4 say 
that Orpheus was the first that instructed the Grecians in all the rites 
and ceremonies of their worship. He was a Thracian, and therefore, 

1 The popular religion of the tomed to hear a Jupiter, a Bac- duced into Greece, it is certain 
Greeks rested on a belief in cer- chus, a Diana, mentioned in that not all were of that origin, 
tain superhuman beings, and in Egypt, could have thought the The father of history has not fer- 
tile influence exercised by them matter very probable. But the gotten to remark, (Herod, ii. 50.) 
over the destinies of mortals; on question is still by no means an- that Neptune, Juno, Bacchus, 
the fear of offending them, re- swered. For if the Egyptian and others were not of Egyptian 
suiting from this belief; and on priests, in the time of Herodotus, origin, and this has been fully 
the custom of worshipping them, applied the Grecian names to substantiated by the acute inves- 
Yet, according to the account of their gods, how can we explain ti^ations of modern inquirers.— 
the earliest and most credible the alleged fact, that the Greeks See Creuzer's Stjmbolik, vol. ii. 
witnesses, these divinities were Hist borrowed those names from p- 376, and Boettiger's Kunstmy- 
not of Grecian origin; and the them? There are, however, two thologie. in the chapters on Ju- 
learned investigations of modern circumstances which we may in- piter and Juno, 
writers, on the origin of them fer from the words of Herodotus But to whatever country the 
individually, establish the fact himself, and which throw some gods of the Greeks may have ori- 
beyond a doubt. " The Greeks," light on the subject. The his to* finally belonged, they certainly 
says Herodotus, ii. 50, 52, "re- rian has not concealed the source did not remain in Greece what 
ceived their gods from the Pe- of his information. These &s- they had been before. We need 
Jasgi ; while the Pelasgi, who at sertions were made to him at but throw a glance on their reli- 
first worshipped their gods with- Dodona; he heard then a tradi- gion to convince ourselves, that 
out giving them particular names, tion of the priests of that place, the gods of the Greeks became 
took the names of their divinities But the oracle of Dodona derived entirely their property, if they 
from the Egyptians." This ac- its origin from the Egyptians; were not so originally; that is, 
count of the historian has difli- can we wonder then that its that their notions of them were 
culties which cannot be entirely priests should derive the gods of entirely different from those of 
cleared away. If it be granted the Greeks from the same source? the nations from whom they were 
that certain divinities and cer- Again, it is clear from Herodo- supposed to have been borrowed, 
tain religious rites came from tus, that the Hellenes did not Wherever Jupiter, Juno, Nep- 
Egypt, we may still ask, how receive them directly from the tune, and Apollo may have first 
could the names have been of Egyptians, but through the Pe- been worshipped, no country but 
Egyptian origin, since the names lasgi; that is, they received them Greece adored the Olympian 
of the Egyptian gods are almost at second hand. We shall here- ruler of the world, the queen of 
all known to us, and are very after remark, that they came heaven, and the power which 
different from those of the chiefly by way of Crete and Sa- encompassed the universe, the 
Greeks? We learn from Hero- mothrace. Could such circuitous far-darting god of light. And it 
dotus himself, that it was com- routes have left them unchanged? was the same with the rest, 
mon for the Egyptian priests, And is it not probable that the What the Grecian touched be- 
even in his age, to institute com- Pelasgi essentially altered them came gold, though it had before 
parisons between their gods and in their own way, before deliv- been of baser metal. — Heereu's 
those of the Greeks, and to trans- ering them to the Hellenes? Ancient Greece, p. 45, &c. 
fer the names of the latter to Questions of this kind cannot 2 De Herod. Malevoi. 
their own divinities. And this now be answered with certainty ; 3 Ranis, 
enables ns at least to explain how but, however many of the Egyp- 4 Rheso. 
the historian, who Avas accus- tian gods may have been intro- 



188 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

says Nonmis, 1 devotion was called Qoyrxttec, q. Goaxiu, because it was in- 
vented by a Thracian. 

These, I think, were neither altogether in the right, nor yet wholly 
mistaken ; for as the exact agreement betwixt some of the Grecian cere- 
monies and the religious worship of Thrace, makes it probable that the 
one was derived from the other ; so, on the other side, the conformity of 
some other parts of the Grecian religion to that of the Egyptians, doth 
plainly argue that they were fetched from Egypt ; but that the whole sys- 
tem of the Grecian religion should be borrowed from either Thrace, or 
Egypt, or any one country, is improbable if not impossible : as will evi- 
dently appear to every one who considers the great variety of religions in 
Greece, where almost every city had different gods, and different modes 
of worship. It is much more probable that Greece, being inhabited by 
colonies from various nations, borrowed from every one of these some part 
of their religious ceremonies. Thus the Thebans, being descended from 
the Phoenicians, retained a great part of their worship ; and the Argives 
are thought to have been instructed in the Egyptian religion by Danaus 
and his followers. Cecrops, the founder of Athens, who was the first that 
worshipped Jupiter by the name of "Tcretro;, the Supreme? and introduced 
civility among the barbarous Athenians, was likewise an Egyptian: whence 
some think he had the title of htpvh;, one with two natures; on Aiyvvrio; 
uv, rotg ^uo yX&xro-ot; yivltrretro, because being an Egyptian, he spoke 
two (that is, the Egyptian and Athenian) languages. Phoroneus, who is 
by some 3 reported to have brought the use of temples, altars, and sacrifices 
into Greece, was of the same nation. So many of the Egyptian ceremonies 
and customs were received at Athens, that one of the comedians upbraids 
the Athenians, that 

AiyvzTOv r'/}v treXtv xl-ruy 'Zi.roivfca.o iv u,vt' 'A6'/;vajv. 

They had made their city to be Egypt instead of Athens. Add to this, 
that the Greeks in general, and the Athenians in particular, were so 
excessively superstitious, that they would not be content to worship their 
ancient deities, but frequently consecrated new ones of their own making ; 
and besides these, assumed into the number of their own the gods of all 
the nations with which they had any commerce ; insomuch that, even in 
Hesiod's time, they were rgis fiv^ioi, thirty thousand, 

T^/? pveiot il(r)v \<r) yJSovi ^ovXv^on^vi 

'A6a.vu.T0i Zy,vos, <p6Xetft£S fAigorouv ecvSguxidv.* 

There are thirty thousand gods inhabiting the earth, who are subjects of 
Jupiter, and guardians of men. And though, as Isocrates informs us, 5 
the ancient Athenians thought their religion consisted chiefly in the 
observation of the rites and ceremonies delivered to them by their ances- 
tors, yet there was a custom that obliged them to entertain a great many 



1 Stvay. Uro 9 . in Stell. j. 3 Clem-jns Alexand. Protrep. 4 Oper . et Di r. i. 250. 

4 ^useb. Ohron. I'aus. Arcad. Aniob. ri con. Gentes. 5 Orat. Areopag. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



189 



strange gods; hence they religiously observed the esegswa, or feast of all 
the strange gods; which was also celebrated at Delphi, as Athenseus wit- 
nesses. 1 Nay, so afraid were the Athenians of omitting any, that, as 
Pausanias 2 tells us, they erected altars to unknown gods. It may be 
objected, that they condemned Socrates for no other crime than worship- 
ping strange gods ; for that this was his accusation, Laertius witnesses in 
his life. But to this it is replied, that though they were so desirous of 
new deities, yet none were worshipped till they had been approved, and 
admitted by the Areopagites, as Harpocration 3 has observed; and hence, 
when St Paul preached amongst them Jesus and the Resurrection, he 
was summoned to appeal' before this council, to give an account of his new 
doctrine. 



CHAP. II. 

OF THEIR TEMPLES, ALTARS, IMAGES, GROVES, ASYLA, AND SACRED FIELDS. 

The first generations of men had neither temples nor statues for their gods, 
but worshipped towards heaven in the open air. The Persians, even in 
ages when temples were common in all other countries, on ou% &v£gsfar#- 
(pvlcc; houjtruv robs zct$d<z'~o ot "EXX'/ivi;, not thinking the gods to be 

of human shape, as did the Greeks, had no temples: 4 which was the rea- 
son, as some think, why Xerxes burned and demolished the temples of 
Greece ; for the Persians thought it absurd to confine the gods within walls, 
quorum hie mundus omnis temp him csset ac domus, ' whose house and tem- 
ple was this whole world,' to use the words of Cicero. 5 The Greeks and 
most other nations, worshipped their gods upon the tops of high mountains. 
Hence Jupiter in Homer commends Hector for the many sacrifices which 
he had offered upon the top of Ida. 6 Strabo observes, that the Persians 
had neither images nor altars, but only sacrificed to the gods h v^nXoo 
rovru, upon some high place J Thus Cyrus, in Xenophon, 8 sacrifices to 
paternal Jupiter, the sun, and the rest of the gods, upon the summits of 
mountains, a$ Tll^crou 3-uoveiv, as the Persians are wont to sacrifice. The 
nations which lived near Judea sacrificed also upon the tops of mountains. 
Balak, king of Moab, carried Balaam to the top of Bahal, and other 
mountains, to sacrifice to the gods, and curse Israel from thence. 9 The 
same custom is attested in almost innumerable places of the sacred scrip- 
tures ; but I shall add only one testimony more in proof of its antiquity. 
Abraham was commanded by God to offer Isaac his son for a burnt-offer-. 



1 Deipnos. ix. 3. 5 Lib. ii. de Loiiibus. 8 Cyropaed. viii. Conf. He- 

2 Aitic. t> Iliad. 170. ' r d. i. 11. 

3 V. HitiBirovs ioprdi. 7 Geogr. Sfcv. 'J N timer, xxiii. 

4 Herod. Euterpe. 



190 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ing upon one of the mountains in the land of Moriah.i In later ages, the 
temples were often built upon the summits of mountains. Thus it is ob- 
served of the Trojan temples, in which the fore-mentioned sacrifices are 
supposed to have been offered by Hector. Both at Athens and Rome the 
most sacred temples stood in the most eminent part of the city. It is 
farther observable, that very high mountains were commonly held sacred 
to Saturn or Jupiter, and sometimes to other gods, particularly to Apollo, 
as we are informed by Homer, who thus addresses him : 

nSirat ie anomal re <pl\ai, *ai Kpitovts i/epoi Thine all the caverns, and the topmost cliffs 
'X^rjXSiv o P io>v. z Of lofty mountains. ELTON. 

Concerning this custom, I have more copiously treated in my com- 
mentary upon Lycophron. 3 What was the occasion and origin of it may 
be disputed. However, it appears to have been continued in the heathen 
world: because the tops of the mountains approached nearest to the 
heavens, the seat of the gods. Hence Tacitus in his Annals speaks of 
certain mountains, which maxime coslo avpropinquare, precesque morta- 
lium a Deo nusquam propius audire, 1 came exceedingly near to the 
heavens, and alleges that there was in no place a nearer passage for the 
prayers of men to the gods than from them.' Lucian expressly affirms, 
that the priests chiefly frequented such places, on rcov ih^uXzm ay^it 
Ivroc'iovtnv o\ $53/, because the gods did thence more easily hear their prayers. 
Who it was that erected the first temple, is not agreed by ancient writers. 
Some ascribe it to Phoroneus the Egyptian, others to Merops, others, 
among whom is Varro, to iEacus the son of Jupiter. 4 Some will have 
Jupiter to have been the first who built temples, and on that account to have 
been reputed the first and principal god. The Egyptians refer the 
invention to Isis, the Phrygians to Uso. Others rather choose to de- 
rive it from Cecrops, the founder of Athens, or Dionysius, otherwise 
called Bacchus, Some mention the Arcadians, or Phrygians, or Thraci- 
ans, or Cretans, as the first founders of temples. Others name, in parti- 
cular, Milisseus, king of Crete. Lastly, many are of opinion, that 
temples owe their origin to the superstitious reverence and devotion paid 
by the ancients to the memory of their deceased friends, relations, and 
benefactors ; 5 and as most of the gods were men consecrated on account 
of some public benefit conferred on mankind, so most of the heathen 
temples are thought to have been at first only stately monuments erected 
in honour of the dead. Thus the temple of Pallas, in the tower of the city 
Larissa, was the sepulchre of Acrisius; Cecrops was interred in the 
Acropolis of Athens, and Erichthonius in the temple of Minerva Polias. 
A farther confirmation of this is, that those words, which in their proper 
acceptation signify no more than a tomb, or sepulchre, are by ancient 
writers applied to the temples of the gods. Lycophron, a noted affecter 
of obsolete words, has used ru^fio; 6 in this sense, (where he speaks of 

1 Gen. xxii. 2. 4 A mob. vi. contra G-rntps. Alexaridr. Protr?pt. 

2 Hvrcn. in A poll. ver. 144. 5 Euseb. Lactant. Clemens 6 Cassandr. ver. 613. 

3 Ad. ver. 42. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



191 



Diomedes, who, at his return from Troy, was laid in wait for by his wife 
iEgialea, and forced to take sanctuary in the temple of Juno,) and Virgil, 1 
has tumulus. Nor is it wonderful that monuments should at length be 
converted into temples, when at every common sepulchre it was usual to 
oner prayers, sacrifices, and libations ; but of these more hereafter. 

Temples were built and adorned with all possible splendour and magni- 
ficence ; no pains, no charge, was spared upon them, or any part of divine 
worship. This they did, partly out of the great respect they had for the 
gods, to whom they thought nothing more acceptable than costly orna- 
ments; and partly, that they might create a reverence of the deities in 
those who came to pay their devotions there. The Lacedaemonians only 
had a law amongst them, that every one should serve the gods with as 
little expense as he could, herein differing from all other Greeks ; and 
Lycurgus being asked for what reason he made this institution, so dis- 
agreeable to the sentiments of all other men, answered, Lest at any time 
the service of the gods should be intermitted ; for he feared, that if reli- 
gion should be as expensive as in the other parts of Greece, it might some 
time or other happen that the divine worship, out of the covetousness of 
some, and poverty of others, would be neglected: and wisely considered, 
that magnificent edifices and costly sacrifices were not so pleasing to the 
gods, as the true piety and unfeigned devotion of their worshippers. This 
opinion of his was confirmed by the oracle of Hammon ; 2 for the Atheni- 
ans being defeated by the Lacedaemonians, in many encounters both by 
land and sea, sent to Jupiter Hammon, to inquire what means they had 
best use to obtain victory over their enemies ; and withal to ask him why 
the Athenians who, said they, serve the gods with more pomp and splen- 
dour than all the Greeks besides, should undergo so many misfortunes, 
whilst the Lacedaemonians, whose worship is very mean and slovenly, are 
always crowned with success and victory? The oracle made them no 
other answer, but, That the honest unaffected service of the Lacedaemoni- 
ans was more acceptable to the gods, than ail the splendid and costly 
devotions of other people. The reader will pardon this digression, since 
it doth so fully and clearly set forth the temper of two of the most flour- 
ishing states of Greece. 

Sometimes the same temple was dedicated to several gods, who were 
thence termed ffuvvxoi or <ruvoi%ircti, as they who had the same altar in 
common were called l^o^upm. This we find in the medal mentioned by 
Saubertus, 3 with the following inscription: 

All HAIfil 

MErAAftt 

2EPAIIIAI 
KAI TOIC 2TN- 
NAOIC 0EOIC. 



1 .Vnpvd ii. 74. 



% Plato Alcib. ii. 



3 Lib. da Sacrif. Veterurn. 



192 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



To Jupiter, the Sun, great Serapis, and the gods who cohabit in the same 
temple. Thus also were joined in one temple, Isis and Apis ; in another, 
Ceres, Bacchus, and Phoebus; in another at Rome, Jupiter Capitolinus, 
Juno, and Minerva ; in another, Apollo Palatinus, Latona, and Diana ; in 
another, Hercules and the Muses; in another, Venus and Cupid; in 
another, Castor and Pollux; in another, iEsculapius and Apollo; in an- 
other, the Sun and Moon ; in another, Mars and Venus ; in another, Pan 
and Ceres. 

Temples were built after that manner which they thought most agree- 
able to the gods to whom they designed they should be dedicated ; for as 
trees, birds, and other animals, were thought sacred to peculiar deities, 
so almost every god had a form of building peculiar to himself, and which 
they thought more acceptable to him than any other. For instance, the 
Doric pillars were sacred to Jupiter, Mars, and Hercules ; the Ionic to 
Bacchus, Apollo, and Diana; the Corinthian to Vesta the Virgin. I 
deny not but that sometimes all these were made use of in the same tem- 
ple: but this was either in those temples which were sacred to more gods 
than one, or to some of those gods who were thought to preside over several 
things ; for the ancients, believing that the world was governed by divine 
providence, ascribed the management of every particular affair to this or 
that deity; thus Mars was thought to preside over war, Venus over love: 
and to some of their gods they assigned the care over several things; so 
Mercury was the god of merchants, orators, and thieves ; Minerva was 
the goddess of warriors, scholars, and artificers, &c. ; and therefore it is no 
wonder that in some of the temples dedicated to her there were three rows 
of pillars, the first of the Doric, the second of the Corinthian, and the 
third of the Ionic order. 

As to the places of temples, it being the common opinion that some of 
the gods delighted in woods, others in mountains, others in valleys, others 
in fields, others in rivers or fountains ; it was customary to dedicate the 
temples in places most agreeable to the temper of the deities who should 
inhabit them. The people hoped for fruitful seasons, and all sorts of 
prosperity, wherever the temples stood. Hence Libanius makes heavy 
complaints against the Christians, who demolished the pagan temples, 
whereby, as he imagined, the fields became unfruitful, the temples being 
the very life of the fields ; and the husbandmen, whose only confidence 
for themselves, their wives, their children, their corn, their cattle, their 
plantations, was placed in temples, were miserably disappointed of their 
expectations.! The temples in the country were generally surrounded 
with groves sacred to the tutelar deity of the place, where, before the in- 
vention of temples, the gods were Worshipped ; but when these could not 
be had, as in cities and large towns, they were built amongst, and even 
adjoining to, the common houses; only the Tanagrseans thought this 
inconsistent with the reverence due to those holy mansions of the gods, 



1 Liban. Oiat. pro Temp] is. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



193 



and therefore took care to have their temples founded in places free from 
the noise and hurry of business: for which Pausanias 1 commends them. 
Wherever they stood, if the situation of the place would permit, it was 
contrived, that the windows being open, they might receive the rays of 
the rising sun. 2 The frontispiece was placed towards the west, and the 
altars and statues towards the other end, that so those who came to wor- 
ship, might have their faces towards them; because it was an ancient 
custom among the heathens, to worship with their faces towards the east. 
This is affirmed by Clemens of Alexandria, 3 and Hyginus the freedman 
of Augustus Ctesar, 4 to have been the most ancient situation of temples, 
and that the placing the front of temples towards the east was only a 
device of later ages. Nevertheless the way of building temples towards 
the east, so as the doors being opened should receive the rising sun, was 
very ancient, 5 and in later ages almost universal : ' almost all the temples 
were then so contrived, that the entrance and statues should look towards 
the east, and they who paid their devotion towards the west as we are 
expressly told by Porphyry .6 Thus the eastern nations commonly built 
their temples, as appears from the temple of the Syrian goddess in Lucian, 
the temple at Memphis, built by Psammitichus king of Egypt, in Dio- 
dorus the Sicilian, that of Vulcan, erected by another Egyptian king, in 
the second book of Herodotus, and the temple at Jerusalem. 7 If the 
temples were built by the side of a river, they were to look towards the 
banks of it ; 8 if near the highway, they were to be so ordered that travel- 
lers might have a fair prospect of them, and pay their devotions to the 
god as they passed by. 

Temples were divided into two parts, the sacred and profane ; the latter 
they called <ro i\ca tf&gtp.pavrygtov; the other ro 'ierco. Now this tfsoipptz,v<rngio'v 
was a vessel, usually of stone or brass, filled with holy water, 9 with which 
all those that were admitted to the sacrifices were besprinkled, and beyond 
which it was not lawful for any one that was fiifi'/iXo;, or profane, to pass. 
Some say it was placed in the entrance of the "AWav, which was the 
inmost recess of the temple, into which none entered but the priests, 
called also 'Av^t^v, says Pollux: whence filfirtXo; <ro-z-o$ is by Phavorinus 
said to be so called in opposition to this adytum. But Casaubon 10 tells us, 
that the tftgippavrfyiov was placed at the door of the temple ; and this 
opinion seems the most probable, because all persons that were &f&$tiXot 9 
or unpolluted, were permitted to pass beyond it, which they could not 
have done had it been placed at the entrance of the adytum. 

The word 2jj»oj is variously used. Ammonius 11 and Pollux 12 say, that 
it properly signifies a temple dedicated to a hero, or demigod. By Hesy- 
chius and Suidas it is expounded, hVonrjos <ro*o$ rovU^nv, the inner part 
of the temple; or that it should seem to have been the same with cclvrcy. 



1 Boeticis. 

S2 Vitrur. iv. 5. 

3 Strom, viii. 

4 De Agror. Limit, Constit. i. 



5 Dionys. Thrax. 

6 Lib. deAntru Nymph. 

7 Conf. hujus Archasol. edit. 
Lat. p. 199, 200. 8 Ibid. 

R 



9 Suidns, Phavorin. 

10 la Theoph. Charact. 

11 De Verb. Dili", ct SimiL 

12 Cnora. i. 



194 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIFS. 



The word, in its most proper acceptation, is used for a sheepfold ; and 
because the images of the gods were, according to most ancient custom, 
placed in the middle of the temple, and close railed in on every side, this- 
place, as some are of opinion, from the likeness it has to a sheepfold, was 
called ffnxof, which in time came to signify the whole temple, a part being 
put for the whole. In the same manner was le-la, that is, the fire-place, 
or hearth, used for the whole house. 

There was a place belonging to temples, termed in Greek £g%t7ov, by 
some translated summum templum, which was a repository or treasury, 
both for the service of the church, and others who desired to secure money 
or other things there, as was done by Xenophon, who committed his trea- 
sure to the custody of the priest of Diana at Ephesus. Hence those epi- 
thets are given it by Pollux, 1 /xsyxkoTrXo'jrov, ^oXv^ovo-ov, u^nG<rXovrov, 



The old scholia upon Sophocles, 2 and out of them Phavorinu?*, thus 
describe the temples: Nao,-, and 'ufov, or the whole edifice, in which are 
contained, Buuog, the altar, on which they offered their oblations ; Uaoyex,cv, 
the porch, in which usually stood an altar, or image ; and Tiuivo;, the 
place upon which the image of the chief god was erected. 

As among the most ancient Egyptians, e&pavoi wot %<rc&v, f e temples 
were without statues, if Lucian 3 may be credited, so also the Greeks wor- 
shipped their gods without any visible representation, till the time of 
Cecrops, the founder of Athens, who, according to Eusebius* account, 
lived about the age of Moses. The most ancient representations of the 
gods were exceedingly rude, and agreeable to the ignorance of those ages. 
The Scythians worshipped a sort of sword called &jcivd.%7i$' the Arabians 
a stone ; the Persians a river. 4 

The idol was at first commonly a rude stock, whence it is called ithiwis 
by St Clemens of Alexandria. 5 Such a one was that of Juno Samia, 
which was afterwards, in the magistracy of Procles, turned into a statue. 
Sometimes it was a stone. Pausanias 6 tells us, that in Achaia there were 
kept, very religiously, thirty square stones, on which were engraven the 
names of so many gods, but without any picture or effigies. In another 
place, he speaks of a very ancient statue cf Venus at Delos, which instead 
of feet had only a square stone. No sort of idol was more common than 
that of oblong stones erected, and thence termed xtavt$ 9 pillars. Several 
examples are mentioned by the forementioned Clemens, as also by Euse- 
bius. 7 In the eastern countries these sorts of representations seem to have 
been exceedingly frequent. In some parts of Egypt, they were to be seen 
on each side of the highways. 8 In the temple of Heliogabalus, that is, 
the sun, in Syria, there was one pretended to have fallen down from hea- 
ven. 9 Such a stone is feigned by the poets to have been swallowed by 



&c. 



1 Onora. i. 

- (Kdip. Tyr. v. 15. 

3 L bro de Dea Syria. 

4 Conf. Clemens Alexin. Pro- 



trept. p. 29 et 30. Strom, i. Dp. 
348, 349. 

5 Frotrept. 

G Achaicis. 



7 Praep. Evangel, i. 

8 Strabo Geograph. xrii, 

9 He rod. v. 5. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



195 



Saturn, instead of his son Jupiter: hence the worship paid to them. 
Others rather derive it from the appointment of Uranus, the first god, 
and father of Saturn. 1 One thing is remarkable, both in these stones, 
and others of different figures, as particularly in the square stone which 
represented the god Mars at Petra in Arabia, that their colours were most 
commonly black, 2 which seems to have been thought in those times the 
more solemn and becoming colour of things dedicated to religious uses. 
They were called fitzirvXia., or (tenvka,* which name seems to be derived 
from the Phoenician language, wherein bethel signifies the house of God. 
Some are of opinion, that their true origin is to be derived from the pillar 
of stone which the patriarch Jacob erected at Bethel. 4 Most of the bar- 
barous nations worshipped mountains, or rude stocks of trees, or unformed 
stones. 5 Thus Tacitus affirms, that in Germany the images of the gods 
consisted e stipitibus rudibus et impolito robore, 4 of rude trunks and 
unpolished oak. ,s Lucan also describes the gods of Massilia, as 4 old 
images of forms misshapen, rude, and unknowing of the artist's hand.' 
And Themistius 7 has told us, that all the Grecian images till Daedalus' 
time were unformed : he it was that first made two separate feet ; whereas 
before they were but one piece ; whence it was reported, says Pakephatus, 
that Daedalus formed moving and walking statues. At first, therefore, 
they were only called £oavx, %ioc ro a<To%~7<r0eu, s because they were shaven: 
and this word properly denotes an idol that is ihfftivo*, shaven out of 
wood or stone, says Hesychius. 9 In after ages, when the art of graving 
and carving was invented, they changed the rude lumps into figures 
resembling living creatures, generally men ; and then an image was called 
jS^raj, ^ioc ro fioorZ ioiKtvat, because it was like a man. 10 Nevertheless, 
in more refined ages, such of the unformed images as were preserved, 
were reverenced for their antiquity, and preferred to the most curious 
pieces of modern art. 11 

The substance of which statues were made, was, among the ancient 
Greeks, generally wood, as Plutarch and Pausanias inform us; the latter 
of whom reports, that he observed these trees for the most part to be made 
use of for this purpose, namely, the ebon, cypress, cedar, oak, yew, and 
box trees. To these Theophrastus 12 adds the root of the olive-tree, of 
which he says the lesser images were usually composed. It is also observed, 
that those trees which were sacred to any god were generally thought 
most acceptable to him, and therefore Jupiter's statue was made of oak, 
Venus' of myrtle, Hercules' of poplar, Minerva's of the olive-tree, &c. 
These observations are, I think, for the most part true, but not so univer- 
sally so, as that they should never fail. Sometimes they were made of 
stone, and not only of common, but also of precious stones; sometimes of 



1 Sanclion. apud Eus-b. Da- 
BiQnstr. Evans;, i. 10. 

2-Strabo, Joe. cit. Suid. voce 

3 hiueb lor. ciL Hesych. 



4 Genes, xxviii. 18, 19. 

5 S. Chrysost S-rm. xii. 

6 Lib. de Mor. German. 

7 rat. xv. 

S Clemens Pretrept 
R 2 



9 Voce goavay. 

10 C emens loc. cit. 

11 Porphyr. cle Absttn. \\. see. 

12 Lib. de Plant, 



196 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



black stone, whereby was signified the invisibility of the gods. Marble 
and ivory were frequently made use of, and sometimes also clay and chalk; 
and last of all, gold, silver, brass, and all other metals, were put to this 
use. The forms and postures of the statues are uncertain, being com- 
monly made in imitation of the poetical descriptions of the gods, especially 
those in Homer, whose authority was most sacred. 

The place of the images was in the middle of the temple, where they 
stood on pedestals raised above the height of the altar, and were enclosed 
with rails ; whence this place was called c/iy/o;. That the images were 
placed thus, Virgil bears witness, when he says, 

Tumfr/ribvs dives, media testudine templi. Then at the chancel door, where Juno stands. 

Where, by the fores divas, is to be understood the entrance of the <t'/iko$. 
Another of the poets, where he talks of erecting a temple, says, 

In medio miki Caesar erit. I'll Caesar's statue in the midst erect 

BafAog among the Greeks, is a word of larger extent than altare among 
the Latins ; for this, in its proper signification, only denotes the place on 
which they sacrificed to the celestial gods, being raised up high from the 
ground, and therefore called Altare, ab altitudine, ' from its height f but 
fiwpos is used not only to signify this high altar, but those lower ones called 
in Latin arcs. These altars differed according to the diversity of the gods 
to whom they were consecrated; for the &sai ovoomoi, or celestial gods, had 
their altars raised up a great height from the ground, insomuch that Pau- 
sanias 1 tells us, the altar of Olympian Jupiter was almost twenty-two feet 
high. Porphyry makes no distinction betwixt these and the altars of the 
Gio) fcHovioi, or terrestrial gods. But though they are both signified by 
the same word, yet they seem not to have been of equal height. To the 
heroes they sacrificed upon altars close to the ground, which the Greeks 
called Iff^a^ai, being only one step high. 2 The subterranean, or infernal 
gods, called 'T^o^ovioi, had, instead of altars, little ditches or trenches dug 
or ploughed up for that purpose ; these the Greeks called Xxxxot and fiofyoi. 
Porphyry adds a fifth, telling us that the nymphs, and such like deities, in- 
stead of altars, had cevrga or caves, where religious worship was paid to 
them; ^ix to, Iv ccvtqoi; xciruXufiofjavot. v^sctcc, u>v ul Na'i'cc^sj ^rpoa^Kcivi 
No#.$atj by reason of the waters ivhich are distilled into the caverns, and 
whereof the nymphs called Naiades are presidents . 

The altars were always lower than the statues of the gods. They were 
made commonly of earth heaped together; sometimes of ashes, as was that 
of Olympian Jupiter, beforementioned, which Pausanias 3 says was made 
of the ashes of burnt sacrifices. Another of ashes was dedicated at Thebes 
to Apollo, who had hence the name of ^noBios, as we learn from the same 
author. Lastly, any other durable materials ; as horn in the famous altar 
at Delos; brick in one mentioned by Pausanias: 4 but chiefly and most 
commonly stones. Before temples were in use, altars were sometimes 



1 Eliac. d. 2 Eurip. Scliol. in Phceniss. 3 Euac. d. 4 Lib. vi. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



107 




W1LLCX Ss 



erected in groves, sometimes in other places ; and Eustathius 1 upon the 
second Iliad tells us, that they were often erected in the highways, for the 
convenience of travellers. The terrestrial gods had their altars in low 
places, but the celestial were worshipped on the tops of mountains. As 
for want of temples, they built their altars ia the open air ; so for want of 
altars, they anciently used to sacrifice upon the bare ground, 2 and some- 
times upon a turf of green earth; winch is called cespes vivus, 'a living 
turf,' by Horace. The sacrifices offered without altars were termed 
iesrafHatf&m B-mrlcci, as we are informed by Hesychius and Phavorinus. 

The form of altars was not always the same. Pausanias 3 in one place 
mentions an oblong (hseipfans) altar dedicated to the Parcse: in another, 4 
a square altar upon the top of mount Cithaeron. From ancient medals, it 
appears that other altars were of a round figure. The most ancient altars 
were adorned with horns. Nonnus 5 introduces Agave offering a sheep by 
the direction of Cadmus ibxioaou vagx fcupw, upon an altar beautified with 
horns. The figures of Roman altars upon medals are never without 
horns ; 6 and the altars which remain in the ruins of old Rome have the 
same ornament. 7 Moses was commanded to erect an altar with four 
horns. s These horns served for various uses. The victims were fastened 
to them. Suppliants, who fled to the altar for refuge, caught hold of the 
horns. Yet it is not certain they were chiefly and originally intended for 
these purposes. Some derive them from a practice of the first age, 
wherein horns were an ensign or mark of power and dignity. Hence the 
pictures of the most ancient gods and heroes, as also those of rivers, were 
commonly adorned with horns. The same are often found upon the 
medals of Serapis, Isis, Jupiter Ammon, and Bacchus; as also upon the 

1 Pag. 171, edit. Basil. 4 Bceot. 7 Fortunatus Scacchius Myr> 

2 Lil. GyraLi. de D is Srntsg. 5 Dionys. xliv. D6. thee. ii. 63. 
xv\\, 6 Sanctius Comment, in Reg. S Exyd. ii. 2«» 

It 3 



193 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 

' — ~~ — n... 




coins of the Persian kings, and of Alexander and his successors. We are 
informed by Clemens 1 of Alexandria, that Alexander sometimes wore 
horns, as a token of his divine extraction. And the Phoenician accounts 
relate, that Astarte, one of the most ancient Phoenician queens, used to 
wear upon her head bulls' horns, ug fiafftXtiets ^raoKo"/iy.ov 9 as an ensign of 
royalty. 2 

It was customary to engrave upon altars the name, cr proper ensign or 
character of the deity, to whom they belonged. This we find done to the 
Athenian altar upon which St Paul observed this inscription, 'Ayvucre* 
%zoo, To the unknoivn God. Sometimes the occasion of the dedication, 
with other circumstances, was expressed. Thus in the Roman altar, 
upon which was found this inscription: 

C. JULIUS ANICETUS 
SOLI DIVINO SUSCEPTO VOTO 
ANIMO LUBENS D. D. 

" Caius Julius Anicetus willingly dedicates this altar to the divine sun, 
in performance of a vow.'' 

Some altars were ty^v^i, designed for sacrifices made by fire: others, 
civvooi, without fire, and Kvu.ipa.Kroi, without blood; upon which neither 
fire nor blood could lawfully be placed, but only cakes, fruits of the earth, 
and inanimate things. An example of these altars we find in the follow- 
ing verse of Orpheus: 3 

Fig. I. Antique Altar at the door of the church bftSt Andrea, at Athens, 3 feet 4-8 inches high.— 
Stuart's Athens, vol. iii. p. 25. 

2. Antique Altar found at Mycone, to which island it was brought from Delos., 2 feet 6 375 
inches liigh. — Stuart's Athens, vol. iii. p. 59. 

1 IVjlrept. 2 Euseb. Praep. Ewng. i. c uit. 3 Dc Lapid. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



199 



Another near the altar of horn at Delos, sacred to Apollo Genitor, upon 
which Pythagoras, who thought it unlawful to put animals to death, used 
to sacrifice, is mentioned by Diogenes Laertius. 1 Another dedicated to 
Jupiter Utfctros, the Supreme, in the time and by the order of Cecrops 
king of Athens, we find in Pausanias. 2 Lastly, Paphian Venus had an 
altar which was uvotifje,a,»ros, free from blood, it being unlawful to offer 
animals upon it: but not atrugos, void of firej for the goddess was wor- 
shipped solis precibus et igne puro, 1 only with prayers, and pure fire,' as 
Tacitus affirms. 3 

The manner of consecrating altars and images was the same, and is 
thus described by the scholiast upon Aristophanes: 4 a woman dressed in a 
garment of divers colours brought upon her head a pot of sodden pulse, as 
beans, peas, or the like, which they gratefully offered to the gods, in 
remembrance of their ancient diet. But this custom seems to have been 
more especially practised at the consecration of the 'Eg/uuT, or statues of 
Mercury, and then only by the poorer sort, as the comedian intimates, 
when he speaks of the consecration of another image in his play entitled 



Ch. What other expedient still requires dispatch ? Tr. What if this goddess we should consecrate 



Where the scholiast observes, that sometimes their consecrations were 
more expensive, being performed with more sumptuous offerings and 
ceremonies. But these, like the other parts of divine worship, were 
varied according to the condition of the worshippers, and the nature or 
humour of the deities. To give one instance: Athenseus in the ninth book 
of his Deipnosophists tells us, that Jupiter Ctesia's statue was consecrated 
in this manner: they took a new vessel with two ears, upon each of which 
they bound a chaplet of white wool, and another of yellow upon the fore 
part of it, and covered the vessel ; then they poured out before it a libation 
called ambrosia, which was a mixture of water, honey, and all sorts of 
fruit. The truth of the matter is this: the primitive Greeks, according 
to their usual frugality, consecrated the statues of the gods with very little 
expense. Afterwards, when they increased in wealth, and fell into a more 
sumptuous way of living, more pompous and costly ceremonies were by 
degrees introduced in religious worship. Only the poorer sort, out of 
necessity, still adhered to the ancient customs; especially when the 
meaner sort of statues, such as were those of Mercury, which stood in the 
public streets, were to be dedicated. In former ages, even the images 
and altars of Jupiter were consecrated in the same manner with those ol 
Mercury. This is plain, from the verses cited by the scholiast of Aristo- 
phanes, 6 out of the Danaides of that poet: 




TV. Nought, but that you consecrate with these pots 

The goddess Peace. 
Ch. How, with these pots ? What, like 
Those pigmy statues of god Mercury ? 



With a fat ox ?• 



H. H. 



1 Pythagora. ?, Hist. ii. 

2 Aicud. p. 476, edit, Hanov. 4 Pluto, act v. seen, 3. 



5 Fag f>50. edit. Amst. 

6 In Pint. loc. cit. 



200 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



"Mxgrvgouati hi Z^vos 'Eeztov xCr^Si 
H<x* txT; b pa/AO; euro; lh%v6vi rrori' 
UoeQvgolg hi XU.) fTOlZihOIS tUCCtiOtSf 

'Eirou,7VJ6v> 

But the most usual manner of consecration was performed by putting a 
crown upon them, anointing them with oil, and then offering prayers and 
oblations to them. Sometimes they added an execration against all that 
should presume to profane them, and inscribed upon them the name of the 
deity, and the cause of their dedication. In this manner the Spartan vir- 
gins, in Theocritus' eighteenth Idyllium, promise to consecrate a tree to 
Helena: for it was customary to dedicate trees, or plants, after the same 
manner with altars and statues. Ovid likewise, in the eighth book of his 
Metamorphoses, speaks of adorning them with ribands. 

The act of consecration chiefly consisted in the unction, which was a 
ceremony derived from the most primitive antiquity. The sacred taber- 
nacle, with all the vessels and utensils, as also the altar and the priests 
themselves, were consecrated in this manner by Moses, at the divine 
command. 1 It is well known that the Jewish kings and prophets were 
admitted to their several offices by unction. The patriarch Jacob by the 
same rite consecrated the altars which he made use of ; 2 in doing which, 
it is more probable that he followed the tradition of his forefathers, than 
that he was the author of this custom. The same, or something like it, 
was also continued doAvn to the times of Christianity. We find that in 
Theodoret's time, superstitious women anointed the balisters, xiyxXi^i;, 
of the churches, and the repositories of martyrs. 3 And in the primitive 
ages of the church, oil was used upon some other occasions. 4 

At the time of consecrations, it was customary to offer great numbers 
of sacrifices, and to make sumptuous entertainments. Thus the Egypti- 
ans consecrated their god Apis, which was an ox : 5 in the same manner 
we find the temple of Solomon dedicated. At the consecration of Moses' 
tabernacle, an oblation was presented by all the Jewish princes. 6 When 
the golden calf, and the altar before it, were to be consecrated, • Aaron 
made proclamation, and said, to-morrow is a feast of the Lord. And they 
rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought 
peace-offerings ; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to 
play.' 7 

The consecration of single trees has been already mentioned. It may 
here be farther observed, that altars were often erected under the shade of 
trees. Thus we find the altar of Jupiter Herceus placed within the court 
of Priamus king of Troy: 

JEdibus in mediis, nudoque sub cctheris axe Within the courts, beneath the naked sky, 

Ingens ara fuit,juxtaque veterrima laurus An altar rose ; an aged laurel by ; 

Ineumbcns arce, atque umbra complexa Penates.* That o'er the hearth and household-gods displayed 

A solemn gloom, a deep majestic shade. PlTT. 



1 Exod.xi. 9. 10. Numb. vii. 1. 
■i Gen. xxviii. 18; xxxv. 14. 
o 'Jues'c. ixxiv. in Gen. 



4 Jacob r. 14. 

5 SuiddS. 

(i Num. vii. 



7 Exod. xxx'i. 5, 6. 

8 V JEnzid. ii. 512. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



201 



But where groves of trees could be had, they were preferred before any- 
other place. It was so common to erect altars and temples in groves, and 
to dedicate them to religious uses, that aXcn zaXovo-/ to. U^k vravru, all 
sacred places, even those where no trees were to be seen, ivere called 
groves; as we learn from Strabo. 1 It seems to have been a general cus- 
tom, which prevailed not only in Europe, but over all the eastern countries, 
to attribute a sort of religion to groves. Hence, among other precepts, 
whereby the Jews were kept from the imitation of the pagan religion, this 
was one : ' thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the 
altar of the Lord thy God.' 2 This practice is thought to have been intro- 
duced into Greece from Phoenicia by Cadmus. Some are of opinion, that 
hence Ascra, a village in Bceotia, where Hesiod was born, received its 
name ; for in the scripture rrnw* is the name of a grove, and uirxoa is by 
Hesychius interpreted ^ovs oi%cig<z'os, a barren oak. Several causes are 
assigned why groves came into so general request. 

As, first, the pleasantness of such places was apt to allure the people, 
and to beget in them a love for the religious worship which was paid there ; 
especially in hot countries, where nothing is more delightful and refresh- 
ing than cool shades ; for which cause the sacred groves consisted of tall 
and beautiful trees, rather than such as yielded fruit. Hence Cyril ex- 
pressly distinguishes re «A/r^«; %vXov f the tree Jit for groves, from rp zug- 
vroQooov, that which bears fruit, it being the custom to plant groves, not 
with vines or fig-trees, or others which produce fruit, but only with rcc 
cixa.^a. jtykot, trees which afford no fruit for human use, ri^zsog %d(?iv t 
merely for the sake of pleasure. 3 Thus one of the temples of Diana is 
described by Herodotus, 4 to stand within a grove Ssv^saiv ^tyta-rcov, of the 
largest trees. And the way to Mercury's temple was set on both sides 
with y&vSoza ob^oivofAnicia,, trees reaching up to heaven, as we are told by the 
same historian. The same is farther confirmed by the descriptions of 
groves which remain in the ancient poets. 

Secondly, the solitude of groves was thought very fit to create a religi- 
ous awe and reverence in the minds of the people. Thus we are told by 
Pliny, that in groves, ipsa silentia adoram,us,' the very silence of the place 
becomes the object of our adoration. 5 ' Seneca also observes, that when we 
come into such places, ilia proceritas sylvce, et secretum loci, et admiratio 
umbrce, fidem numinis facit, c the height of the trees, the solitude and 
secrecy of the place, and the horror which the shade strikes into us, does 
possess us with an opinion that some deity inhabits there.' 6 It may not be 
impertinent to add one testimony more from Ovid, who speaks thus: 7 

Lucus Aventino suberat niger ilicis umbra, A darksome grove of oak was spread out near, 

Quo possis viso dicere, Nume?i inest. Whose gloom impressive told, ,l A God dwells 

here." 

Thirdly, some are of opinion that groves derived their religion from the 

1 Gcograph. ix. 4 Euterpe, cap. 138. 7 Faster, iii. 

2 Dcut. xvi. 21. 5 Nat. Hist. xii. 1. 

'6 CyrilLus Homil. iv. in Jerem. 6 Lib. v. epist. iv. cnp. 4. 



202 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



primitive ages of men, who lived in such places before the building of 
houses. Thus Tacitus 1 reports of the ancient Germans, that they had no 
other defence for their infants against wild beasts or the weather, than what 
was afforded ramorum nexu, by boughs of trees compacted together. All 
other nations lived at first in the same manner; which was derived from 
paradise, the seat of the first parents of mankind. It is not unworthy of 
o , )servation, that most of the ceremonies used in religion were at first taken 
from the customs of human life. Afterwards the manners and customs 
of men changed, but the same rites still were preserved in religious wor- 
ship, which it was thought a sort of irreverence to alter. Thus, from the 
houses of men were derived the temples and habitations of the gods ; which 
were not built in the most primitive ages, as hath been before observed, 
men having not then invented the art of making houses. The altars 
served instead of tables, and the sacrifices were the entertainments of the 
gods. It is farther observable^ that the several sorts of things offered in 
sacrifice were taken from their use in human food. The animals most 
commonly eaten by men were made victims to the gods: and those ages, 
which are reported to have lived only on the fruits of the earth, are like- 
wise said to have refrained from sacrificing animals ; which will farther 
appear in the fourth chapter of this book. 2 

In latter ages, when cities began to be filled with people, and men to 
delight in magnificent edifices and costly ornaments, more than the coun- 
try and primitive way of living, groves by degrees came into disuse. Yet 
such of the groves as remained from former times were still held in great 
veneration, and reverenced the more for the sake of their antiquity. As 
in the early times it was accounted an act of sacrilege to cut down any of 
the consecrated trees, which appears from the punishment inflicted by 
Ceres upon Erichthonius for this crime, whereof there is a prolix relation 
in Callimachus ; 3 so in latter ages, the same was thought a most grievous 
wickedness ; whereof it will be sufficient to mention this one example, 
where Lucan speaks of Caesar's servants, in allusion to the fable of Lycur- 
gus, who, endeavouring to destroy the vines of Bacchus, cut off his own 



The temples, statues, and altars, were accounted so sacred, that to 
many of them the privilege of protecting offenders was granted, so that if 
any malefactor fled to them, it was accounted an act of sacrilege to force 
him thence, and they thought his blood would be upon those who should 
do it; insomuch, that those who killed the followers of Cylon, who had 



legs: 



Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda 
Majestate loci , si robor'i sncra ferirent. 



That -wrapt the gloomy spot, they feared the axe 
That struck those hollowed trees would from the 



In sua credebunt redituras membra secures. 

But valiant hands 

Then falter'd. Such the reverend majesty 



stroke 

Recoil upon themselves. Eltox. 



1 Libro de Mar. Germ. agit ; Medus nostras in Dissert, de Sanctit. et Re« 

2 Conf. C'uverius, ubi de Ge:manoram Morions laf. et Spencerus de Legibus Iiebraeorum. 

o llymno in Cererem. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



203 



plundered the temple of Minerva, because they executed them hanging on 
the altars, were ever after called 'AXtrr^ia, 1 profane and impious. In 
iEtolia, when Laodamia, who had fled for protection to Diana's altar, was 
killed in a tumult of the people, there ensued a dreadful famine, with civil 
and foreign wars, till the whole iEtolian nation was almost quite destroyed. 
Milo, who killed Laodamia, fell into distraction and madness, and having 
torn out his own bowels with his teeth, died on the twelfth day after the 
fact was committed .2 From these and other examples of the like nature, 
it came to pass, that the privileges of the asyla were preserved inviolable ; 
whence Tacitus complains, that the Grecian temples were filled with the 
worst of slaves, with insolvent debtors, and criminals who fled from justice ; 
and that no authority w r as sufficient to force them thence. 3 This was a 
very ancient cause of complaint. 4 

How infinitely more wisely were the Jewish asyla, or cities of refuge, 
ordered, in which they who had been guilty of manslaughter were pro • 
tected only till their cause was brought to a fair hearing, and then, if they 
appeared to deserve punishment, delivered up to justice ! When Pausa- 
nias, king of Sparta, who had held a correspondence with the king of 
Persia, and conspired against his native country, fled to the temple of 
Minerva Chalcioecus, the Lacedaemonians, unwilling both to offend the 
goddess, and to let the criminal escape, permitted him to remain in the 
temple, but uncovered it, and so left him to perish with cold and hunger. 
But how unusual this way of proceeding was, may appear from Pausanias, 5 
who informs us, p'ovov avrov iKirivtoivTwv rhv XaXz'toixov ozptzgnTv aSzta;* 
that of all ivho had fed for protection to the goddess Chalcioecus, he was the 
only person -who failed. Nevertheless, there are instances in other places, 
where the doors of the temples were shut, and the roof uncovered, in order 
to starve criminals who had taken sanctuary there. Sometimes they were 
forced away by fire, as hath been observed by the scholiast of Euripides, 
where Hermione threatens Andromache, who had fled for refuge to Thetis, 
to drive her away by that means : 6 

II5p aot -rrpoaoiaa*, kov to aov TrpoiKtyo/xai. I will bring fire*, I reck not of the pl?ce. 

Potter, 

In the same manner Lycus treats the relations of Hercules-. 7 

'A/ ol fjiiv 'E\i*S»>\ ol &'s Tlapvae-ov n-m^ay Go, bid the woodmen baste, 

Tifivnv ZvcuxP iXdayras i\o»pyovs 6pvof Some to the valleys of Parnassus, some 

K p,uouj* eTTstddv elcTKo^ufWty woXst, To Helicon ; there hew the trunks of oak, 

Bwuby ir«p4? vJuavTay a.fxrpr,pr] £irAa, And bear them to the city •, pile them you 

'K^TrtVpar' avrii*, *oi itvpovre outuara. Each way this altar round, set them on fire, 

And burn those wretches there. Potter. 

In imitation, and as an improvement of this passage, Lycus is intro- 
duced by Seneca, commanding not only the family of Hercules, but the 
very temples to be burnt; which is an exaggeration very agreeable to the. 



1 Corf. Plutarch. Solone, Pau- 3 Annal. ill. 60. 6 Andromach. ver. 256. 
EOnias Atticis et Achaicis. 4 Ion. vi:r. 1312, act. iv. fine. 7 Eli rip. Hercul. Fur. ver. 240. 

2 Justiuus Histor. xxviii, 3. 5 Lacon. p. 194, edit. Hanov. 



204 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

genius of that poet, but quite contrary to the manners of the times h 
describes. His words are these: 1 

Congerite sih'as ; templa supplicibus svis 
Injecta flugrent ; conjugcm et Mam gregem 
Consumat unus igne subjecto rogus. 

There are several examples of the same custom in Plautus. When 
Tranio, the slave of Theuropides, had fled to a sanctuary, his master 
threatens him thus: 2 

Jamjubebo ignem at sarmenta, carnufez^ circttmdcri. 

In another place of that author, Labrax, in the same manner, bespeaks his 
damsels, who had betaken themselves to the protection of Venus : 3 

Volcanum adducam, is Veneris est adversarius. 

It being a direct act of sacrilege to take away suppliants from the sanctu- 
ary whither they had fled for protection, this method was used to constrain 
them to leave it, as it were of themselves, and by their own consent. 
Nevertheless, this evasion of the sacred privileges was not thought free 
from impiety. Whence the forementioned words of Hermione are thus 
answered by Andromache in Euripides 

2v a' oZv Karaidt' *tol yip tZtrovTzi. rais. Then bum me ; but these things the gods -will see. 

Potter. 

From the frequent mention of suppliants securing themselves in the 
temples, and at the altars and images of the gods, it may be thought that 
all of them were asyla, according to that general expression of Euripides 

The luild beast is secured by the rocks, and slaves by the altars of the gods. 
Nevertheless it is most certain, to use the words of Servius, 6 non fuisse 
asylum in omnibus templis, nisi quibns consecrationis lege concessum est : 
* that all temples were not sanctuaries, but only such as received that privi- 
lege from the manner of their consecration.' Whence, at the dedication 
of such places, particular mention is often made by authors, that they were 
appointed to be sanctuaries ; which would have been needless, if all tem- 
ples had been invested with that privilege. The same farther appears 
from this, that some of the asyla were free for all men, others appropri- 
ated to certain persons, or crimes. Thus, the temple of Diana at Ephe- 
sus, was a refuge for debtors ; the tomb or temple of Theseus, was a 
sanctuary for slaves, and all those of mean condition, that fled from the 
severities and hard usages of their masters, and men in power ; because 
Theseus was an assister and protector of the distressed, and never rejected 
the petitions of the afflicted, who fled to him for succour and defence, as 
Plutarch reports. 7 Nor was this honour only granted to the gods, but also 
to the statues or monuments of princes, and other great persons. 8 So the 



1 Hercul. Fur. ver. 506. 
I Mostel. act. v. sc. 1. 
S Rutient. act. iii. sc. 4. 



4 Eurip. Androm. v. 257. 

5 Suppl. ver. 267. 

6 Comment, in JSneid, ii. 



7 Theseo. 

8 Srrabo iU. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



205 



sepulchre of Achilles on the Sigean shore, was, in after ages, made an 
asylum ; and Ajax had the like honour paid his tomb on the Rhoetean. 

The first asylum, some say, was built at Athens by the Heraclidae, and 
was a refuge for those who fled from the oppression of their fathers ; others 
will have this to be a sanctuary for all sorts of suppliants. 1 Others affirm, 
that the first was erected at the building of Thebes by Cadmus, where the 
privilege of sanctuary was granted to all sorts of criminals; and in imita- 
tion of these, they say, the asylum at Rome was opened by Romulus. 2 
This is certain, that sanctuaries were common in the heroicai times. 
Hence Troy being taken, Priamus fled for protection to the altar of Jupi- 
ter Herceus, as we are informed by Pausanias. 3 Virgil adds farther, that 
he was accompanied by his wife Hecuba, and his children. 4 And Polyx- 
ena, who was to be sacrificed to appease Achilles' ghost, is thus advised 
by one in Euripides-. 5 

'Aa.\ *9i wpoy faovf, I6t -arpof fiaifjiovt. Go to the temples, to the altars go. 

The sacredness of these places was held entire till the reign of Tiberius 
Caesar, who, upon consideration of the many inconveniences which must 
necessarily be the effect of tolerating so many villains as were always har- 
boured in them, dissolved them all, preserving only to Juno Samia, and 
one of iEsculapius' temples, their ancient privileges. Suetonius indeed 
reports, 6 that he did abolere jus moremque asylorum, qu& usquam erant, 
£ abolish the privileges and customs of asyla in all parts of the world.' But 
from Tacitus, who has more exactly reported this matter, we learn, that 
the privileges of sanctuaries were not then wholly taken away, but only 
regulated and reformed. 7 ' 

Before the conclusion of this chapter, it will not be improper to mention 
the fields dedicated to religious uses. These were called Ts^svjj. Tjw=- 
v>$ is interpreted by the scholiast upon Homer s to be hgh %a£iov, a<p*>gt*- 
ptvov S'i&i Tca.ro. ripm w mm' a sacred portion of land set apart in honour 
of some god or hero. Several of these places are mentioned by Homer, 
Pausanias, and other authors. Sometimes their product was carefully 
gathered in, and reserved for the maintenance of the priests, 9 or other 
religious purposes. For, as hath been already observed, it was customary 
to pay the same offices to the gods which men stand in need of. The 
temples were their houses, sacrifices their food, altars their tables, images 
represented their persons, and portions of land were also set apart for the 
maintenance of their families. The same respect was paid to kings, and 
men who had done eminent service for their country. Thus Tarquinius 
Superbus had a portion of ground in the Campus Martius at Rome. King 
Latinus' field is mentioned by Virgil: 10 

Insvper id campi, quod rex habet ipse Latinus. 



1 Conf, Stafius Theb. xii. sanias, vii. Epig. Grccc. Antho^ 6 Tiberii, 37. 

phis itfe vehis Interpres ; item log. i-v. 7 Anna], iii. CO, 61, 62, 63. 

Serrrus in /Eneid. viii. 3 Corinthiacis. 8 Iliad. /S' 69o. 

2 Ales, ati Alex. iii. ZD. Pau- 4 ^Eneid. ii. 512. 9 Plalo, vi. de Leg. 

5 Hecuba;, ver. H6. 10 /Eneid. ix. 274. 
S 



206 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



This was also called Ti/ttzvog* which word, according to Hesychius, signi- 
fies whatever is set apart S-sw »} fiacriku' for a god or a king. Thus the 
Lycians assigned riatvcs, a portion of land, for the private use of Belle- 
rophon. 1 The same was promised by the iEtolians to Meleager; 2 and in 
Lycia enjoyed by the two kings Sarpedon and Glaucus, the former of 
whom thus speaks to the latter in Homer: 3 

Kol Ttftevos vtfxdfitjQa fiiya SuvOnlo irao' 8x d<z s> Our numerous herds that range the fruitful field, 
KaXov (pvTo.XtTis K al apovpns irvpopopoio. And hills where vines their purple harvest yield ? 

Why boast we, Glaucus, our extended reign, PetfE. 
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain. 



CHAP. III. 

OF THE GRECIAN PRIESTS, AND THEIR OFFICES. 

It has been the custom of all nations to pay a peculiar honour to their 
priests ; which was partly done out of respect to the gods, whom they re- 
presented ; and partly, as Plutarch in his Morals tells us, because they 
did not pray for a blessing upon themselves, their own families and friends 
only, but on whole communities, on the whole state of mankind. They 
were accounted mediators between gods and men, being obliged to offer 
the sacrifices and prayers of the people to their gods, as will farther appear 
in the following chapter; and on the other side \ofxr,viurou tfotoa. ccsQ(>h)- 
vroi?, deputed by the gods to he their interpreters to men, to instruct them 
how to pray for themselves, what it was most expedient to ask, what sacri- 
fices, what vows, what gifts, would be most acceptable to the gods: and, in 
short, to teach them all the ceremonies used in the divine worship, as 
Plato informs us. 4 On this account the priests were honoured with the 
next places to their kings and chief magistrates, and in many places wore 
the same habit. In most of the Grecian cities, and particularly at Athens, 
as we are informed by Plato, 5 and several others, the care of divine wor- 
ship was committed to the chief magistrates ; and these were often conse- 
crated to the priesthood. 6 Thus Anius, in Virgil, was king of Delos, and 



1 Iliad. e '. 194. 

2 Iliad. 374. 

3 II ad. 315. 

4 I'olit. p. 550, ed. Franc. Conf. 
Id; Conviv. p. 1194. 

5 Loc. cit 

6 Among the Greeks there 
never was a distinct caste of 
priests, nor even a separate 
order of priesthood. Daring the 
heroic age, we learn from Ho- 
rner, that there were priests, who 
seem to have devoted them- 
selves exclusively to that voca- 
tion. We readily call to mind 
Calchas, Chryses, and other*. 



But even in th^t age such priests 
appear but seldom; and it does 
not appear that their influence 
over the t est of the people was 
considerable. The sacred rites 
in honour of the gods were not 
performed by them alone : they 
were not even required at the 
public solemnities. The gener- 
als and commanders themselves 
cft'er thoir sacrifices, perform the 
prayers, and observe the signs 
which indicated the result of an 
underti kins. In a word, kings 
and grnerals were at the same 
time priests. 



Traces of these very ancient 
regulations were preserved for u, 
longtime among the Greeks. The 
second archon at Athens, who 
presided at the public ceremonies 
of worship, was called the kin^,, 
because he had to prepare t/.e 
sacred rites, which were formerly 
regulated by the kings. He had 
his assistants; and it was neces- 
sary for his wife to be of irre- 
proachable character, as she also 
had secret religious services to 
perform. He was, however, 1 ke 
the other archons, annually ap- 
pointed, and the election was by 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



207 



priest of Apollo: 1 

Rex Antics, rex idem hominum, Pncebique sacerdos. 

In Egypt the kings were all priests ; 2 and if any one who was not of the 
royal family usurped the kingdom, he was obliged to be consecrated to the 
priesthood before he was permitted to govern. In some places of Greece 
avrtppo-zrov v\v to tt,$ koeoffuvy]; aQioopu, tfgos to t?i? jGac;Xs/as' the dignity of 
priests was equal to that of kings, as we are assured by Plutarch. 3 At 
Sparta, the kings immediately after their promotion, took upon them the 
two priesthoods of the heavenly and the LacedaBmonian Jupiter, 4 which 
was rather esteemed an accession to their honour, than any diminution of 
it. All the public sacrifices for the safety of the commonwealth were 
offered by them only ; it being the common opinion, that the gods were 
more ready to hear the prayers of them than other men. Neither was this 
a privilege peculiar to royal priests, but common to all others, even in the 
most ancient times ; they being all accounted the immediate ministers of 
the gods, and by them commissioned to dispense their favours to mankind. 
Hence, though at other times it was not unlawful for other men to offer 
sacrifices, yet when any public calamity was to be averted, or any great 
and uncommon blessing to be obtained, they had recourse to some of those 
who were consecrated to the office of priesthood. Thus the pestilence 
could not be removed from the Grecian army by any prayers or sacrifices, 
till they did 



carry a sacred hecatomb to Chryses, the priest of Apollo. At other times, 
and in the absence of priests, it was customary for others to offer prayers 
and sacrifices. This Eumseus is said to have done in Homer's Odysseis, 



lot. The priests and priestesses 
of the several divinities were for 
the most part chosen by vote. 
But the priestesses could be mar- 
ried, and the priests seem by no 
means to have been excluded by 
their station from participating 
inihe offices and occupations of 
citizens. There were some sa- 
cerdotal offices which were here- 
ditary in cerlain families. But 
the number of them seems to have 
boon but inconsiderable. In 
A thens the Eumolpidae possessed 
the privilege, that thehierophant, 
tor first director of the Eleusmian 
rites, as well as the other three, 
should be taken from their family. 
But the place of hierophant could 
not be obtained except by a per- 
son of advanced years; and those 
other offices were probably rot 
occupied during life, but frequent- 
ly assigned anew. How far the 
sjme was true in other cases is 
hut seldom related. At Delphi, 
the first of the Greek oracles, the 
Pythian priestess was chosen 
f oin among the women of the 
city, and was cut off tVom all in- 
tercourse with men. It is hardly 
probable from the violent, exer- 
tions connected with the delivery 



of oracles, that the same person 
could long fill the place. Here, 
as elsewhere, people were ap- 
pointed for the service without 
the temple, some of whom, like 
the Ion of Euripides, belonged to 
the god or the temple, and were 
even educated within its limits. 
But the service within the tem- 
ple was performed by the most 
considerab'e citizens of Delphi, 
who were chosen by lot. The 
sanctuary of Dodona, where the 
responses of ihe oracle were 
made, as at Delphi and in otrur 
temples, by priestesses, seems to 
have belonged to the family of 
the Selli, of which Homer makes 
mention. 16,235 ; but we have no 
particular accounts respecting 
that family. 

The regulations respecting 
priests, proposed by Plato in his 
laws, show most clearly, that the 
ideas of the Greeks required thit 
the offices of priests should not 
long be filled by the same per- 
sons. *' Let ths election of the 
priests," says he, " be com- 
mitted to the god, by referring 
the appointment to lot ; those on 
whom the lot falis must submit 
to an examination. But each 



priesthood shall be filled for one 
year, and no longer, by the sama 

Eerson ; he who fills it may not 
e less than sixty years old. The 
same rules shall apply to the 
priestesses." 

\Ve infer from all this, that 
though the regulations respecting 
the rriesthood were not the same 
in all parts of Greece, that office 
was commonly filled for a limited 
time only; was regarded as a 
place of honour to which, as to 
the other mysteries, appointments 
Mere made by lot after an exa- 
mination; and was subjected to 
the same rotation with the rest. 
They to whom it was entrusted 
were taken from the class of 
active citizens, to wh'ch they 
again returned; and even whilst 
they were priests, they were by 
no means withdrawn from the 
regular business of civil life. 

1 .■Eneid. iii. 80. 

2 Plato, loc. cit. 

3 Ouajst. Roman, sub finem. 

4 Alex, ab AlfxanoVo G^n. 
Dier. iii. 7. Nic. Civ.gius de 
Hep. Triced, ii. 2. 

5 Iliad, a', 99. 



208 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and the same is frequently done in other places by the heroes, princes, or 
masters of the family; it being customary for the most honourable person 
in the company to perform the religious rites. The same method was 
observed by the patriarchs in the Holy Scriptures, where we find oblations 
made by Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, Jacob, and others, till the 
time of Aaron's consecration to the priesthood, after which it was reputed 
an act of sacrilege for private persons to intermeddle with any of the sacred 
rites. 

Some of the priests obtained their office and dignity by inheritance. 
Tins was the constant method in Egypt, 1 amongst the Jews, the sacred 
families at Athens, and in many other places. Some were appointed by 
lots, others by the designation of the princes, and others by popular elec- 
tions. That this last method was very ancient, appears from Homer,2 
where he speaks of Theano's being appointed priestess of Minerva by the 
Trojans : 

Try idtzctv 'Adv/Vcti^g Ug&av. 

II r the Trojans appointed to be priestess of Minerva. Where Eustathius 
observes, that she was ovr'i jckn^wrh, evrs ix. yivou;, ovn \vo; •^/r i (pu, a,\)J yv, 
us vreikuiot <pao-i, to tr/jflo; glXiro' neither appointed by lots, nor by right of 
inheritance, nor by the designation of a single per 'son, but, as the ancients 
say, elected by the people. By which words he describes the several ways 
of appointing priests, which were used by the ancient Greeks. 

It was required, that whoever was admitted to this office, should be 
sound and perfect in all his members, it being thought a dishonour to the 
gods to be served by any one who was lame, maimed, or any other way 
imperfect ; and therefore at Athens, before their consecration, it was exa 
mined whether they were a.(piXi~$, that is, perfect and entire, neither hav- 
ing any defect nor any thing superfluous. 3 In the same manner, it is 
commanded by one of the Jewish laws, which in many things agree with 
those of Athens, that no man of the seed of Aaron that had a blemish, 
shall come nigh unto the altar? 

Nor ought they to be perfect in body only, but upright in mind; nothing 
ought to approach the gods but what is pure and uncorrupt ; therefore the 
priests lived temperately and chastely, abstaining even from those plea- 
sures which were allowable to other men ; insomuch, that Euripides tells 
us, that in Crete the prophets of Jupiter did not only deny themselves the 
use of flesh meat, but forbore to eat any thing that was boiled. Some were 
so rigid observers of the rules of chastity, that like the priests of the 
Mother of the gods at Samos, they dismembered themselves. The hiero- 
phantce at Athens, after their admission, enfeebled themselves by a draught 
of the juice of hemlock: in short, it was very customary for those that 
attended on the more sacred and mysterious rites, by using certain herbs 
and medicaments, to unman themselves that they might worship the 



1 Herod. Euterpe. 

2 ii. e\ aoo. 



3 Hesych. Etymo!. Aucicr, v. 4 Levit. xxi. 21, 23. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



209 



gods with, greater chastity and purity. They also generally retired from 
the world, to the end, that being free from business and cares, they might 
have the more leisure to attend on the service of the gods, and wholly 
devote themselves to piety, and the exercise of religion. One of the herbs 
commonly made use of by them was the agnus castus, in Greek Xvyos, or 
Hyvos, so called from being ayovos, an enemy to generation; this they were 
wont to strew under the bedclothes, believing that it had a certain natural 
virtue, whereby it was able to preserve their chastity, as Eustathius, 1 be- 
sides many others, hath observed. But though most of them were obliged 
to strict chastity and temperance, and some to practise these severities 
upon themselves, yet others were allowed to marry ; and Eustathius 2 tells 
us that it was but an institution of later ages, that the priestesses should 
be virgins; to confirm which, Homer gives us an instance in Theano, who 
was priestess of Minerva, and wife of Antenor the Trojan • 

■ e»avo KdXXiTi-appof At length subdued, Themo, as they came, 

Kt<r<r77tf, iAo^-or 'AiTrjfopof l-mroSauoio' From Cisseus sprung, Antenor's lovely spouse, 
Tijf* y.ip Tpw«y Ifftjvai' 'A^m'^ And priestess by the general voice, threw wide 
The sacred heights ' The temple doors. CoWPER. 

In Homer's first Iliad mention is made of Chryseis, the daughter of Chry- 
ses, Apollo's priest ; and in the fifth Iliad, Dares, the priest of Vulcan, is said 
to have two sons. Nevertheless, second marriages were not reputed cre- 
ditable. Hence Dido in Virgil, speaking of being married to iEneas 
after the death of a former husband, calls it culpa, 'a fault: 1 ' 

Huic vni forsan potui succumbere culpce. 

Vv r here Servius has made this remark, quod antiqui, a sacerdotio repelle- 
ba.nt bis nuptas: ' that the ancients used to exclude from the priesthood 
those who had been twice married.' By which words it is implied, that in 
the latter ages such persons were admitted to this office. In some places, 
to have several husbands, or several lovers, was a necessary qualification 
for the priestess. Alia sacra coronat univira, alia multivira, et magna 
religione conquiritur, qua plura possit adulteria nunnerare, saith Minu- 
tius Felix. 5 This we find reported concerning the priestesses in Lydia 
by Herodotus, 6 and those in Armenia by Strabo. 7 

At Athens all the priests and priestesses, with the sacred families, and 
all others who were entrusted with the care of religion, were obliged to 
give account before certain officers how they had discharged their several 
functions. 8 

In small cities, all the sacred offices were commonly executed by one 
person, who both offered sacrifices, had the care of the temple, collected 
the revenues belonging to it, and had the management of other things, 
which any way related to the worship of the gods. But where the wor- 
shippers were numerous, and by consequence the religious services too 
burdensome for one priest, several priests were appointed, and other officers 



1 Tl. C, p. 768, edit. Basil. 

2 Ibid. p. 503. 

3 Jl. ffiSH. 



4 /Eneid. iv. 19. 

5 Octavii. p. 236, edit. Bat. 

6 Lib. i. ' 

s 3 



7 Lib. xii. 

8 /Ksohin. in Ctesiph. p. 13, 
edit. Oxon. 



210 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



HSftojciefAivet Tins howcrvvri;, distinct from the priesthood, as h^ortoio), vtzcgv- 
Xaxii, rupc'iczi tuv hgvv %g'/if*a,T6Jv' Sacrificers^ keepers of the temple, 
treasurers of the sacred revenue. , l and others. 

Of the different orders of priests, nothing exact can be delivered ; for 
not only every god had a different order of priests consecrated to him, but 
even the priests of the same gods were very different, according to the 
diversity of place, and other circumstances. I shall not therefore trouble 
the reader with an account of the particular priests belonging to every 
deity in the many cities of Greece, which would be both unpleasant and 
not very useful, but only briefly mention the general orders, and offices of 
them. First, in every place they seem to have had an 1 A^npcuff^g, or 
high-priest, whose office it was to superintend over the rest, and execute 
the more sacred rites and mysteries of religion. Amongst the Opuntians, 2 
there were two chief-priests, one of which belonged to the chief and celes- 
tial gods, the other to the Axtfiovts, or demigods. At Athens they had a 
great many, every god almost having a chief-priest that presided over the 
rest; as the Dadouchus over the priests of Hercules, and the Stephano- 
phorus over those of Pallas. The Delphians had five chief-priests, who 
helped to perform the holy rites with the prophets, and had the chief man- 
agement of all parts of divine worship ; these were called i. e. holy, 
and the chief of them that presided at sacrifices, offiwrhe, i. e. the purifier, 
one that makes holy ; and another that had the care of the oracle, called 
atpwragj which is a surname of Apollo, given him by Homer, and signifies 
one that gives oracles. 

Another holy order was that of the parasiti, 8 which word, says Clearchus 
the Solensian, one of Aristotle's scholars, in its first acceptation signified 
tov iroipov, a man quick and expeditious, but was afterwards taken for a 
table-companion: though Polemon is of opinion that this was its ancient 
signification, and that they were so called, because they were allowed part 
of the sacrifices together with the priest, as is evident from an inscription 
on a pillar in the Anaceum: 

TOIN AE BOOIN TOIN RTEMONOIN 
TOIN EHAIPOTMENOIN TO MEN TPITON MEP02 
EI2 TON AFHNA TA AE ATO MEPH TO MEN ETEPON 
TP- IEPEI TO AE TOI2 IIAPA2ITOI2. 
That of the oxen, one part should he reserved for the games ; and of the 
other two, one should be given to the 2^riests, another to the parasiti. It 
was at first an office of great honour; for by the ancient law, the parasiti 
were reckoned among the chief magistrates. Their office was to gather 
of the husbandmen the corn allotted for public sacrifices, which they call 
voso-ohtt. fjt.syu.Xoi, the great income, and is by Aristophanes 4 put for the 
great sacrifices, which, as the scholiast tells us, were so called because 
their charges were defrayed by these public revenues. The public store- 



1 Arist. Polit. vi. 8. p. DC 6, 2 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Di. ii. 8. Pollux, vi. 7. Hesychius. 
torn, edit. Paris. 3 Atken. Deipnos. vi. p. Zoo. i Avibus. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



211 



house, where they kept these first-fruits, was called ^agao-triov} Diodorus 
the Sinopensian in Athenseus tells us, that in every village of the Athe- 
nians, they maintained at the public charge certain parasiti in honour of 
Hercules ; but afterwards, to ease the commonwealth of this burden, the 
magistrates obliged some of the wealthier sort to take them to their own 
tables, and entertain them at their own cost ; whence this word seems in 
later ages to have signified a trencher-friend, a flatterer, or one that, for 
the sake of a dinner, conforms himself to every man's humour. Thus in- 
deed Casaubon interprets that passage ; but the meaning of it seems rather 
to be this: that whereas informer times, Hercules had his parasiti, the 
rich men of later ages, in imitation of that hero, chose likewise their 
parasiti, though not ^a^iffrocrot, such as Hercules used to have, but revs 
KoXxHivuv 'hwapivovs, such as ivould flatter them most. 

The xr,0vx,i; also, or public criers, assisted at sacrifices, and seem to 
have had the same office with the popse and victimarii among the Latins ; 
for in Atheiiceus, 2 one Clidemnus tells us, they were instead of ftayuoei 
and (oov force), cooks and butchers; and adds, that a long time the crier's 
office was to kill the offering, prepare things necessary for the sacrifices, 
and to serve instead of a cupbearer at the feast ; he also tells us, that the 
ministering of sacrifices did of old belong to the criers. The same is 
confirmed by Eustathius on this verse of Homer: 3 

K^pv/ees 6 , 'ava S.<rrv SeZv Isptjv eKar6jj.^r)v Along the streets the sacred hecatomb 
*H>of. The criers dragg'd. 

Phavorinus and Coelius Rhodiginus give this reason for their being called 
Atos cLyyiXoi by Homer, because they assisted at the sacrifices of the gods, 
and, as the former adds, ra; horccs ruv $s£v r,yy%Xov, gave public notice 
of the times wherein the festivals were to be celebrated. To this purpose 
I might bring many instances out of the ancient poets, and especially 
Homer. These x.r,gvz<;, indeed, were a land of public servants employed 
on all occasions ; they were, instead of ambassadors, cooks and criers ; and, 
in short, there was scarce any office, except such as were servile and base, 
they were not put to ; but their name was given them a« rod y.ourrovos, 
says Atheneeus, from the best and most proper part of their office, which 
was to xvi^vrruv, to proclaim, which they did as well in time of divine 
service, as in civil affairs; for, at the beginning of the holy rites, they 
commanded silence and attention in these or such like words, Ewpa^siVs, 
ciyv\ <xa.s sa-Tot \su$ m when the religious mysteries were ended, they dis- 
missed the congregation with these words Auwv a^&e-is, of which more 
afterwards. At Athens there was a family named K^i/xjj, from K«gt/£, 
the son of Mercury and Pandrosia, which was accounted sacred; whence 
Suidas 4 calls them yivos Ugov xa) SzoQiXov, a holy family, beloved by the 
gods; such also were the Eumolpidie, who enjoyed a priesthood at Athens 
by inheritance, being either descended from king Eumolpus, or instituted 
in memory of him. The ceiyces, as Anthemio the comedian in Athe- 



1 In "En-tvXfJpy. 



2 E7D. x. et xiv. 



3 Odyss. 276. 



4 Ei-^oAtt^uv 



£12 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



nrcus 1 tells us, were the first that taught men to boii their victuals, as the 
flesh of sheep and oxen, which before they devoured raw. They were had 
in great honour at Athens, insomuch, that Athenseus endeavours to prove 
that the trade of a cook was a creditable calling, from the respect paid to 
these ceryces, who were cooks at sacrifices, and likewise seem to have 
performed those other holy offices, which belonged to the xngoxH in other 
places. Diodorus Siculus 2 resembles them to the Egyptian pastophori, 
and thinks they had their origin from them ; indeed some parts of their 
office were much alike, for both of them killed the victim, and attended 
on the sacrificers. 

Ns«xag«, called by Nicander Z.xx.ooct,' 6 so named from xoesTv, which 
signifies to keep neat, and clean, or to adorn: for it was their duty to 
adorn the temples, and look after the furniture of them ; but they sub- 
mitted not to such mean offices as the sweeping of them, as Suidas 4 would 
have it; but herein he contradicts Euripides, 5 who brings in Ion, the 
HastogoS, or edituus of Apollo, telling Mercury that he swept the temple 
with a besom of laurel. There were also voto$vka,x.i$, whose charge it was 
to take care of the holy utensils, and see that nothing was wanting, and 
to repair what went to decay, says Aristotle. 6 Sometimes the parasiti 
are said to have been entrusted with the reparation of temples ; and there 
was a law enacted at Athens, that whatever they expended this way should 
be repaid them. 

There were also other priests, one of which Aristophanes 7 calls trgor^- 
Xo$, which is a general name for any servant, and therefore to restrain it, 
he adds Szov, calling him vgcvoXo; 3-zou. These were priests always 
waiting on the gods, whose prayers the people desired at sacrifices, at 
which they seem to have performed some other rites distinct from those 
which belonged to the ceryces : their share in the sacrifices was the skin 
and feet ; the tongues were the fees of the ceryces. Indeed all that served 
the gods were maintained by the sacrifices and other holy offerings. To 
which there is an allusion in Aristophanes, 8 where Cario thus speaks to 
the priest: 

OvZOVV TC4 VOUtioiAiVCt (TV 76V7C0V X<X,U)2a.vUi ; 

Why do not you take the part allotted you by law ? Where the scholiast 
observes, there was a law to. IftoXiweopiva. rov hgiet Xa/xfiuvuv, 

that the remains of sacrifices should belong to the priests, and that these 
were St^ara koc) xaXoc, the skins and feet ; which he has repeated in 
another place. 9 Thus likewise Apollo in Homer 10 promises the Cretans, 
whom he had chosen to be his priests, that they should have a maintenance 
out of the sacrifices. "By this and other advantages, the priests, in the 
primitive times, seem generally to have grown rich: Chryses in Homer 11 
offers for the redemption of his daughter ktfwiiffi u&atvctj an infinite price; 

J Lib. xiv. 5 In Jone, ver. 12i. 9 In Vespas. 

2 Lb. i. (• In Politic. JO Hymno A poll; n is, ver 53a. 

• i Alexipl.arm. 5 P.uto, ect. iii. seen. 2. 11 I lii.d. a', lo. 

<} in voce KcoMopofi 8 Fiuto, act. v. seen. )i. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE, 



213 



and Dares, the priest of Vulcan, is by the same poet 1 said to have been a 
wealthy man: 

T Hv Si t*s et> TpiWo-t Aapvi, i^tetij, ipvpuvy There was in Troy one Dares, bless'd with wealth, 
'Isflfwj 'Utpatarcio. The priest of Vulcan. 

These are the most general orders of priests; others were appropriated 
to certain gods, and sometimes certain feasts, of which I shall have occa- 
sion to speak hereafter, as likewise of those who attended the oracles, and 
those who were any way concerned in the art of divination. 



CHAP. IV. 

OF THE GRECIAN SACRIFICES, SACRED PRESENTS, AND TITHES. 

Didymus, in his Annotations upon Pindar,a reports, that one Melisseus, 
a king of Crete, was the first that offered sacrifice to the gods, and invented 
religious rites and ceremonies, and that Amalthea and Melissa, who 
nursed Jupiter, and fed him with goat's milk and honey, were his daugh- 
ters. Others relate, that Phoroneus, some, that Merops, was the first who 
erected altars and temples, and offered sacrifices. 3 And others will have 
the use of iXc&gai Quo- j at, propitiatory sacrifices; to have been first begun 
by Chiron the centaur. 4 But passing by these and the like fabulous nar- 
rations, I shall endeavour to describe the customs in use amongst the 
ancient Greeks at their solemn sacrifices. In doing which, I shall treat, 
1. Of the occasion and end of them; 2. Of their matter; 3. Of the pre- 
parations required before them, with all the ornaments both of the sacri- 
fices, victims, and altars ; 4. Of the sacred rites used at and after their 
celebration. 

As to the causes and occasions of them, they seem to have been chiefly 
four: For sacrifices were, 

1. lE.ux.Ta~x. or ^a^iffrriPiu, vows^ or free-will offerings ; such were those 
promised to the gods before, and paid after a victory ; as also the first- 
fruits offered by husbandmen after harvest, being grateful acknowledgments 
to the gods, by whose blessing they had received a plentiful reward for 
their labour and toil in tilling the ground. These are by Suidas 5 called 
§v<t'iou 'Sagotpogixsti, because they were free gifts ; and uTo^rX'/to-rixa.), be- 
cause thereby they fulfilled some vow made to the gods; both which being 
effects of gratitude, I have' reduced under one head. It may not be 
improper here to correct the mistake of Saubertus, 6 who takes ibx.Tu.7a. for 
cciT'/iTixa, petitionary sacrifices; whereas, the proper meaning of zu%toc7o> 
is, according to Hesychius, to ku,t tv^/iv cttfoltictopivcv, that which is dis- 
charged hy a vow. 



1 Iliad, p. 

2 Cfeli Rhod > ii. i. 



3 Clemens Al. Fitttrept. p. 28. 5 Tn voce 9v<t.'o.. 

4 Idem, Strom, i. pag. 306. 6 l-ibrc de Sacrificiis- 



214 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



2. 'tkUffriKk, or 2. aXXxxnxoi, propitiatory offerings, to avert the anger 
of some offended deity. Such were all the sacrifices used in expiations. 

3. Alranx» t petitionary sacrifices, for success in any enterprise. So 
religious were the heathens, that they would not undertake any thing of 
moment, without having first asked the advice, and implored the assistance 
of the gods, by sacrifices and presents. 

4. Hot una (Axvruxs, such as were imposed and commanded by an oracle 
or prophet. Some others have been added, which I have purposely omitted, 
as reducible to some of these four. 

I come now, in the second place, to treat of the matter of their obla- 
tions. In the most ancient sacrifices, there were neither living creatures, 
nor any thing costly or magnificent ; no myrrh, or frankincense, or other 
perfumes, were made use of; but instead of them all, 1 herbs and plants, 
plucked up by the roots, were burnt whole, with their leaves and fruit, 
before the god?, and this was thought a very acceptable oblation. The 
like customs prevailed in most other nations, and particularly amongst the 
primitive Italians, of whose sacrifices Ovid has left us the following 
description : 2 

Ante*, deos homini qnod conciliare valn-et, In former times the gods were cheaply pleas'd, 

Far erat, et puri lucida mica salts. A little corn and salt their wrath appeas'd; 

Nondum pertulerat lacrymatas cortlce myrrhas Ere stranger ships had brought from distant shores 

Acta per cequoreas hospita na>i$ aquas. Of spicy trees the aromatic stores ; 

Thura nec Euphrates, nec miserat India costum : From India or Euphrates had not come 

Nec fuerant rubri cognita fila croci. The fragrant incense or the costly gum ; 

Ara dabat fumos herhis cntenta Sabi?iis, The simple savin en the altars smok'd, 

Et no?i exiguo Uurus adusta sono. A laurel sprig the easy gods invoked : 

Siquii erat, factis prati deflure coronis And rich was he, whose votive wreath possess'cl 

Qui posset vidas addere, dives erat. The lovely violet with sweet wild-flowers dress'd. 

Some record that Cecrops introduced the custom of sacrificing oxen; 3 but 
Pausanias, 4 making a comparison between Cecrops and his contemporary 
Lycaon, king of Arcadia, affirms, that whereas the latter of these sacri- 
ficed a child to Jupiter Lycseus, and polluted the holy altar with human 
blood ; the former never sacrificed any thing endued with life, but only 
the cakes used in his own country, and there called srsXavw. Some ages 
after, the Athenians were commanded by one of Triptolemus'" laws to 
abstain from living creatures. 5 And even to Draco's time, the Attic 
oblations consisted of nothing else but the earth's beneficence. This fru- 
gality and simplicity had in other places been laid aside before this, and 
in Athens not long after; for no sooner did they leave their ancient diet 
of herbs and roots, and begin to use living creatures for food, which the 
ancients are said to have thought altogether unlawful ; but they also began 
to change their sacrifices; it being always usual for their own feasts, and 
the feasts of the gods (such they thought the sacrifices), to consist of the 
same materials, 

The solemn sacrifices consisted of these three things, *2vcvV/i, Qvi/iapcc, 
and "li^uGD. This Hesiod 6 seems to imitate in the following verses: 

1 Coo!. Rhod. xii 1. 4 Arcadicis. 6 "v.ny. na.\ 'Ht*ip. ver. 331, 

'2 Faster, iii. 337. b Purphyr. rle Abstinent, ab ptpX. a.'. 

3 E isebius Ciironic. pag. 3G1. Animal. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



215 




Let the rich fumes of od'rous incense fly, 

A grateful savour to the powers on high ; 

The due libation nor neglect to pay, 

"When evening closes, or when dawns the day — 



COOKE. 



Where it may be observed, that though the more solemn sacrifices con- 
sisted of all these three parts, yet it was lawful to use some of them by 
themselves. Whence Eustathius 1 tells us, it was not only usual to oner 
drink-offerings of wine at sacrifices, but also at the beginning of a journey 
by land or sea, before they went to sleep, when they entertained a stran- 
ger, and at any other time. In short, in all the smaller affairs of life, 
they seemed to have desired the protection and favour of the gods, by 
oblations of incense, or drink-offerings ; whereas, the more solemn sacri- 
fices were only used upon set times, and weighty occasions, both because 
of the expense and trouble of them. The case seems to have been this : 
the oblations of the gods, as has been before observed, were furnished after 
the same manner with the entertainments of men. Hence, as men delight 
in different sorts of diet, so the gods were thought to be pleased with 
several sorts of sacrifices: some with human victims, others with beasts 
of various kinds, others with herbs only, and the fruits of the earth. All 
required salt and drink ; whence there was scarce any sacrifice without 
salt, and an oblation of drink. The latter of these was frequently offered 
without victims, though victims were rarely, if ever, sacrificed without 
oblations of drink; it being the custom of men to drink without eating, 
but very seldom to eat a meal without drinking. 

2crsv3s/v, and Xufiuv, amongst the Greeks have the same signification, as 
Hesychius and Phavorinus have observed, and imply no more than to pour 
forth, which is also the proper sense of the Latin word libare, says Isi- 
dorus ; 2 but because of their constant use at the drink-offerings of the gods, 
they came at length to be appropriated to them. The same may be 
observed of their derivatives avrovbh, Xoifiyi, and libatio, which words differ 
not at all from one another. The matter in the ffro\dou was generally 
wine. Of wine there were two sorts; the one heirovfrov, the other <aWsi>- 
hv: the former was so called, because it was lawful, the latter because ifc 
was unlawful to make use of it in these libations ; such they accounted 
all wine mixed with water; whence ax^ocrov, i. e. pure and unmixed w ine , 
is so often made mention of by ancient writers. Though sometimes mixed 
wine is mentioned at sacrifices, yet, if we may believe Eustathius, this 
mixture was not made of wine and water, but of different sorts of wine. 
Pliny 3 also tells us that it was unlawful to make an oblation of wine, 
pressed from grapes cut, pared roimd, or polluted with a fall on the ground ; 
or such as came out of a wine-press trodden with bloody and wounded feet, 
or from a vine unpmned, blasted, or that had had a man hanged upon it. 
He speaks also of a certain grape called aspendia, 4 whose wine it was un- 



1 II. a', p. 102, edit. Bas':L ' 3 N T at. Hist. xiv. 19. 4 Nat. Hist. xiv. 13. 

2 Origin, vi. VJ. 



216 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



lawful to offer upon the altars. But though these libations generally con 
sisted of wine, yet they were sometimes made of other ingredients, and 
called v/jQaXioi 3-vtrioa, kito rod vrapuv, from being sober. Such as thesi 
were offered to the Eumenides ; for which Suidas 1 gives this reason 
namely, that divine justice ought always to be vigilant. He likewise adds, 
that at Athens such oblations were made to the Nymphs, to Venus, Ura- 
nia, Mnemosyne, the Morning, the Mood, and the Sun ; and there seems 
to have been a particular reason, why every one of these were honoured 
with such oblations. For instance, Eustathius 2 tells us, that honey was 
offered to the sun, but wine w r as never used upon any altar dedicated to 
him ; because he, by whom all things are encompassed and held together, 
ought to be temperate. Plutarch 3 says, that these wtpoiXioi Svtr'icu were 
often performed to Bacchus, for no other reason than that men might not 
be always accustomed to strong and unmixed wines. Pausanias affirms, 
that the Eleans never offered wine to the Ater^otvat, i. e. Ceres and Pro- 
serpina, nor at the altar dedicated to all the gods. To Pluto, instead of 
wine, oil was offered, as Virgil 4 witnesses ; and Homer 5 brings in Ulys- 
ses telling Alcinous, that he had made an oblation to the infernal gods, in 
which he poured forth, first, wine mixed with honey, then, pure wine, and 
after all, w r ater. His words are these: 



t- 

: 



* S" Hop oZli lgvaaa.iJ.svoi wapa fxijoov, I scooped a hollow trench, in measured length 



Bldgnv 5pv?a Zaovrs irvyovatov WvOd. nal ivQa.- And breadth a cubit, and libation poured 
'A/i0' avxu> Si ^oay x tn W twi tsvvmraiv, A round for all the nations of the dead, 
TIoZt* /Lt«>i/f07/r<w, fitrUtir* fik f]8i'i oI'vai, First, milk with honey mix'd, then luscious wine, 
To rglrov aid' 2rl <5' 5.\<pt.Ta. irdXvpov. Then water ; sprinkling, last, meal over all. 
With my faulchion drawn CowPER. 

But concerning the oblations of the infernal gods, I shall discourse in 
another place. 

There were also other gods, to whom, in certain places, they sacrificed 
without wine ; such was Jupiter Scares, the Supreme, upon whose altar 
the Athenians never offered wine or living creatures. The vr,<paXiot h^u, 
sober sacrifices, are divided into four sorts: 1. rot vbgorxovha, libations of 
water ; 2. rot [AiX'urvrovhot, libations of honey ; 3. rot yotXa.xroa<7ro\hot, liba- 
tions of milk ; 4. rot IkotiotrvrovSet, libations of oil. Which liquors were 
sometimes mixed with one another. If Porphyry ° may be credited, most 
of the libations in the primitive times were vyi<pa.Xioi. Of these, water was 
first used, then honey, which is easily to be had, afterwards oil, and in 
later ages, wine came to be offered. It is very probable, whether this 
order was observed or not, that the most primitive oblations, like the way 
of living in those ages, were exceedingly simple, and consisted of such 
materials as w r ere most easily to be provided. 

Lastly, it must be farther observed, that libations were always offered 
in cups full to the brim, it being a sort of irreverence to the gods to pre- 
sent any thing which wa,s not rzXnov kcc) oXov, whole and perfect. Thus 
to fill the cup was termed IvifriQuv xourHoa, to crown it ; and the cup so 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



217 



filled, imtgrtfpw o'/voto, croiuned with wine ; riroi vcrlo %uXhs toturai ucrrs, 
dice rod vrorov i<rrz<pa.vov<r0cci, the liquor appearing above the cup in the form 
of a crown, according to Athenseus. 1 The poets often express this custom. 
Hence the following verse of Homer: 

And in that allusion of another poet cited by Athenseus, 

And vina coronare, ' to crown the wine,' is an expression used by Virgil. 

The second thing to be considered in the sacrifices, is the suffitus, in 
Greek called $60?, which word doth not originally signify the victim, but 
to, ^paio-rcc, i. e. broken fruits, leaves, or acorns, the only sacrifices of the 
ancients; whence, in Suidas, rx S-vqarjb expounded Svfuupxrx, or incense. 
In like manner, the verb 3-vuv is never used by Homer to signify the offer- 
ing of the victim (for in this sense he has made use of pi&v and ^«v), but 
only of these ^pxitrrx, says Athenseus, 2 which signification was afterwards 
changed, and almost appropriated to animals. 3 If Adrovandus 4 may be 
credited, there were no sacrifices in the primitive times, in quibus arbores 
earumque partes, partem haud exiguam sibi non vendicabant ; ' whereof 
trees or some parts of them were not made a considerable part of the obla- 
tion.' These were chiefly odoriferous trees, some parts whereof voXXo) xxt 
vv» %rt S-6ov<n, many do even in this age offer, says Porphyry. 5 But the 
most primitive offerings were only x^ 00t h 9 re ^ n herbs, as we are informed 
by the same author. In later ages, they commonly made use of frankin- 
cense, or some perfume. But it was a long time before frankincense 
came to be in use. In the times of the Trojan war it was unknown ; 
but instead thereof they offered cedar and citron, says Pliny f and the 
Grecian fables tell us, that frankincense was first used after the change of 
a devout youth, called Libanus, into that tree, which has taken its name 
from him. It may be farther observed, that some sorts of trees were 
offered with libations of wine, others only with vsQxXix U^x, which are 
thence called vi^xXtx \vXa. These, according to Suidas' account, were 
to. fAitT x^cXtvx, (Ann ffuxtvct, p-TS ftvgtTivct, all besides the vine, fig, and 
myrrh, which being offered with wine only, were termed otvoa-^ov^x. To 
this also may be referred the o-jXo^vtxi, olXx), or molce salscz, which were 
cakes of salt and barley, as ks^ssv rots (hu^ols ^r^o <rr,$ U^ou^y'ixs, which 
they poured down upon the altar before the victim was sacrificed. At first 
the barley was offered whole and unbroken, till the invention of mills and 
grinding, whence they were called ouXx), q. oXxi, says Eustathius. 7 To 
offer these was termed ouXoforzTv, and of this custom there is frequent 
mention in Homer. Of this kind also were the <z-o<zrxvx, being round, 
broad, and thin cakes ; and another sort called vzXxvoi, of which there were 
several kinds, and those three reckoned by Phavorinus, which he calls 



1 Lib. i. 11. Item, xv. 5. 

2 Deipnosoph. xiv. 

3 Purph. ii. de Abstinent. 



4 Dendrolog. i. 

5 Libro citato. 

6 Nat. Hist. xiii. I. 



7 In IU a', p. 91), edit. Basil. 



218 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



S'tffiot, ivatrruroi, and if&<pi<pmns. Another sort of cakes was called criXn- 
voti, from the figure being broad and horned, in imitation of the new moon. 
There was another sort of cakes with horns, called also from their figure 
/Bas,-, and usually offered to Apollo, Diana, Hecate, and the Moon. In 
sacrifices to the Moon, they used, after six of the ffiXmxt, to offer one of 
these, which, for that reason, was termed (Zous sjS^*s. The same was 
sometimes offered after a sacrifice of six animals, says Suidas ; and hence 
$ou; i(&of*o$ 9 as being a lump without life, is proverbially used for a stupid 
and senseless person. There were also other offerings of this sort, peculiar 
to certain gods, as the obeliophori to Bacchus, the piXirrovrou to Tropho- 
nius, with others, which, for brevity's sake, I omit. It may here be 
observed, that no oblation was thought acceptable to the gods Avithout a 
mixture of salt. Nulla (sacra) conjiciuntur sine mola salsa, ' no sacrifice 
is made without meal mixed with salt,' says Pliny. 1 There is continual 
mention hereof in the poets. Thus in Virgil: 2 

Mihi sacra parari 

Et fiuges salsae 

And in Ovid, describing the primitive oblations: 3 

Ante, deos homini quod conciliare vaieret, In early times the gods were cheaply pleased; 

Fur erat, et puri lucida mica salis. A little meal with salt their wratk appeased. C. S. 

This custom was certainly very ancient and universal. To forbear the 
mention of other testimonies, we find this precept given to Moses: 4 
' Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt: neither 
shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy 
meat-offering; with all thy offerings thou shalt offer salt.' The origin of 
this custom is by some affirmed to be, that salt was a token of friendship 
and hospitality. It being also constantly used in all the victuals of men, 
was thought necessary to the entertainments and sacrifices of the gods, as 
was before observed. For the same reason there was scarce any sacrifice 
without bread-corn, or bread. Particularly barley was offered more than 
any other grain, that being the first sort of corn which the Greeks used 
after their primitive diet of acorns; whence xgdn is by some derived from 
xoivitv, to discern, men being first by that sort of food distinguished from 
other animals, with whom they had before lived upon acorns. 5 On the 
same account the Athenians offered only such barley as grew in the field 
Rharium, in memory of its having first been sown there. 6 Instead of the 
Greek xotfa, the Romans used another sort called £ux, which was the sort 
of corn first used by them. This practice remained in the time of Diony- 
sius the Halicarnassean. 7 

The third and chief part of the sacrifice, was Uguov, the victim y con- 
cerning which it may be observed, in the first place, that it was required 
to be whole, perfect, and sound in all its members, without spot or blem- 
ish; otherwise it was unacceptable to the gods, who must be served with 



1 Nat. Hist. xxxi. 7. 

2 iEnoid. ii. 131. 

3 t'astor. di. 3J7. 



4 Lovit. ii. 11, Convivii Materia agtoir. 

5 Eustathius loco citato. Conf. Paus. Att. p. 71, edit Han. 
ArchajoiogiEe hujus vi. ubi de 7 Lib. ii. p. 95, edit. Lips. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



219 



the very best of all the flocks and herds ; to which end Solon, in his laws, 
commanded the Athenians to offer 'ixxgircc U^lcc, chosen and select sacri- 
fices y and it was an ancient custom to cull out of the flocks the goodliest 
of all the cattle, and put certain marks upon them, whereby they might be 
distinguished from the rest. Virgil 1 tells us their herds were divided into 
three parts, one of winch they designed for propagation, another for sacri- 
fice, and the third for labour; his words are these: 

Post parium euro, in vitulos traducitur omnis, To note the tribe, the lineage, and the sire: 

Continuoqm tiotas, et nomina %eiitis inurunt ; Whom to reserve for husband of the herd, 

Et quus aut pecori malint submittere habendu, Or who shall be to sacriiice preferred ; 

Aut aris servare sacros, aut scindere terrain. Or whom thou shalt to turn thy glebe allow ; 

Distinguish all betimes, with branding fire, To smooth the furrows, and sustain the plough. 

Drvden. 

The same is affirmed by Apollonius Rhodius in the second book of Iris 
Argonautics.2 

Notwithstanding all this care in the choice of victims, it was thought 
unlawful to offer them, till the priests had, by various experiments, made 
trial of them, of which I shall speak hereafter. The sacrifice, if it was 
approved by the priest, was called nkua, Suata, whence comes the frequent 
mention of rxvgu, atyz?, fioi? riXuot. 3 If not, another was brought to the 
trial, till one every way perfect was found. The Spartans, whose custom 
was to serve the gods with as little expense as possible, did very often 
aya,<z"/!oec &vuv } sacrifice maimed and defective animals;* out of an opinion, 
that so long as their minds were pure and well-pleasing to the gods, their 
external worship, in whatever manner performed, could not fail of being 
accepted. 

As to the kinds of animals offered in sacrifice, they differed according 
to the variety of the gods to whom, and the persons by whom, they were 
offered. A shepherd would sacrifice a sheep, a neat-herd an ox, a goat- 
herd a goat, and a fisher, after a plentiful draught, would offer a tunny to 
Neptune ; and so on, according to every man's employment. Sacrifices 
differed also according to the diversity of the gods, for to the infernal and 
evil gods they offered black victims ; to the good, white ; to the barren, 
barren ones ; to the fruitful, pregnant ones ; lastly, to the masculine gods, 
males ; to the feminine, females were commonly thought acceptable. 
Almost eveiy god had some of the animals consecrated to him, and out of 
these, sacrifices were often chosen; for instance, to Hecate, they sacrificed 
a dog, to Venus a dove or pigeon. Choice was also made of animals, 
according to the dispositions of the gods to whom they were to be offered. 
Mars was thought to be pleased with such creatures as were furious and 
warlike, as the bull. The sow was sacrificed to Ceres, as being apt to root 
up the seed-corn, and on that account an enemy to her. Many authors 
affirm, that this animal was for thai reason first killed, when before it was 
held unlawful to put living creatures to death ; and that it was the first of 



1 Qeor?. iii. 157. 

2 Ver. 355. 



3 Conf. Homer! II. a', ibique vetus Scholiast. 

4 Plato Alcib. ii. p. 458, edit. Francofurt. 

T 2 



220 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



all others eaten by men, and sacrificed to the gods. Hence its Greek 
name trvs, termed in Latin also sus, is thought to have been so called by 
changing 9- into <r, from S-uuv, to kill or sacrifice} The same animal is 
also allowed by Porphyiy 2 to have been offered in sacrifice before any 
other, though upon a different account ; for he derives it from a command 
of Apollo, who, to excuse Clymene's killing a sow, ordered, that in times 
to come that animal should be offered in sacrifice. Next to the sow, the 
goat came, to be sacrificed, which happened by reason of its browsing upon 
the vines, and thence becoming an enemy to Bacchus. Thus we find in 
Ovid: 3 



-Et prima putatur The entrusted seed, was judged to spoil the crop, 



Hostia sus meruisse. necem, quia semina pando And intercept the sweating farmer's hope. 

Eruerat rostro, spemque interceperat anni. The goat came next in order to be tried : 

Vite caper morsa Bacchi maetatus ad aras Her hunger was no plea - , for that she died. 

Ducitur ultoris : nocuit sua culpa duobus. The goat had cropt the tendrils of the vine, 

The sow, with her broad snout, for rooting up And this had lost his profit, that his wine. GARTH. 

The animals most commonly sacrificed were, besides the two foremen- 
tioned, the bull, ox, cow, sheep, lamb, &c, and amongst the birds, the 
cock, hen, &c. Some were more acceptable at one age than another. 
For example, a heifer a year old, which had never been put to the yoke, 
was most grateful to the gods. Such a one is promised to Minerva by 
Diomedes in Homer: 4 

Sol <T aZ Zyai pe£a> (3ovv rjvtv elpffieranrov, A youthful steer shall fall beneath the stroke, 

'ASfj.T)Tnvt oSttco iwb '(vyov rjyayev avnp. Untamed, unconscious of the galling yoke. — POPE. 

Another is elsewhere promised by Nestor. 5 The same may also be 
observed in other poets. And the Jews were commanded to sacrifice a 
heifer, without spot, wherein was no blemish, and upon which never came 
yoke ; 6 such as had been employed in the service of men being unworthy 
to be made victims to God. 

The Boeotians were wont to sacrifice certain eels of an unusual bigness, 
taken in Copais, a lake of that country, and about these they performed all 
the ceremonies usual at other sacrifices. 7 It will be difficult to guess the 
reason of this custom, for we are told, 8 that when a stranger once happened 
to be present at these sacrifices, and inquired what might be the cause of 
them, the Boeotians made him no other answer, than that they were 
obliged to observe the customs of their ancestors, but thought themselves 
not bound to give foreigners any reason for them. Almost the only ani- 
mal which it was unlawful to sacrifice, was the ploughing and labour- 
ing ox ; and from him the Athenians abstained, because he assisted them 
in tilling the ground, and was, as it were, man's fellow-labourer. 9 Nor 
did the Athenians only, but almost all other nations, think it a very great 
crime to kill this creature, insomuch that the offender was thought to 
deserve death. 10 iElian 11 in particular witnesses as much of the Phrygi- 

1 Athen. ii. Clemens Alex. 4 Iliad. 292. 9 .Elian. Var. Hist. v. 14. 
Stromal, ii. p. 401. Varro de Re 5 Odyss. y', 282. 10 Varro de Re Rust. ii. 
Rust. ii. 4. 6 Numer. xix. 2. 11 De Animal, xii. 14. 

2 Lib. ii. de Abstinent. 7 Athena;. Deipn. vii. 

3 Metam. xv. 8 Athens, loco citato. 



OF THE RELICxION OF GREECE. 



221 



ans ; and Pliny 1 in his Natural History mentions a person banished Rome 
on that account. But in later times 2 they were used at feasts, and then 
it was no wonder if they were also sacrificed to the gods ; and that they 
were so, Lucian 3 assures us. Nay, to eat and sacrifice oxen, came at 
length to be so common, that fco-Juruv was used as a general term instead 
of Svuv, mactare. Thus in Aristophanes: 4 

"Tv, xct) Tgayov, tcou tc*iov iiTTiipos,vco i uivos, 5 

The person who first adventured to kill a labouring ox was Cecrops, 
according to Eusebius. Aratus charges it upon the men of the brazen 
age-. 6 

T^MTOi yi pouiv l-zoujavr' agGrv.giAiv, 

But Theon, in his commentary upon that passage, affirms that the killing 
of labouring oxen was held unlawful in the time of the Trojan war, and 
that the companions of Ulysses, who are reported by Homer to have suf- 
fered very much for their impiety in killing the sacred oxen of the sun, 
were only guilty of killing the ploughing and labouring oxen, by whose 
assistance we are nourished arid see the sun. He farther adds, that the 
Athenians were the first who fed upon the flesh of such oxen. 

Neither was it lawful to sacrifice oxen only, but also men. Examples 
of this sort of inhumanity were very common in most of the barbarous 
nations. Concerning those who bordered upon the Jews, as also concern- 
ing the Jews themselves, when they began to imitate their neighbours, 
we find several testimonies in the sacred Scriptures. Caesar witnesses 
the same of the Gauls ; Lucan, in particular, of that part of Gallia where 
Massilia stands; Tacitus, of the Germans and Britons; and the first 
Christian writers in many places charge it upon the heathens in general. 
It was not, however, so common in Greece, and other civilized nations, 
as in those which were barbarous. Among the primitive Grecians, it was 
accounted an act of so uncommon cruelty and impiety, that Lycaon, king 
of Arcadia, was feigned by the poets to have been turned into a wolf, be- 
cause he offered a human sacrifice to Jupiter. 7 In later ages the practice 
was undoubtedly more common: Aristomanes the Messenian sacrificed 
three hundred men, among whom was Theopompus, one of the kings of 
Sparta, to Jupiter of Ithome. Themistocles, to procure the assistance of 
the gods against the Persians, sacrificed some captives of that nation. s 
Bacchus had an altar in Arcadia, upon which young damsels were beaten 
to death with bund-Ies of roils : something similar was practised by the 
Lacedaemonians, who scourged their children, sometimes to death, in 
honour of Diana Orthia. To the manes, and infernal gods, such sacri- 
fices were very often offered; hence we read of Polyxena's being sacrificed 
to Achilles: and Homer relates how that hero butchered twelve Trojan 



1 Lib. viiL 45. 
Pint de Esu Animal, ii. 

3 Ui;iipi. de Sacrilio. 

4 Piuto. act iv. seen. 1. 



5 At present my master is 
■within sacrificing a sow, a goat, 
and a rum, with a wreath oji bis 
head. 



6 Pag. 19, edit. Oxon. 

7 Pausan. Arcad. p. 457, edit. 
Hanor. 

8 Plat, iu Themist. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



captives at the funeral of Patroclus. iEneas, whom Virgil 1 celebrates 
for his piety, is an example of the same practice. 2 

Sacrifices were to be suitable to the condition and quality of the person 
by whom they were offered. As it was thought a contempt of the gods 
for a rich man to bring a poor sordid offering ; so, on the other hand, from 
a poor man the smallest oblations were acceptable. If his circumstances 
did not enable him to offer a living ox, it was lawful for him to sacrifice, 
in its stead, one made of bread-corn. 3 And on other accounts, when they 
were not able to provide the "accustomed sacrifices, they were at liberty to 
offer what the place or time would afford. Hence the Cyzicenians, being 
closely besieged, and unable to procure a black ox, which they were 
obliged to offer upon a certain anniversary festival, made one of corn, and 
so performed the usual ceremonies. The companions of Ulysses in 
Homer, for want of barley, made use of oak leaves ; and instead of wine, 
offered a libation of water. But from those that were able to procure them, 
more costly offerings were required. Men of wealth, especially when 
they had received, or desired any great favour of the gods, offered great 
numbers of animals at once ; whence there is frequent mention of heca- 
tombs, which consisted of an hundred living creatures, and of chiliombs, in 
which a thousand were sacrificed. A hecatomb, says Eustathius, 4 pro- 
perly signifies a sacrifice of an hundred oxen, and such a one was offered 
by Clisthenes in Herodotus ; but is generally taken for such sacrifices as 
consist of an hundred animals of any sort; only the ox being the principal 
and most valuable of all the living creatures used at sacrifices, it has its 
name from containing Ixocrov (sous, an hundred oxen. Others derive it from 
Ixarov fiaffus, %rot -ro^s;, namely, an hundred feet, and then it must have 
consisted only of twenty-five animals. Some think a finite number is put 
for an. indefinite ; and then a hecatomb amounts to no more than a sacri- 
fice consisting of many animals. Others derive the name not from the 
number of the victims, but of the persons present at the sacrifice. Lastly, 
it may be observed, 5 that a hecatomb was sometimes offered after this 
manner: they erected an hundred altars of turf, and then killed an hundred 
sows, or sheep, &c. Another sacrifice, 6 consisted of seven offerings, 
namely, a sheep, sow, goat, ox, hen, goose, and after all an ox of meal, 
whence some derive the proverb, fiovs 'ifihopo;. Another sacrifice, in 
which only three animals were offered, was called t^ittus, or t^ttvoc. 
This consisted 7 of two sheep and an ox ; sometimes of an ox ? goat, and 
sheep ; sometimes of a boar, ram, and bull ; and at other times of a sow, 
he-goat, and cam. Sometimes the sacrifice consisted of twelve animals, 
and then 8 it was called ^oSikus Sutricz, and the rest in like manner. 



1 2Ene»d. x. 517. pag. 99, edit. Oxon. 1636; Cyril 5. Jul. Capitol, in Maximo et 

2 Whoever desires to see more of Alexandria, Adv. Julianum, Balbino. 

instances of human sacrifices, iv. p. 128, edit. Paris; Eusebius, 6 Suid. in voce Bovy. 

may consult Clemens of Alexan- Praep. Evan. iv. 16. and other 7 Eustath. ad Odyss. X', p. 

dria, Protrept. p. 27; Lactantius, Christian apologists. 423, edit. Basil. 

De Falsa Relig. c. 21, et de 3 Suidas in voce BoC f . S Ibid. 

Justitia, v. 10; Alinutius Felix, 4 Iliad, a', p. 36, edit. Basil. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



223 



With regard to the preparatory rites required before, and the ornaments 
used in the time of sacrifice, no man who had not purified himself cer- 
tain days before, during which he was to abstain from all carnal pleasures, 
was admitted to some of the solemn sacrifices. 1 So rigid were they in 
observing this custom at some of their solemnities, that the priests and 
priestesses were forced to take an oath that they were duly purified. The 
following is the form of that imposed upon the priestesses of Bacchus at 
Athens: 2 ' Ayumuco, xa) iifi) xctSc&^cc, xou ayvh uto rcov ccXXeov rcov ov xaQctgiv- 
ovrcov, xcc) art av^o? <rvvov<rix$ m x. <r. X. I am pure, undefiled, and free from 
all sorts of pollution, and particularly that ivhich is contracted by lying with 
a man; and do celebrate the festival of Bacchus at the usual time, and 
according to the received custom of my country. This seems to be meant 
not only of adultery and fornication, but also of the lawful pleasures of the 
marriage-bed ; for at the celebration of divine solemnities they thought 
more than ordinary purity and sanctity were required of them, and there- 
fore abstained from delights which at other times they might lawfully 
enjoy. Yet by some of them this sort of purification was thought unne- 
cessary: for Theano, an Athenian priestess, being asked when it might 
be lawful for a woman to go from the company of a man to the divine 
mysteries ? answered, From her own at any time, from a stranger never. 

Every person who came to the solemn sacrifices was purified by water. 
For this purpose, a vessel full of holy water was commonly placed at the 
entrance of the temples. This water was consecrated by putting into it a 
burning torch taken from the altar. The same torch was sometimes used 
to besprinkle those who entered the temple. 3 

#epe It to SpiZov, toT s^j9a^o> Bring the torch, and taking it I will purify.* 

Where the scholiast observes, that this torch was used because of the 
quality of fire, which is thought to purify all things. Instead of torches, 
they sometimes used a branch of laurel. 5 Thus Sozomen, 6 where he 
speaks of Valentinian following Julian into a pagan temple, relates, that 
when they were about to enter, a priest S-e&XXous rtva,; ^iuRo'd^ov; xuvi^m, 
vofAu 'EXXwixto tfBgnppam, holding certain green boughs dropping water, 
besprinkled them, after the Grecian manner. Instead of laurel, olive was 
sometimes used. 7 

7 Before the sacrifices of the celestial gods, the worshippers had their 
whole bodies washed, or if that could not be, at least their hands ; but for 
those that performed the sacred rites to the infernal gods, a small sprink- 
ling was sufficient. Sometimes the feet were washed as well as the hands ; 



1 Tibull. ii. Eleg. 1. tulit unda, Spargens rore levi et irgptppatvetv, *epifia.TTej9at, -rtpf 

2 Demosth. Orat. in Neaer. ramo/eticis olivce. " Oi d Corinasus 8eiovv, iregiayyiKniv, &c. The ves- 

3 Athen. ix. p. 409, edit. Lugd. compass'd thrice the crew, And sel which contained the water of 

4 Eurip. Hercul. Furent. ver. dippd an olive branch in holy purification was termed Tcepippav- 
228. Aristoph. Pace, p. 696, edit, dew.'— This custom of surround- rrjpiov. And the Latin word lus- 
Aurel. Allobrosr. ing, here expressed, was so con- trare, which signifies ' to purify,' 

5 Plin. Nat. Hist. v. 30. stant in purifying, that most of or 'expiate,' came hence to be a 

6 Histor. Eccles. vi. p. 644, the terms which relate to any general word for any sort nf 
edit. Paris. 6ort of purification are compound- 'surrounding,' or 'encompass- 

7 Idem ter socios pura circum- ed with around. Thus ing.' Virg. JEn, vi. 229. 



224 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



whence came the proverbs, av/V<r<j/j x'-i^'h ailc * av'ttf-oi; voir))), (in Latin 
illotis manibus, and illotis pedibus,) which are usually applied to men who 
undertake any thing without due care and preparation. A programme 
was fixed up, that no man should go beyond the srs^avrr^/sv, or vessel 
which contained the water of purification, till he had washed his hands 
and so great a crime was it accounted to omit this ceremony, that one 
Asterius is said to have been struck dead with thunder, because he had 
approached the altar of Jupiter with unwashed hands. 2 Nor was this 
custom only observed at solemn sacrifices, but also in the less important 
parts of their worship. Hector tells us he was afraid to make so much as 
a libation to Jupiter before he had washed. 3 and Telemachus is said in 
Homer's Odyssey to have washed- his hands before he durst pray to the 
gods. This they did from a belief that thereby they were purified from 
their sins ; and withal signifying, that nothing impure ought to approach 
the deities. For the same reason they sometimes washed their clothes, 
as Homer relates of Penelope, before they offered prayers to the gods. 
The water used in purification was required to be clear, and free from any 
impurity. It was commonly from fountains and rivers. The water of 
lakes, or standing ponds, was unfit for this purpose. So was also the 
purest stream, if it had been a considerable time separated from its 
source. Hence recens aqua, 1 fresh water,'" is applied to this use in Virgil. 4 
The same custom prevailed in other countries. The Jewish Essenes 
made use of stuSa^urUuv rcov Tgo; ayvuocv v^drcjv, the purer sort of water 
for cleansing} The apostle seems to allude to the same practice in the 
following -words : 6 4 Let us draw near — having our hearts sprinkled from 
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.' The pro- 
phet Ezekiel, in like manner: ' Then I will sprinkle clean water upon 
you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your 
idols, will I cleanse you.' 7 But if sea-water could be procured, it was 
preferred before all others, because, by reason of its saltness, <p6<ni to v^ojo 
nrm B-oiXdo-cr'/i; HaQot^riKov lo-rt, the water of the sea is naturally cathartic} 
Hence Aristasus reports concerning some of the Jews who lived near the 
sea, that eveiy day before matins they used ucrovi^ao-^xi d-aXxfcr, ru.; 
Xt7gus, to wash their hands in the sea. The Argonauts in Apollonius 
are said to find Circe washing her head in the sea: 9 and that saying of 
Euripides, 

QuXaaaa icXvZei vavia t' d><9pto?rc!>v kclko., The cleansing sea removes all human ills, 

is applied to superstitious men, oi S-a.\olcro"/i <z , iPiz.a$ai£o\Tu.i t who purified 
themselves in the sea, according to Stobaeus. When sea-water could not 
easily be procured, they sometimes mixed the water with salt, and to that 
they frequently added brimstone, which also was thought to be endued 



1 Porphyr. de Victim. iv. 635, et ii. 719. S Schol. in Horn. IL a'. 3. 4. 

2 Timar. Libro de Goronis. 5 Porphyr. de Abs. iv. 12. 'J Apollon. Argon, iv. 662. 

3 Horn. II. 266. 6 Heb. x. 22. 

4 .-Eneid. vi. 635. Ccnf. jEncli. 7 Eze-k. xxxvi 25. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



225 



with a purifying quality, whence vtpfatout signifies to purify. Houses 
were thus purified: 1 

■ za.Ga.oui "hi tev^uxra-Ti B-Hiuj 

®jt?.\al extppaituv Itrriu/xivov &(2ka0es vow*' 

The same custom is also mentioned by Juvenal : 2 

Cuperent lustrari, siqua darentur Fling on the pine-tree torch the sulphur blue, 

Sulphura cum tcedis, et si/oret humida laurus. And from the dripping bay dash rou;id the lustral 

Ye fly to expiate the blasting view ; dew. GlFfORD. 

It may be farther observed, that the purified person was thrice besprinkled, 
the number three being commonly observed in the performance of religious 
ceremonies. 3 

There are two ways of purifying mentioned in the Moral Characters of 
Theophrastus, which differ from those already described. The first by 
drawing round the person purified, a squill, or sea onion. 4 The second, 
called fregttxtfkaszifffids, from erxvka%, a ichelp, which was drawn about the 
purified person. This method was used by almost the whole Greek 
nation. 5 Grangaeus, in his commentary on the forementioned passage of 
Juvenal, mentions another way of purifying, by fanning in the air. 

"Whoever had committed any notorious crime, as murder, incest, or 
adultery, was forbidden to be present at the holy rites, till he had been 
duly purified. Pausanias 6 mentions a temple, dedicated by Orestes to the 
Eumenides, into which, if any such person entered, though with a design 
only to take a view of it, he was immediately seized by the Furies, and 
lost the use of his reason. Nay, even one who had returned from a vic- 
tory over his lawful enemies, was not permitted to sacrifice, or pray to 
the gods, before purification.' 

The persons allowed to be present were called afisfinXoi, taw, &c. the 
rest fi'ifcn'koij ccXitpo), axdHagToi, hccyzTg, ^v<rtx,yi7;, ftitzoo), va/Ltfiiago), ccv'o- 
trioi, llaoyoftzvoi, &c. Such were servants at some places, captives, un- 
married women, and at Athens all bastards, 8 except in the temple of 
Hercules at Cynosarges, where they were permitted to be present, because 
Hercules himself was under some illegitimacy, being not one of the great 
immortal gods, but having a mortal woman for his mother. 

It was also unlawful for the Azorepovrorftot, or t ^Cffrzoo7rorf^oi ; 9 that is, 
such as had been thought dead, and after the celebration of the funeral 
rites unexpectedly recovered ; or those who, after a long absence in foreign 
countries, where it was believed they were dead, returned safe home to 
enter into the temple of the Eumenides. Such persons at Athens were 
purified by being let through the lap of a woman's gown, that so they 
might seem to be newly born, and were then admitted to the holy rites. 



1 Theocrit. Idyll, xxiv. 94. 

2 Sat. ii. 157. 

3 Ovid. Metam. vii. fab. ii. 

4 Lucian. in 'KTtff<o7rovvT»$. 



5 Plut. Ouaest. Roman. 

6 Achaicis. 

7 Horn. II. C, 2C7. 

8 Isaeus. 



9 Hesych. Voce ^fvrgpoxoT^os, 
item Plut. Quaest. Rom. 



226 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



In like manner, at Rome, such as had been thought dead in battle, and 
afterwards unexpectedly escaped from their enemies, and returned home, 
were not permitted to enter at the door of their own house, but were 
received at a passage opened in the roof. It would be endless to mention 
all those who were accounted profane at particular sacrifices or places: I 
shall only, therefore, in general add, that before the ceremonies were 
begun, the Kvou%, or sometimes the priest, with a loud voice, commanded 
all such to be gone, as in Callimachus: 1 

izas, Ixoc; arris cc}jt£o; 

In allusion to this custom, Orpheus commands the doors to be shut before 
he explains the mysterious parts of philosophy. 

*9iy^ofiai olj Se/itj ion, Supaj <$' ItrlBeoBt /SejStjAoij I'll sacred oracles to them proclaim, 

Tlaaiv 6fj.w S . Whom virtue doth with quickening heat inflame ; 

But the profane, far hence b ! they remov"d. — J. A. 

Sometimes the interior part of the temple was divided from the othev by 
a cord, beyond which the $i$v\oi were not permitted to pass. This cord 
is called in Greek cp^or/iov, whence men excluded from the holy rites are 
called by Demosthenes 2 axirxoiwrfi'ivoi, separated by a cord. 




The ornaments used in the time of sacrifice were such as follow : The 
priests were richly attired, their garments being usually the same, at 
least not much differing from royal robes. At Athens they sometimes 
used the costly and magnificent garment invented by iEschylus for the 
tragedians. 3 At Sparta, their garments were suitable to the other parts 
of their worship, being neither costly nor splendid ; and they always prayed 
and sacrificed with their feet uncovered. 

In all holy worship, their clothes were to be without spots or stains, 
loose, and unbound. If they had been touched by a dead body, or struck 
by thunder, or polluted in any other way, it was unlawful for the priests 
to officiate in them. The purity of the sacerdotal robes is frequently 
insisted on in the poets. 

Various habits also were used, according to the diversity of the gods in 



The above cuts of a Grecian priest and priestess, are taken from Moses' Hate*. 
1 Hymn, in Apollin. 2 Orat. in Aristorreit. 3 Athen. u 18. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



2'27 



whose honour the solemnities were celebrated. They who sacrificed to 
the celestial gods were clothed with purple ; to the infernal gods they 
sacrificed in black, to Ceres in white garments. 1 They had also crowns 
upon their heads, which were generally composed of the leaves of the tree 
which was accounted sacred to the god to whom they paid their devotions. 
Thus, in the sacrifices of Apollo, 2 they were crowned with laurel ; in 
those of Hercules, with poplar. Crowns and garlands were thought so 
necessary to recommend men to the gods, and were so anciently used, 
that some have derived the custom of wearing them at feasts, from the 
primitive entertainments at which the gods were thought to be present. 3 

Besides this crown, the priest sometimes wore upon his head a sacred 
infula, or mitre, from which, on each side, hung a riband. 4 Infulte were 
commonly made of wool, and were not only worn by the priest, but were 
put upon the horns of the victim, and upon the temple and altar. In like 
manner also, were the crowns used by them all. Bat the covering of the 
head with a mitre was rather a Roman than a Grecian custom, and was 
first introduced into Italy by iEneas, who covered his head and face, lest 
any ill-boding omen appearing to him should disturb the religious rites. 5 
Nevertheless, some of the Roman sacrifices were offered after the Grecian 
fashion, a<7ra.ozxccXv<z , >rw KupxXrj, with their heads uncovered, and in 
particular those of Saturn, 6 the rites whereof were first brought from 
Greece. 7 The same is affirmed by Dionysius the Halicarnassean, 8 con- 
cerning the sacrifices offered on the great altar of Hercules, which were 
first instituted by Evander the Arcadian. The victims had the infula 
and the ribands tied to their horns, the crowns and garlands upon their 
necks. Whether this order was perpetual, is not certain. However, that 
victims were adorned with garlands, is attested by innumerable examples, 
whereof I shall only at present mention that of Polyxena, who being to be 
sacrificed, is called by Lycophron 9 ffrzQriQr^o; (oov;, because lirr-^ccv^vv xa) 
cc*fa<rtv ircirrov rod; Qooft'tvovsj they adorned with garlands, and bestrewed 
with flowers, them who are sacrificed. Upon solemn occasions, as the 
reception and petition of any signal benefit, they overlaid the victim's 
horns with gold. Thus Diomedes in Homer promises Minerva: 10 

tf,* -rot lyii p'Zai xp*o'ov irfpatw Trspt^gwaj. You should have offered Pallas, as your right. — 

This cnv, whose horns o'er-tipt with gold, look j. a. 

bri-ht, 

Alluding to this custom, Porphyry calls the oxen designed for sacrifice 
%ou<rox'zo>>us. Pliny 11 states, that the larger sacrifices only, such as oxen, 
were thus adorned ; but the contrary appears from a decree of the Roman 
senate, 12 in which the decemviri are commanded to sacrifice to Apollo, 



1 " The pnestess of Ores was 3 Athenae. xv. 5. p. 674. 8 Lib. i. Antiq. Rom. 

crowned with poppies and ears 4 Virg. ;£n. x. 538. 9 Cassandra, ver. 326. 

of corn; and the priestess of 5 Virg. JEu. iii. Kill.*'. 

Minerva, wirn the ae-is. the cui- H Flut". Ouaest. Roman. 11 Lib. xrxiii. 3. 

r8ss. ar.d a helmet crested with 7 Macroo. Saturn, i. 10. Conf. 12 Maorob. Saturn, i. 

tufts of feathers." ejasdem libri cap. 8. Aure'.ius 

i ApolL Rhod. Arg. 139. Victor, Servius in Mneid. iii. 



22$ 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



after the Grecian manner, an ox, and two she-goats with gilded horns, 
unless as some think, goats were also numbered amongst the hostics 
majores, or greater victims ; as the sheep were counted maxima, or the 
greatest, not for their bigness, but their value, and acceptableness to the 
gods. 

The altars were decked with sacred herbs, called by the Romans 
verbence; which is a general name for all the herbs used at sacrifices ; and 
here, as at other times, every god had his peculiar herb, in which he was 
thought to delight. 

The solemn times of sacrificing were varied according to the temper of 
the gods. To the celestial gods they sacrificed yVa rhv \a> uvaTiXXovTo: 
tov ykiou, in the morning, about the time of the sun's rising, or at least in 
open day. To the manes and subterraneous gods, who were thought to 
hate the light, and to frequent the earth by night only, they offered their 
devotions <rs£/ nkiou ^va-^x;, about sunset, 1 and very often at midnight; at 
which time the magical rites, over which Hecate presided, were cele- 
brated. 

All things being prepared, the mola salsa, with the knife, or other 
instrument to kill the victims, and the crowns, were brought in a basket 
called xt&vovv, whence the Athenian virgins, whose office it was to cany 
this basket at the Panathenasa, and some other solemnities, were called 

The victim, if it was a sheep, or any of the smaller animals, was driven 
loose to the altar; but the larger sacrifices often were brought by the 
horns. 2 Sometimes 3 the victims were led by a rope ; but then it was a 
long one, and not close or strait, lest the victim should seem to be brought 
by force to the altar. And lest the victim should seem to be sacrificed 
unwillingly, and by constraint, the cords were commonly loosed. 4 In one 
of Aristotle's epigrams, an old woman leads a bull to the altar by his ear, 
to show his compliance : 

Toi>£' iff) fiufAOV h', OJS fjUOCTigi fT«/?, itTiTOtl. 

Sometimes there were certain persons appointed to fetch the sacrifice 
with musical instruments, and other solemnities; but this was seldom 
practised, except at the larger sacrifices, such as hecatombs. 

After this, they stood about the altar, and 5 the priest turning towards 
the right hand, went round it, and sprinkled it with meal and holy water; 
he besprinkled also those who were present, taking a torch from the altar, 
or a branch of laurel. This water was called xh^' being the same ^ ne y 
washed their hands with at purification. On both which accounts the poets 
use %t£vttrrsff0ou instead of U^u. pe&tv, to offer sacrifice. The vessels also 
they purified with onions, water, brimstone, or eggs. 



1 Apol. Schol. in lib. i. Ar- 3 Juvenal. Sat. xii. 5 Aristoph. ejusque Schol. io 
gonaut. 4 Vim. iEneid. v. 772. Pace. 

2 Horn, Odyss. y'. 439 



V 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



229 



This done, the crier proclaimed with a loud voice, T/? msjth ; who is 
here ? To which the people replied, TloWo) 3tayu$o), many and good. 
After this they prayed, the priest having first exhorted them to join with 
him, saying, Ey^&^ec*^*, let us pray} 

Their requests were generally that the gods would vouchsafe to accept 
their oblations and send them health and happiness ; they added at their 
ciiryi-ixoc or petitionary sacrifices, a request for whatever particular favour 
they then desired. They seem to have had a general form of prayer, 
used on all such occasions, though sometimes varied as to the words. One 
of these remains in Aristophanes, 2 another in Athenseus, 3 out of Menan- 
der's Flatterer. At this time also the crier commanded silence, in these 
or similar words, Evtp'/iuuri" <rlya, fflya. <xot; sW« Xs^j. The same custom 
was observed by the Romans in their sacrifices, where they proclaimed, 
favete Unguis, which words answer to the Greek zb(pripi7<rt, by which the 
people seem not to have been commanded to remain in a deep and unin- 
terrupted silence, but rather to abstain from all profane speeches and 
ominous words. Thus Horace has interpreted it: 

male ominatis Let no ill-boding -words your lips profane. 

Par cite verbis. 

Prayer being ended, the priest, having previously examined all the 
members of the victim, to see if it had any blemish, or other defect, pro- 
ceeded now to examine, unless this also had been done before, whether it 
was sound within. For this purpose meat was set before it, as barley-meal 
before bulls, vetches before goats ; which if it refused to eat it was judged 
unsound. They sometimes- besprinkled it with cold water, which, if it 
endured without shrinking, it was thought to be some way indisposed. 4 
This being done, they made trial whether the victim was willing to be 
sacrificed to the gods, by drawing a knife from its forehead to the tail f at 
which if the victim struggled, it was rejected, as not acceptable to the 
gods ; but if it stood quiet at the altar, then they thought the gods were 
pleased with it ; yet a bare non-resistance was not thought sufiicient, un- 
less it also gave its consent, as it were, by a gracious nod, which was the 
ancient manner of granting, or approving (whence the word ivmvuv among 
the Greeks, and annuere among the Romans, signifies to give assent to 
any thing), and to this end, they poured water into its ear, and sometimes 
barley, which they called vrgo%6?as. 6 

After this, they prayed again ; then the priest took a cup of wine, and 
having tasted it himself, caused the company to do so likewise, and poured 
forth the remainder between the horns of the victim. 7 This custom is 
everywhere mentioned in authors ; but it will be sufficient to observe this 
one example, in that remarkable epigram of Furius Evenus, wherein the 
vine thus bespeaks the goat : 



1 Aristoph. in Pac?. p. 662, 
ei: it. Amstelod. 

2 Loco citato. 



3 Deipn. lib. xiv. 

4 Piut. Librnde Defect. Orac. 

5 Serv. in^Sneid. xii. 173. 



6 Schol. Apollon. Rhod. in 
Ar^on. v. 425- 

7 Ovid, Metam- viii. 533, 



230 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Kfy fji% <pdy r s sttI p.'lfav, S M *S 3rt Kap*o<po P faa> And tear the swelling clusters from my boughs, 

"Qooov tTTHnrsioaC trci, rpaya, 5no/isva>. Luxuriant sprouts will shoot out fresh supplies, 

Though, lecherous goat, you on my scions browse, To pour betwixt your horns at your own sacrifice. 

H. H. 

After this, frankincense, or other incense, was strewed upon the altar, and, 
as some say, upon the forehead of the victim ; being taken out of the cen- 
ser, called in Greek SvpiafAurfytov, with three fingers. 1 

Hence it is, that the Pythia in Porphyry says, that the whole hecatombs 
of the Thessalians were not more acceptable to the gods, than the -<\>cuc<rc&, 
which a certain Hermionian offered with his three fingers. Then they 
poured forth part of the ouXa) on the back of the victim, which was upon 
that account bedewed with a small sprinkling of water. This being done, 
they prayed again, and then offered the remainder of the ovXa) upon the 
altar: all these they called nWi^ara, as being offered before the victim. 

Then the priest, or the K.vgv%, or sometimes the most honourable person 
in the company when no priest was present, killed the beast, by striking 
him down, or cutting his throat. Sometimes the person who killed and 
prepared the victim, which was accounted a more ignoble office, was dif- 
ferent from him who offered it upon the altar. If the sacrifice was in 
honour of the celestial gods, the throat was bended up towards heaven, 
and this Homer calls av l^vuv, or in one word, xuiguuv. but if the sacri- 
fice was made to the heroes or infernal gods, it was killed with its throat 
towards the ground. 2 If by any chance the beast escaped the stroke, 
leaped up after it, bellowed, did not fall prone upon the ground, after the 
fall kicked and stamped, was restless, as though it expired with pain and 
difficulty, did not bleed freely, and was a long time of dying, it was 
thought unacceptable to the gods; all these being unlucky omens, as their 
contraries were tokens of divine favour and good- will. The Kyi^vkis did 
then help to flay the beast, light the wood, and do other inferior offices, 
while the priest, or soothsayer, with a long knife turned over the bowels 
to observe, and make predictions from them (it being unlawful to touch 
them with his hands). The blood was reserved in a vessel called <r(pa,>yz7ov, 
kfjLvlov, or, Tloiftufy/ct, and offered on the altar to the celestial gods ; if the 
sacrifice belonged to the gods of the sea, it was poured into salt water; but 
if they were by the sea-side, they slew not the victim over the o-tpxysTov, 
but over the water, into which they sometimes threw the victim. 3 

Tn the sacrifices of the infernal gods, the beast was either slain over a 
ditch, or the blood poured out of the a(pa.yilov into it. Tins done, they 
poured wine, together with frankincense, into the fire, to increase the 
flame ; then they laid the sacrifice upon the altar, which, in the primitive 
times, was burned whole to the gods, and thence called o\ox,a,u<rrov, or o\o- 
xKurcop.cx,. Prometheus, as the poets feign, was the first that laid aside 
this custom ; for considering that the poorer sort had not wherewith to 
defray the expenses of a whole burnt- offering, he obtained leave from 



1 Fast. lib. ii. 



2 Eustati. in Horn, Iliad, a' 



3 Apollon. Rhod. Argon, iv. 1601. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



231 



Jupiter, that one part only might be offered to the gods, and the remain- 
der reserved for themselves. The parts belonging to the gods were the 
ft*i£ot ; these they covered with fat, called in Greek x/iaern, in order that they 
might consume altogether in a flame: for except all was burned, they 
thought they did not x&XkisgeTv, or litare, i. e. that their sacrifice was not 
accepted by the gods. Upon the p^oo) were cast small pieces of flesh, cut 
from every part of the beast, as the acra^a/, or first-fruits of the whole ; 
the doing this they called apafevuv, either because they first cut the shoul- 
der, which is in Greek called evpos, or because they did auk vifocQai, put 
these raw pieces of flesh upon the other parts. 1 

The fiy,oo), thighs, were appropriated to the gods, because of the honour 
due to these parts, ha ro \vffiri\u\ roii; 115 &a%i<T'iv <rz x&i yivztriv, 

because of their service to animals in walking and generating?' And 
hereby they commended, in the mystical sense of this rite, both them- 
selves and all their actions and enterprises to the divine protection. 3 So says 
Eustathius ; 4 but Casaubon 5 tells us, they sometimes offered the entrails, 
herein contradicting Eustathius, who informs us that these were divided 
among the persons present at the sacrifice; and Homer, in the description 
of his sacrifices, usually tells us that they feasted upon them, eri-Xay^v 
ivrsciravTo. By the word c^Xoiy^va, though it properly signify the bowels, 
are to be understood, says my author,6 the spleen, liver, and heart: and 
that it is sometimes taken for the heart, will appear by the signification 
of its compounds: for by cc<r<zrX<x.yx;vo; ccvr.o, is meant a pusillanimous ma?i y 
as on the contrary, iu<r<zXxy%vo;, denotes a man of courage. 17 Yet in some 
places the entrails were burned upon the altar. 8 But Dionysius the Hali- 
carnassean, comparing the Grecian and Roman rites of sacrifice, affirms, 
that only the acra^a/ of the entrails, as has been observed concerning 
the other members, were sacrificed. ' Having washed their hands/ says he, 
' and purified the victims with Clearwater, and bestrewed their heads with 
the fruits of Ceres, they pray to the gods, and then command the officers 
to kill the victims: some of these do thereupon knock down the victim, 
others cut its throat when fallen to the ground, others flay off its hide, 
divide the body into its several members ; and cut off the first fruits 
(Jc*ccoxki) from every entrail, and other members, which being sprinkled 
with barley meal, are presented upon canisters to the persons who offer 
the sacrifice, by whom they are laid upon the altar to be burnt, and whilst 
they are consuming in the fire, wine is poured upon them. All which is 
performed according to the Grecian rites of sacrifice, as will easily appear 
from the poems of Homer.'" 9 He then proceeds to confirm this descrip- 
tion of the sacrifices by several testimonies out of Homer, which being 
to the same purpose with others already cited out of that poet, shall be 
omitted. 

1 Horn. Tliad. a \ 459. 4 II a'. 8 Ovid. Fast, iii. 503. Virg. 

2 Eustathius in Iliad, a'. 5 In Theophrast. ^Eneid. vi. 252. 

3 Taetses in Hcsiodi Up>jr. ct 6 !n Iliad a'. 9 Antiq. Roman, pp. 478, 473, 
D.er. lib. 335. 7 Scliol. Soph. Virg. in Ajac. edit. Lips. 

U 2 



232 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Whilst the sacrifice was burning, the priest and the person who gave 
the victim, jointly made their prayers to the god, with their hands upon 
the altar, which was the usual posture in praying, as will be shown here- 
after. Sometimes they played upon musical instruments in the time of 
sacrifice, thinking hereby to charm the god into a propitious humour, as 
appears by a story related 1 of Ismenias, who playing upon a pipe at a 
sacrifice, when no lucky omens appeared, the man by whom he was hired 
snatched the pipe, and played very ridiculously himself; and when- all the 
company found fault with him, he said, 1 To play satisfactorily is the gift 
of heaven/ Ismenias, with a smile, replied, 4 Whilst I played, the gods 
were so ravished with the music, that they were careless of the sacrifice, 
but to be rid of thy noise, they presently accepted it. 7 This custom was 
most in use at the sacrifices of the aerial deities, who were thought to de- 
light in musical instruments and harmonious songs. 

It was also customary on some occasions to dance round the altars 
whilst they sung the sacred hymns, which consisted of three stanzas, or 
parts ; the first of which, called strophe, was sung in turning from east to 
west; the other, named antistrophe. in returning from west to east; then 
they stood before the altar, and sung the epode, which was the last part of 
the song. These hymns were generally composed in honour of uic £°ds, 
contained an account of their famous actions, their clemency and liberality, 
and the benefits conferred by them upon mankind ; and concluded with a 
petition for the continuation of their favours. They were all called by a 
general name Haioing, but there was also a particular name belonging to 
the hymns of almost every god. For instance, the hymn of Venus was 
called 'Tviyyo;, that of Apollo was peculiarly named Ila/av, and both of 
them were styled n^w'W the hymns of Bacchus were called LiQv^u.pQ>oi, 
&c. Of all musical instruments, the flute seems to have been most used 
at sacrifices, whence comes the proverb AvXnrov (hiov £»jv, applied to those 
that live upon other men's charges, because Av\r,7a), flute-players, used 
to attend on sacrifices, and to partake of them, and so lived on free cost. 2 
At some of the Jewish sacrifices, the priests sounded trumpets, whilst the 
victims were burned upon the altar. 3 And most of the heathen nations 
were possessed with a belief that the gods were affected with the charms 
of music in the same manner as men. On which account they are ridi- 
culed by the Christian apologists. 4 But, as has been several times ob- 
served, the feasts or sacrifices of the gods being managed in the same 
manner with the entertainments of men, it is no wonder that musical 
instruments, so much used by all nations at their feasts and merry meet- 
ings, should be admitted at the festivals and sacrifices of the gods. 

The sacrifice being ended, the priest had his share, of which an account 
is given in the preceding chapter. A tenth part was also due to the 
magistrates called YI^vtccvus, at Athens. At Sparta, the kings had the 



1 Plutarch. Symposiac. ii. 1. 

2 Suidas VOCe A.vXr)rov. 



3 Numer. x. 10. 

4 Cont. Aruobius contra Gent. vii. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



253 



first share in all public sacrifices, and the skin of the victim. It was usual 
also to carry home some part of the offering, for good luck's sake. This 
was termed 'Tykia, as conducing to their health and welfare. 1 The 
Athenians were commanded by a lav/ to observe this custom ; and covet- 
ous men sometimes sold what remained, and made a gain of their devo- 
tion. Sometimes the remaining parts of the sacrifice were sent to absent 
friends. 2 

For the most part, especially if they had received any particular mark 
of divine favour, the sacrifice being ended, they made a feast; for which 
purpose there were tables provided in all the temples. Amongst the 
ancients, 3 they never indulged themselves with any dainties, nor drank 
any quantity of wine, but at such times ; and thence an entertainment is 
called Sown, because they thought they were obliged ha Szovs olvouvOtu, to 
be drunk in honour of the gods; and to be drunk was termed ptidutiv, 
because they did it f^ira to Svuv, after sacrificing. Hence epulari, come- 
dere, and the like words, which, express eating, or feasting, are sometimes 
put for sacrificing. 4 Hence also the gods were said to feast with men. 5 

On the same account Jupiter and the rest of the gods are said to go to 
a feast in Ethiopia, which is only a poetical description of a festival time 
in that country. 6 

From these' and similar instances, it appears to have been a custom very 
ancient in Greece. The same was also generally observed in other 
coiuitries. Hence the the just man, in Ezekiel, 7 is said to be one, ' who 
hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lift up his eyes to the 
idols.' And in Exodus, when God had commanded Moses to require 
leave of Pharaoh for the Jews to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to the 
Lord, 8 he thus bespeaks Pharaoh in a different form of words, but import- 
ing the same sense : 9 ' Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people 
go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.' Hence Balaam, 
and the princes with him, are entertained by Balak king of Moab, with 
the flesh of sacrificed victims: 10 and the Moabites enticed the Israelites to 
be present at the feasts of their gods. 11 Hence also, the Israelites are 
commanded to destroy the idolatry of the nations who lived about them, 
./lest thou do sacrifice to their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of 
sacrifice/" 12 

All the time the feast lasted, they continued singing the praises of the 
god. 13 When they sacrificed f,o Vesta, it was usual to eat up whatsoever 
was left, and to send any part of it abroad w r as thought a crime ; whence 
-the proverb 'Eo-ria Bvuv and among the Romans, lari sacrificare is applied 
to gluttons, who eat up all that is set before them. To this goddess also, 
they offered the first part of their libations, at least of all those which were 



1 Athenae. iii. Hes. v. iyie**. 4 Virg. JKneid. iv. 206. 9 Fxod. v. 1. 

2 Theocrit. Idyl. v. 139. 5 Horn. Odyss. n'. 202. 10 Numer. xxii. 

3 Athena?. At*™, iii. 3. Conf. 6 Horn, t.iad. a', 423. li Numer. xxv. 
quae postoain iv.hnj.us Archacol. 7 Kzek. xviii. 6. 12 Exod. xxxiv. 

lib. dicentur Ue Conviviis. S Exod. iii. 18. 13 Horn. 11. o', 472,ctscq. 

u 3 



234 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



paid to the household gods: whence comes the proverb, a<p' 'ErrUs 
ccgXitrfai, to begin at home. This custom 1 was founded upon a grant of 
Jupiter to Vesta. After he had suppressed the sons of Titan, he promised 
Vesta to grant whatever she would request ; whereupon she first desired 
that she might enjoy perpetual virginity ; and, in the next place, that she 
might have the first part in all sacrifices. The last part also, as well as 
the first, was offered to Vesta, she being the same with the earth, to which 
the first and last parts belong ; because all things are produced out of that 
element, and again resolved into it: or because Vesta, who presides over 
arcs et foci, the ' altars and hearths' of houses, is custos rerum intimarum, 
'keeper of the most secret things,' and on that account to be honoured 
above all other deities. Which reason is assigned by Cicero. 2 To return ; 
the feast in some places was to be ended before sunset, 3 and was not to 
exceed an appointed time in any place. After the feast they sometimes 
played at dice- — a custom derived no doubt from the common practice of 
recreating themselves with all sorts of plays and diversions after meals. 
Neither were dice only, but any other sort of game, used after the feasts 
upon sacrifices. Hence of the Jews, who had sacrificed to the golden 
calf, it is said, that ' they sat down to eat, and rose up to play.' 4 But of 
this custom a more particular account will be given when the Grecian 
entertainments shall be described. The entertainment and recreations 
being ended, they returned to the altar, and offered a libation to Jupiter 
TiXtioc, the Perfect. The primitive Greeks were wont to offer the 
tongues, together with a libation of wine, to Mercury. 5 The tongues they 
offered at this time, either with a design to make an expiation for any 
indecent language which had been spoken, or in token that they committed 
to the gods as witnesses what discourse had passed at the table ; or to 
signify that what had been spoken there ought not to be remembered after- 
wards or divulged. They were offered to Mercury, the god of eloquence, 
as taking a particular care of that member. 6 

After all, they returned thanks to the god for the honour and advantage 
of sharing with him in the victim, and then were dismissed by the Kyipv?, 
in this or the like form, Xa.01; uQitris.' 1 

Besides the sacrifices, there were also other sorts of presents offered to 
the gods, even from the earliest times, either to pacify them when angry, 
or to obtain some future benefit, or as a grateful acknowledgment of some 
past favour. These consisted of crowns and garlands, garments, cups of 
gold, or other valuable metals, and any other tiring which conduced to the 
ornament or the enriching of the temples : they were commonly termed 
avaO'/ipurot, and sometimes uvaxitptva, from their being deposited in the 
temples, where they sometimes were laid on the floor, sometimes hmig 



1 Aristoph. ejusque Schol. in 4 Exod. xxxii. 6. ubi de Conviv. agitur. 

P .V 491 ' edlt ' Aurel - Ail °b- 5 Athenae. Aunv. i. 14. Apol- 7 Apuleius Metain. lib. ult. et 

2De Nat. Deor. ii. Ion. i. 517. ibi Beroaldus. 

d Athens, Asm. i. 4. 6 Conf. Archaeol. hujus lib. iv. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



235 



upon the walls, doors, pillars, or the roof, or any other conspicuous 
place. 1 

Sometimes the occasion of the dedication was inscribed either upon the 
thing itself, or when the matter of that could not bear an inscription, upon 
a tablet hung up with it. 2 

When any person left his employment or way of life, it was customary 
to dedicate the instruments belonging to it, as a grateful commemoration 
of the divine favour and protection. Thus, 3 a fisherman dedicated his 
nets to the nymphs of the sea. Shepherds hung up their pipes to Pan, 
or some of the country deities. 4 Lais, decayed with age, dedicated her 
mirror to Venus. 5 Whoever is willing to be farther informed concerning 
the nature and kinds of these presents, may consult Pausanias, 6 who has 
left us a very particular description of those in the Delphian temple, 
which was the richest of any in Greece. 

By a veiy ancient and universal prescription, the tenths of many things 
were claimed by the gods. Hence the Greeks, having driven the Per- 
sians out of Greece, presented a golden tripod to Delphian Apollo out of 
the tenths of the spoils taken in the war. 7 The Argives, Athenians, and 
Ionians, dedicated a golden buckler to Jupiter after the taking of Tanagra. 8 
Lucian mentions the tenths of spoils dedicated to Mars. 9 A golden 
chariot and horses were consecrated to Pallas by the Athenians. 10 The 
tenth part of the product of a certain field consecrated to Diana was sacri- 
ficed every year. 11 The Siphnians constantly presented a tenth part of 
their gold mines to Apollo. 12 It was also customary for kings to receive a 
tenth portion of the several revenues of their subjects. This was paid by 
the Athenians to Pisistratus, the receiving whereof that tyrant excuses in 
his epistle to Solon, 13 as being not expended in his own private service, 
but laid out upon sacrifices, and for other public uses. The same custom 
prevailed in other countries ; whence Samuel describes some of the incon- 
veniences which the Jews were bringing upon themselves by desiring a 
king, in the following words: 14 i He will take the tenth of your seed, and 
of your vineyards, and give them to his orlicers and to his servants. He 
will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants.' So con- 
stant and universal was the custom of paying tenths to the gods and kings 
that ^iKocnvra), and ^ixxrccXoyot, collectors of tenths, are general names 
for TcXauvxt, publicans, or collectors of taxes ; and ^ixanviiv is equivalent 
to xa.0tio&)<rcci, XoLtpvotzywyuv or nkeuvtiv, which words signify to consecrate, 
or to gather tributes and taxes}* And that the same was derived from the 
most early times, appears from the well known example of Abraham, who 
gave tithes of all to Melchisedeck, king of Salem and priest of the Most 
High God. 1 ** 

1 Horat. Carm. i. od. v. Virg. 6 Phoci. p. 642, edit. Hanov. 12 Phocicis, p. 628. 
iEneid. ix. 407. 7 Diod. Sic. Biblio. Hist. xi. 13 Apud Diog. Laert. 

2 Tibull. i. el. 3. 8 Pausan. Eliac. a'. 14 1 Sam. viii. 15, 17. 

3 Antholog. vi. 3. epigr. vi. 9 Dialog, de Saltatione. 15 Etymologici Auctor, Harpo- 

4 Tibull. ii. el. 5. 10 Herodot. v. 77. cration, Hesychius, Suid. 

5 Antholog. vi. 8. epigr. i. 1 1 Xenoph. de Expedit. Cyri, v. 16 Gen. xiv. 18, 20. 



236 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. V. 

OF THE GRECIAN PRAYERS, SUPPLICATIONS, AND IMPRECATIONS. 

The piety of the ancient Greek?, and the honourable opinion they had 
conceived of their deities, appears in nothing more manifestly than in 
the continual prayers and supplications they made to them ; for no man 
amongst them that was endued with the smallest prudence, 1 would under- 
take any thing of greater or lesser moment, without having first asked the 
advice and assistance of the gods ; for this they thought the surest means 
to have all their enterprises crowned with success. And that this was 
practised by the whole nation of the Greeks, as well as by their philoso- 
phers, and that in the most primitive times, is fully witnessed by their 
poets, and other ancient writers. Thus, in Homer's ninth Iliad, Nestor 
is introduced praying for success to the ambassadors whom the Grecian 
chiefs were sending to Achilles. In the tenth Iliad, Ulysses enters upon 
his expedition into the Trojan camp in the same manner. In the last 
Iliad, Priam entreats the assistance of the gods, before he durst venture 
himself into the tent of Achilles to redeem Hector's body. And to for- 
bear other instances, the heroes seldom engage with their enemies till 
they have first implored the divine protection and favour. 

It seems to have been the universal practice of all nations, whether civil 
or barbarous, to recommend themselves to their several deities every 
morning and evening. Whence we are informed by Plato, 2 < that at the 
rising both of the sun and moon, one might everywhere behold the Greeks 
and barbarians, those in prosperity, as well as those under calamities and 
afflictions, prostrating themselves, and hear their supplications/" 3 

The Lacedaemonians had a peculiar form of prayer ; for they never 
used, either in their public or private devotions, to make any other request, 
than that the gods would grant what was honourable and good for them,* 
and that they might be able to suffer injuries. The Athenians, 5 in their 
public prayers, desired prosperity for themselves and the Chians ; and at 
the Panathensea, a solemnity which was celebrated once in five years, the 
public crier used to implore the blessing of the gods upon the Athenians 
and Platrcans. 

Petitioners, both to the gods and men, used to supplicate with green 
boughs in their hands, and crowns upon their heads, or garlands upon their 
necks; which they did with a design to beget respect in those to whom 
they made their supplications. 6 These boughs were called by various names, as 
B-ccXXoi, or KXaboi tKTTioioi, tyvWrxbis izrt)/>s$ } and Izzrnotoii, and were com- 
monly of laurel or olive ; 7 which trees were chiefly made use of, either because 



1 Plato Timaeo. 4 Plato. Alcib. ii. Plut. Insti- 6 Triclin. in G-A. Tyr. ver. 3. 

2 De Legilras, x. tut. Laconic. 7 Statius Theb. xii. 
.'J To tliis custom H .'nice seems 5 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. v. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



237 



they were azrftxXus, always green and flourishing, whence 1 the epithet of 
axrigizros , never-fading, is given to the latter ; or because the laurel was a 
sign of victory, success, and joy; the olive of peace and good-will. In 
these boughs they put wool, which was not tied to them, but wrapped 
about them ; for which reason the tragedian 2 seems to have called it h<r- 
fcov SchrfAov (pvkXoibog, the tie without a knot. And from their being 
wrapped round, some think that they were called by the Romans vittce, or 
infulce : 3 and by the Greeks they were termed o-Ts^ara* in which sense 
Homer is by some thought to have used this word: 4 

For, according to the old scholia upon Sophocles,^ ctj^ is to be inter- 
preted 7} vrgo<r£i?L9)/u,tvov Igtov roo 3-xXXco, certain wool wrapped about a green 
bough. With these boughs, and sometimes with their hands, if they were 
doubtful whether they should prevail or not, it was usual to touch the 
knees of the statue or man, to whom they addressed themselves : if they 
had hopes, they touched his right hand, but never the left, that being 
thought unlucky; if they were confident of success, they rose as high as 
his chin or cheeks. It was customary to touch the head, either because 
that is the principal and most honourable member in a man's body ; 6 or 
because they desired the person should give his consent to their petitions 
annuendo, 1 by a nod,' for this was the manner of granting requests. 7 The 
hand they touched 8 as being the instrument of action: the knees, because 
they desired the soul of the person should bend, as it were, and incline to 
their requests, for that the joints in that place are more flexible than in 
any other part ; or because the knees are the instruments of motion, as if 
they requested the person to bestir himself, and walk about to effect their 
desires. Whence, to use the words of Pliny, 9 hominis genibus, qucedam 
religio inest, observatione gentium : hcec supplices attingunt y hcec, utaras, 
adorant ; fortasse quia ipsis inest vitalitas. ' By all nations a sort of re- 
ligious veneration is paid to the knees of men; these the suppliants endea- 
vour to touch ; these they adore in the same manner as they do the altars 
of the gods ; perhaps because there is a sort of lively vigour in them.' 
Sometimes they touch the knees with one hand, and the head or hands 
with the other. 10 

Sometimes they kissed the hands and knees. Priam in Homer is intro- 
duced touching the knees of Achilles, and kissing his hands ; u and Ulysses; 
reports, that himself, when a suppliant to the king of Egypt, touched and 
kissed his knees. 12 

If the petitioners were very fearful, and the persons to whom they 
addressed themselves of very great quality, they kissed their feet. This 
kiss the Romans called labratum, and the old Gloss renders it qiX'/ipu, 

1 Eurip. in lone, ver. 1436. 6 Eustath. in II. a', p. 97, edit. 10 Horn. II. a', 497, et seq. 

2 Id. in 'iKinS. ver. 31. Basil. 11 Iliad. u>', 478. 

3 Virg. ^Eneid. vii. 236. 7 Horn. II. a', 524. 12 Odyss. %\ 279. 

4 Iliad, a', 14. 8 Eustath. ibidem. 

5 In vers. 3, (Euip. Tyr. 9 Nat. Hist. xi. 45. 



238 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Qa.iTi'kiKov, % affvrocjrixov fixtriXtas, a kiss of a king. Sometimes they kissed 
their own hands, and with them touched the person. Another sort of 
salutation by which they did homage to the gods, consisted in putting the 
forefinger over the thumb (perhaps upon the middle joint, which they used 
in counting the number ten), and then giving a turn on their right hand. 1 

Sometimes they prostrated themselves at the entrance of the temples 
and kissed the sacred threshold. 2 So generally was this custom of kissing 
practised by supplicants, that 3 the word ^oa-^vv&tv, to adore, is supposed to 
be derived from zvuv, to kiss. 

Another mode of supplicating consisted in pulling the hairs off their 
head, and offering them to the person to whom they prayed. After this 
manner did Agamemnon present himself before Jupiter, when Hector had 
given the Greeks an overthrow 4 

They often clothed themselves with rags, or put on the habit of mourn- 
ers, to move pity and compassion. 

The postures they used were various. Sometimes they prayed standing, 
sometimes sitting, but generally kneeling, because that seems to bear the 
greatest show of humility ; whence the words youvu&o-Oai, yowtfirzlv, and 
such like, signify to pray, or make supplication. Prostration was almost 
as frequent as kneeling. The poets furnish us with innumerable examples 
of prostration before the images, altars, and sometimes the thresholds of 
the temples. 5 Lucretius 6 ridicules the practice, and denies that it is an 
act of piety, 

procumbere humi prustratum, et pandere palmas To fall down prostrate at a senseless shrine, 

Ante deum delubra. And with spread arms invoke the powers divine, 

Before their temples. ■ 

The Greek scholiast upon Pindar tells us, they were wont to turn their 
faces towards the east, when they prayed to the gods ; and to the west, 
when to the heroes or demigods. Others say, they always kept their 
faces towards the sun ; 7 that in the morning they turned themselves to the 
east, at noon to the south, and in the evening to the west. 

The safest place for a petitioner, either to gods or men (next to the 
temples and altars), was the hearth or fire-place, whither it was usual to 
betake themselves, when they came to any strange place in travel or 
banishment, as being the altar of Vesta and the household gods. Whence 
Ulysses, being a suppliant in the court of Alcinous king of Phasacia, is 
thus introduced by Homer: 8 

' tear &,£ V^gT. ssr' sV«£ct§'/j \v %6vi'/i<ri. 

When they had once seated themselves there, in the ashes, in a mournful 
posture, and with a dejected countenance, they needed not to open their 
mouths, neither was it the custom so to do ; for those actions spoke loud 



1 Plaut. Curcnh act i. seen. ]. 

2 To this custom Tibullns al- 
ludes, lib. i. eleg. ii. 83, 84. 



3 Eustath. Ad. Odyss. /. 

4 Horn. Iliad. 15. 

5 Ovid. Metamorph. i. 375. 



6 Lib v. 

7 Coelms Rhod. xii. 2. 
6 Odyss. v\ 153. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



239 



enough, and told the calamity of the supplicant more movingly than a 
thousand orations. 1 

The Molossians had a peculiar manner of supplicating, different from 
that of all other countries; which was practised by Themistoeles when he 
was pursued by the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, and forced to cast 
himself on the protection of Admetus, king of that country ; he held the 
young prince, who was then a child, in his arms, and in that posture pro- 
strated himself before the king's household gods ; this being the most sacred 
manner of supplication among the Molossians, and which was not to be 
rejected.2 

They that fled to the gods for refuge or help, used first to crown the 
altars with garlands, and then to make known their desires to the deity. 3 
It was usual also to take hold of the altars. 4 Whence Varro is of opinion, 
that altars were called arcs, q. ansce, which word is used to signify any 
thing that may be taken hold of It was also an usual gesture in praying, 
to lift up their hands toward heaven. Uotvrss avfyatfoi ocvocnivo^iv rct$ 
XtTgas uc rov ov^ocvov &u%a$ votovpivoi' we all lift up our hands to heaven 
when we pray, says Aristotle. 5 The same is affirmed by Helena in her 
prayer to Juno: 6 

op0aj uXlvas ir P h<; ovpavhv Relieve, we suppliant beg thee, stretching: thus 

•PtTnWe*, Xv' ol«e7s a<rrs P o)«/ Trouc(\/j.ara. Our hands to yon star-spangled sky, thy seat, 

Goddess rever'd ! two wretches from their woes POTTER. 

Whence it appears, that the reason of lifting up their hands was, that they 
might hold them towards the gods, whose habitation is in heaven. Homer 
everywhere mentions this posture, always adding xt7ooi$ a,va<r%cov, when he 
speaks of any one that prayed to the gods. And this custom was so uni- 
versally received, that the holding up of hands is sometimes used to signify 
praying? On the contrary, because the infernal gods were supposed to 
have their habitation beneath the earth, it was usual to pray to them with 
hands pointed downwards. Sometimes, the better to excite the attention 
of these gods, they stamped the ground with their feet. This is said to 
have been done by the actors, when they pronounced these words of He- 
cuba, wherein she invokes the assistance of the infernal gods to save her 
son Polydorus-. 8 

£2 %66vioi ®io) } irua'a.ri trozih' 1{a6v. 

Whence Cleanthem, cum pede terram percussisset, versum ex Epigonis 
dixisse ferunt : ' It is reported of Cleanthes, that having first stamped the 
ground with his foot, he recited the following verse out of the Epigoni:' 9 

Audisne hcec, Amphiarae, tub terram abdite ? 

When they lay prostrate or kneeled upon the earth, it was customary 
to beat it with their hands. 10 



1 Apolion. Rhod. Argonaut, iv. 

2 Plutarch, in Themistocle. 

3 Eurip. in Aicestide. 

4 Virgil. iEneid. iv. 219. 



5 Lib. vi. d« Mundo. 

() Euripid. Hel. ver. 1100. 

7 Horat. Od. iii. 23. 1. 



8 Euripid. Hecuba.., ver. 79 

9 Cic. Tusoulan. Quaest. lib. ii. 
10 Horn. Iliad. .', 564. 



240 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Lastly, they who prayed to the deities of the sea expanded their hands 
towards the sea. This we find done by Achilles in Homer, when he in- 
vokes Thetis; 1 as likewise by Cloanthus in Virgil- 2 These customs are 
briefly explained by the scholiast on the forementioned verses of Homer's 
ninth Iliad: J£u%ovrou oi '/igtvss To7g fi\v ougctv'iois §ioi;, ccvoj ras 9 

The heroes pray to the celestial gods, lifting up their hands to heaven, as 
in the verse there cited. To7$ £s SuXao-trtotg, to the gods of the sea, they 
prayed thus: 

vrgo; SaXccfftruv ^yjXovnri' extending his hands towards the sea. Tois xaTa- 
%0ov'toi; Tt, xoktovtb; <r>?v yh, as hOa&i <pn<ri' But to the subterraneous 
gods, they prayed heating the earth, as is here done by Meleager's mother. 
Prayer being ended, they lifted up their hand to their mouth, and kissed 
it ; which custom was also practised by the Romans, whenever they passed 
by a temple, and was accounted a sort of veneration. 3 Whence Lucian, 
in his encomium of Demosthenes, has these words: Ka/ ry)v ^i 0, 7< ? 
ffroftccrt 'Z^offa.yc&yb'iiros , ovTiv ccWo 'h rf^officvvilv IXocftfietvov' his hand being 
lift up to his mouth, 1 did not suspect that he was doing any thing but 
praying. And again, in his tract concerning sacrifices: 'O Vi vr'ivns iXa.- 
ffoc.ro rov Stov, <$i\v\q-u.$ povov ttjv ccutou ^<|;av the poor man obtains the 
favour of the gods, by kissing his right hand only. Whence it appears, 
that the right hand, rather than the left, was kissed on this occasion. 
Neither was the palm, or inward part, but ro ovrio-divctg, the back and out- 
ward part of the hand thus honoured; for, to use the words of Pliny, 4 
inest et aliis partibus qucedam religio: sicut dextera osculis aversa appeti- 
tur. ' There is a sort of religion in other members ; as we find by the 
custom of kissing the back of the hand/ 

Lastly, it was a common opinion, that their prayers were more prevalent 
and successful, when offered in a barbarous and unknown language : and 
the reason assigned for it was, that the first and native languages of man- 
kind, though barbarous and uncouth, yet consisted of words and names 
more agreeable to nature. 5 Whence it was customary for magicians, and 
those who pretended to have a more intimate familiarity with the gods 
than other men, to make their petitions in barbarous and unknown 
sounds. 

Sometimes if they obtained their request, and it was a matter of conse- 
quence, they presented to the god some rich gift, or offered a sacrifice in 
thankfulness for the benefit they had received ; sometimes they related it 
to the priest of the temple, that it might be registered, as a testimony of 
the goodness of the gods and their readiness to hear the petitions of mor- 
tals, and send them relief; and for an encouragement to men to make 



1 Iliad, a', 350. 

2 --Eneid. v. 233. 



3 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 4 Nat. Hist. xi. 45. 
iv. 16. 5 Clemens Alex. Strom. L p. 339. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



241 



known their wants and desires to the deities, and to expect assistance 
from them : on which account, as Eustathius has observed, all prayers in 
Homer, the petitions of which are just and reasonable, are rewarded with 
a full and satisfactory answer. 

The imprecations of the Greeks were extremely terrible, being thought 
so powerful, when duly pronounced, as to occasion the destruction, not 
only of single persons, but of whole families and cities. The miseries 
which befell Atreus, Agamemnon, and others of that family, were thought 
to proceed from the imprecations of Myrtilus upon Pelops their ancestor, 
by whom he was thrown into the sea. Thus Lycophron: 1 

The same imprecations are likewise mentioned in the Electra of Sopho- 
cles, and the Orestes of Euripides. Though by others the calamities of 
that family are ascribed to the curses of Thyestes, Atreus' brother; 
whence Thyestece preces are used proverbially for any dreadful impreca- 
tions. 2 

But the most dreadful imprecations were those pronounced by parents, 
priests, kings, prophets, or other sacred persons. Examples whereof may 
be found in Homer's ninth Iliad, where Phoenix relates, that the gods 
would not permit him to have children, by reason of his father's impreca- 
tions: 3 and afterwards that Meleager was destroyed by the curses of his 
mother. 4 Hence it was customary for men condemned for any notorious 
crime, to be publicly cursed by the priests. This befell Alcibiades, against 
whom, besides banishment and confiscation, the Athenians decreed that 
he should be cursed by all the priests and priestesses. Which decree was 
obeyed by all who then held that office, except Theano, who professed her- 
self to be by her office of priesthood appointed to bless, and not to curse. 

There is likewise frequent mention of imprecations in the Roman 
affairs and authors. Thus, when Crassus undertook that fatal expedition 
against the Parthians, wherein he perished, Ateius running to the gate of 
the city, placed there a vessel full of burning coals, upon which he offered 
odours and libations, and pronounced most dreadful curses against Crassus, 
as he passed by. 5 And we are informed by Pliny, 6 that diris depreca- 
tionibus defigi, nemo non metuit: 1 All men are afraid of imprecations 
there being no way to avoid or expiate their direful effects. 7 

That the same practice was used in other parts of the world, appears 
from the sacred writings: in which Jonathan, after he had gained a 
glorious victory over the enemies of his country, is reported to have been 
reduced to the last extremity by the imprecations of Saul, his father and 
king. 8 And Joshua is said to have pronounced a solemn curse upon the 
person who should rebuild Jericho ; 9 which was fulfilled upon Hiel many 

1 Cassand. ver. 164. 5 Appian. in F&rthico. Conf. 7 Horat. Epod. v. 89. 

2 Horat. Epod. v. 86. Cicero de Divin. i. 8 1 Sam. xiv. 24. 

3 Ver. 455. 6 Nat. Hist, xxviii. 2. 9 Josh. vi. 2€. 

4 Ver. 562. 

X 



242 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ages after. 1 Balaam the magician was sent for by Balak, king of Moab, 
to curse his enemies the Israelites. 2 The patriarch Jacob is introduced 
distributing his blessings to some of his children, a custom no less ancient 
than the other; and his curses to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. 3 Noah, 
the father of a new world, pronounced an imprecation upon his grandson 
Canaan, 4 which had its effect a long time after. And the practice seems 
to have been derived from the curses pronounced by God upon Adam, and 
afterwards upon Cain. 



CHAP. VI. 



OF THE GRECIAN OATHS. 

Having described the manner of offering sacrifices and prayers to the 
gods, I shall proceed, in the next place, to speak of the honour paid to 
them, by using their names in solemn contracts, promises, and assevera- 
tions ; and calling them to witness men's truth and honesty, or to punish 
their falsehood and treachery. This was reputed a sort of religious adora- 
tion, being an acknowledgment of the omnipotence, and omnipresence, 
and by consequence, of the divinity of the person thus invoked. Whence 
the poets describe men's reception into the number of the gods by their 
being invoked in oaths: thus Horace speaks of Caesar, 5 and Lucan of the 
Roman heroes, who sacrificed their lives in the civil wars. 6 J^drastus in 
Statius compliments the ghost of Archemorus in the same manner. 7 And 
the inspired writers, for the same reason, forbid to swear by the pagan 
deities, and command to swear by the true God. Thus in Deuteronomy: 
* Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his 
name.' 8 And in Jeremiah: 'How shall I pardon thee for this? thy 
children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods.' 9 And, 
to forbear other instances, the worshippers of the true God are by David 
described by swearing by him. 10 

"Ogxos, the god of oaths, is said to have been the son of Eris, or Con- 
tention ; n and fables tell us, that in the golden age, when men were strict 
observers of the laws of truth and justice, there was no occasion for oaths, 
nor any use made of them: but when they began to degenerate from their 
primitive simplicity, when truth and justice were banished out of the 
earth, when every one began to make advantage of his neighbour by 
cozenage and deceit, and there was no trust to be placed in any man's 
word, it was high time to think of some expedient whereby they might 



1 1 Reg. xvi. 34. 

2 Numer. xxii. 5, 6, &c. 

3 Gen. xlix. 3, 4. 

4 lb. ix. 25, 26. 27. 



5 Lib. ii. 1. 16. 
5 Lib. vii. 457. 

7 Thebaid. vii. 102. 

8 Deut. vi. 15. 



9 Jer. v. 7. 

10 Ps. lxiii. 11. 

11 Hesiod. Theog. ver. 231. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



243 



secure themselves from the fraud and falsehood of one another. Hence 
had oaths their origin. We are told indeed, 1 that Chiron first invented 
oaths ; but the meaning of that seems only to be this ; that he first reduced 
some of the barbarous nations to a sense of religion and virtue: whence it 
is added in the same place, that he taught them %u&aiaffuvnv, x.cu S-vtr'txs 
tXaaki, Justice and propitiatory sacrifices. However that be, it is proba- 
ble, that at first oaths were only used upon weighty and momentous 
occasions, yet in process of time they came to be applied to eveiy trivial 
matter, and in common discourse, which has given occasion to the dis- 
tinction of oaths into that which was called 'O {tiycc;, and used only on 
solemn and weighty accounts; and that which they termed 'O ftixosg, 
which was taken in things of the smallest moment, and was sometimes 
used merely as an expletive to fill up a sentence, and make a round and 
emphatical period. Some there are that tell us, the psyiz; ocko;, was that 
wherein the gods, pixgo; that wherein creatures were called to witness ; 
but the falsity of this distinction evidently appears by a great many in- 
stances, of which I shall only mention one, namely, that of the Arcadians, 
amongst whom the most sacred and inviolable oath was taken by the water 
of a fountain called Styx, near Nonacris, a city, 2 or, according to others, 
a mountain in Arcadia; upon which account it was, that Cleomenes the 
Lacedaemonian, to secure the fidelity of the Arcadians, had a design to 
carry the principal men among them to Nonacris, and there to make them 
swear by this fountain, though they had taken another oath before, as my 
author 3 hath related. It will not be wholly impertinent in this place to 
mention the great oath of the gods by the Stygian lake: for Jupiter, 4 

Avrhv pe* yap "Srj«e Sewv ptyav lup&vai Zjkov. Ordain'd this lake a solemn oath should be 

To all the gods. 

Hence some derive the word cgzos, an oath, from orcus, hell. This oath 
was invented by Jupiter, and prescribed by lum to the rest of the gods, in 
honour of Styx ; because she, with her sons, came the first of all the gods 
to his assistance in the war against the giants ; or, because, according to 
Hesiod he had quenched his thirst with her waters in the fight. If any 
god swore falsely by these waters, he was debarred the use of nectar, and 
deprived of his divinity for a hundred years ; these, others reduce to nine, 
but Servius, out of Orpheus, enlarges them to nine thousand. 

Jupiter was thought more especially to preside over oaths ; though all 
the gods seem to have been concerned in them, for it was usual to swear 
by them all, or any of them ; and of any injured person it was said, in 
general, that he had offended the gods ; but they were thought chiefly, and 
more peculiarly to belong to Jupiter's care; and though perhaps tins may 
not appear, as some think it does, from the word jusjurandwm, which 
they will have to be so called q. Jovis jurandum, yet it will sufficiently 
be proved by the plain testimony of the poet, 3 



1 Clemens Alexan. Strom, i. 2 Herodet. Erato. 
P a 5- 3 '' 6 - 3 Loco citato. 

x 2 



4 Hesiod. Theogonia. 

b Eiiripid. Medese, ver. I7-K 



244 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



. . 'irjvi. 3-', of opKov And Jove, who over human oaths presides. 

The gods, by whom Solon commanded the Athenians chiefly to swear 
in public causes, were three, 1 namely, e lzz<rios, Koid<x,g<no$ } and 'E%etxzcr7rigios, 
or rather one Jupiter "O^kio?, by three names, though some make them to 
be three distinct gods. Plato, in his Euthydemus mentions Apollo, Mi- 
nerva, and Jupiter. Demosthenes also, in his oration against Midias, 
swears by the same three deities: but in that against Timocrates he takes 
an oath by Jupiter, Neptune, and Ceres. And the Athenians very often 
swore by other gods ; sometimes by all the gods in general, sometimes by 
the twelve great gods, as #a rou$ ^eo^&xoc S-zoh; ; the Spartans usually pa. ra 
by Castor, and Pollux. The women's oaths, were commonly by 
Juno, Diana, or Venus, or vh ra Sga, i. e. by Ceres and Proserpine, which 
were appropriated to the female sex, 2 and never used by men except in 
imitation of the women. Not that these were the only oaths used by 
women, but they were the most usual, though they often swore by other god- 
desses, and sometimes by the gods. 

Men generally swore by the god to whom the business they had in 
hand, or the place in which they were, belonged; in the market they usu- 
ally swore by 'Eg/an; ayo^aao?, or Mercury; ploughmen, by Ceres; those 
that delighted in horses, by Neptune. The Athenians 3 alone of all the 
Greeks used to swear by Isis, and the Thebans commonly by Osiris. 

Sometimes, either out of haste, or assurance of their being in the right, 
or some such reason, they swore indefinitely by any of the gods, in this 
manner: "Opvt/fti p.iv nva, tuv Szav A Others, thinking it unlawful to use 
the name of god upon every slight occasion, said no more than N«/ paL tov, 
or By, &c, by a religious ellipsis omitting the name. 5 Suidas mentions 
this custom, which, says he, putifAigu ?rgos ilAfiuoiv, inures men to a pious 
regard for the name of god. 6 Isocrates, in Stobaus, forbids to swear by 
any of the gods in any suit of law about money, and only allows it on two 
accounts, 'a ffotwrov eclrixs c/Ac^oc? cczroXvwv, % tpiXovs \x> pzyoiXuv xivtuvuv 
^ixtrw^cov, either to vindicate yourself from the imputation of some wicked- 
ness, or deliver your friends from some great danger. To which Simpli- 
cius, in his commentary upon Epictetus, adds a third, namely, to obtain 
some considerable benefit for your country. Pythagoras 7 was very cautious 
in this matter, for he rarely swore by the gods himself, or allowed his 
scholars to do so ; instead of the gods, he advised them to swear by Thv 
T&Tgazruv, or the number four, 8 as thinking the perfection of the soul con- 
sisted in this number, there being in every soul, a mind, science, opinion, 
and sense. And it is reported of Clinias, the Pythagorean, that when he 
might have cleared himself from a fine of three talents, he rather chose to 
pay that sum than to take an oath. Socrates told his scholars, that Rhada- 

1 Pollux, viii. 12. Aristsenetus' Epistle of Euxi- 7 Hieroc. in Pyth. Aur. Carm. 

2 Phavorin. in voce N^. theus to Pytheas. v. 2. 

3 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. v. 10. 5 Phavorin. in voce Ma. 8 Plutarch. Libro de Placit. 

4 Vide Plato's Phiedon, and 6 Voce Nal ,u<i rd. Philosoph. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



245 



manthus, the justest man that ever lived, had expressly forbidden men to 
swear by the gods, but instead of them, allowed the use of a dog, goose, 
ram, or such like creatures; and in conformity to this rule, that philoso- 
pher was wont to swear vh <e»v xuva, x/ivet, or vrXzrczvov, by a dog, goose, 
or plane-tree, Zeno, the father of the stoics, usually swore vh rhv zd^ra.- 
giv, i. e. by a shrub that bears capers. In Ananius, one swears by cravite, 
i. e. colewort; 1 the same oath occurs in Teleclides, Epicharmus, and 
Eupolis, and it seems to have been used more especially among the Ioni- 
ans. By which instances it appears, that though the custom of swearing 
upon light and frivolous occasions was very common amongst the Greeks, 
as may be seen in their comedies and other interlocutory discourses, yet 
the more wise and considerate sort entertained a most religious regard for 
oaths. Sometimes they seem entirely to forbid all sorts of oaths, whether 
just or unjust. To which purpose is that saying of Menander: 

' "Oozov hi <*iOys, fcclv ciizctUji ofiwvfs 

And another of Choerilus: 

''Oezov t' out' cChixov x° i ^ JV 'iu/Mvui, ovri hizctiov. 

And, to mention no more examples, the scholiast upon Homer informs us, 
that the ancient Greeks did not srg#srs<rtt>g kocto, ruv ®-cov opvuvxt, ocWa. kccto, 
ruv croo<rrvy%a.vovrcov, rashly, and in common discourse, swear by the gods, 
but made use of other things. The same words occur also in Suidas. 2 

Sometimes they swore by the ground they stood upon ; 3 sometimes by 
rivers, fountains, floods, the elements, sun, moon, and stars, all which they 
accounted very sacred oaths. 4 Sometimes by anything they made use of, 
as a fisherman by his nets, a soldier by his spear ; and this last was a very 
great oath, if it be true, that the ancients paid divine worship to this 
weapon ; in memory of which, in later ages, it was usual for the statues of 
the gods to hold a spear: and Eustathius writes, 6 that Caeneus erected a 
spear, and commanded that it should be worshipped as a god. Kings and 
princes usually swore by their sceptres, as we find everywhere in Homer ; 
and this also was thought a solemn oath, because the sceptre is a badge 
and ensign of regal and judicial power. 

They swore also by men ; sometimes by the dead, of which Demos- 
thenes is a famous instance, who, in an oration to the people of Athens, 
swore by rou; h Maja^v/, those that valiantly lost their lives in the battle 
of Marathon ; sometimes by the living, and this was done either by their 
Sfl/Tjj^i'a, health and safety ; OY 3 'AXyia,, their misfortunes ; or their names; 
or some of their members, as their eyes, right hand, especially their head, 
which was accounted a very solemn oath, either because the head was 
accounted the principal and most noble, part of man; or, 7 because it was 
the hieroglyphic of health. 

1 Cceli. Antiq. Lect. xxvii. 28. 4 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. v. 6 In Iliad, a'. 

2 Voce Nal na t6. 10. ? Hansenius libro de Jurameul. 

3 Eurip. Hippolyt. vers. 1025. 5 Justin, lib. xiii. Veterum. 

x 3 V 



246 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



Sometimes they swore by those who were dearest to them, as parents, 
children, or those for whom they had a high esteem ; so the Pythagoreans used 
to swear by their master Pythagoras ; nor did they this as thinking him a 
god or hero, but because he was a person whose memory they thought 
deserving of great veneration, and whose merits had exalted him to a near 
affinity with the divine nature. 

The maimer of taking oaths was sometimes by lifting up their hands to 
heaven; whence Apollo, in the poet, bids Lachesis %iipa.s &yart7vat. 
though some are of opinion that this custom was of a later origin. Some- 
times in the /^iyx; oojco?, or great and solemn oath, they laid their hands 
upon the altar, as appears from that saying of Pericles, who, being desired 
by a friend to take a false oath upon his account, replied, that he was his 
friend to the altars, and no farther; as likewise from the story reported by 
Diogenes Laertius, of Xenocrates, who, being a man eminent for a strict 
and virtuous life, was summoned as a witness in a certain cause, where, 
having spoken what he knew of the matter, he went to the altar to confirm 
his evidence by oath ; but the judges, well knowing the integrity of the 
man, with unanimous consent bid him forbear, and gave credit to him upon 
his bare word. Lastly, to pass by other examples, the same rite is observed 
in Virgil, at the celebrated league between Latin us and iEneas: 1 

Tango aras, mediosque ignes et numina testor : Whatever chance befall on either side. 

Nulla dies pacem hanc Italis et foedera rumpet. No term of time this union shall divide. 
I touch the sacred altars, touch the flames, DRYDEN. 
And all those powers attest, and all their names : y 

Instead of the altar 2 they sometimes made use of a stone; tin's fact is 
recorded by Suidas, who has taken it out of Aristotle and Philochorus, and 
for a farther confirmation of it, has cited these words out of the oration of 
Demosthenes against Conon: Tav ti vagovTav xa,(? idol yi^wv outwit) vrgo$ 
7ov X/Vov ayovrts, xa) IZogxouvrz;' i. e. and bringing all us who were present, 
one by one, to the stone, and there administering the oath to us. What is 
meant by this stone, the scholiast upon Aristophanes 3 has informed us 
in his comment upon this verse: 

TovQoptZovTts ie ytpa t$ >l9a> -rpo<rt<TTa^tv. With mutterings near tribunals still approach 

i We, though depressed with age, E. D. 

Where he tells us, that by Xtfo; is meant the (hr^a,, or the tribunal, in 
Pnyx, a public place where the Athenian assemblies used to meet. And 
the reason why it is so called, he gives in another place, where the come- 
dian calls it nir^a., a stone, because it stood upon a rock; whence Xdapo- 
<rcu, are those that took or imposed an oath in Pnyx. Instead of the altar, 
in private contracts, the person swearing, according to the Roman fashion, 
laid his hand upon the hand of the party to whom he swore. 4 

In all compacts and agreements it was usual to take each other by the 
hand, that being the manner of plighting faith; and this was done, either 



1 .Eneid. xii. v. 201. 

S; Pfeifer. Antiq. Grsec, ii. 27. 



3 In Acharnensibus. 

4 Eurip. Helen, ver. 834. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



247 



out of the respect they had to the number ten, as some say, there being 
ten fingers on the two hands ; or because such a junction was a token of 
amity and concord ; whence, at all friendly meetings, they joined hands, 
as a design of the union of their souls. And the right hand seems to 
have been used rather than the left, because it was more honourable, as be- 
ing the instrument by which superiors give commands to those below them. 1 
Besides this, in all solemn leagues and covenants, they sacrificed to the 
gods by whom they swore, offering, for the most part, either a boar, ram, 
or goat ; sometimes all three ; sometimes bulls or lambs instead of any of 
them. Sometimes they cut out the testicles of the victim, and took the 
oath standing upon them. A ram or boar thus used is properly called 
Tofitixs. The ceremonies were thus: they first cut some of the hair off 
the victim's head, and gave part of it to all present, that all might share 
in the oath. 2 

After this they invoked the gods to be witnesses of their agreement, 
and to punish the person that should first violate his oath. This done, 
they killed the victims by cutting their throats: 

■ airo eTOftdxovs apvZv rape vtjXSZ x Then with his piercing sword their throats he 

stabbed. 

For trrofjcx^og originally signified a throat. Hence comes the phrase, 
h'gxiet ripvztv, in Latin, ferire fcedus, i. e. to make a covenant. This done, 
they repeated the form of words, which both parties were to confirm with 
mutual oaths, as appears from Homer's description of the truce made be- 
tween the Grecians and Trojans. 

After this they made a libation of wine, which was at this time mixed, 
to signify the conjunction and concord between the parties ; then praying 
again to the gods, they poured it forth, requesting, that whoever should 
first break Ins oath might have his blood or brains poured out in the same 
manner. 3 

It was very usual to add a solemn imprecation to their oaths, which was 
done either for the satisfaction of the person by whom the oath was im- 
posed, 4 or to lay a more inviolable obligation upon themselves, lest they 
should at any time repent of their purpose, and take contrary measures to 
what they then resolved upon. Upon which account it was, that the Pho- 
censians, 5 who afterwards built the city Massilia in Gallia Narbonensis, 
obliged themselves by an oath, backed with terrible imprecations, never to 
think of returning home ; whence came the proverb fakixzhu aok, applied 
to men under the obligations of a strict oath. 

The flesh, on which they feasted at other sacrifices, was in this thought 

1 Whence Crinagoras, in an epigram, says, it was impossible that all the enemies in the world 
should ever prevail against Rome, 

■ & X pt Kt petvy While godlike Cassar shall a right hand have 

4«£»<i ar/^aivei* Kalaapi $apoa\Z v . Fit for Command. E. D. 

2 Horn. Iliad, y', v. 273. The 3 Horn. II. Y ', 295, et seq. ^v. if what I swear be true, may 
reason of this custom Eusta- 4 As in that of Demosthenes, I enjoy much happiness; if not, 
thius explains from Sophocles. El plv e0op*<5, noXX.afj.ot ayaOa may I perish utterly, 

Aj. 1177-79. ysvoiTo 1 ec lmopn^ IfaMs anoXot- 5 Herodot. i. et Strab. iv. 



248 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



unlawful to be eaten; and therefore, 1 if the person concerned was at home, 
it was buried ; for so Priam seems to have done with his victims in the 
sacrifices before mentioned; but if the party was a stranger, they threw it 
into the sea, as Talthybius did the sow, which was sacrificed at one of 
Agamemnon's oaths, or disposed of it in some other way. If any unlucky 
or ominous accident happened at the time of sacrifice, they usually deferred, 
or wholly refused to take the oath ; 2 thus when Pyrrhus, Lysimachus, and 
Cassander, had concluded a peace, and met to confirm it by solemn oath 
and sacrifice, a goat, bull, and ram, being brought out, the ram on a sud- 
den fell down dead, which some only laughed at : but Theodotus the priest 
forbade Pyrrhus to swear, declaring that heaven, by that omen, portended 
the death of one of the three kings, whereupon he refused to ratify the 
peace. 

Another manner of swearing was this: 3 they took hold of their garments y 
and pointing a sword towards their throats, invoked the heavens, earth, 
sun, and Furies, to bear witness to what they were about to do; they then 
sacrificed a boar-pig, which they cast into the sea; and this being done 
they took the oath. 

The solemn way of taking an oath amongst the Molossians, was, by 
cutting an ox into small pieces, and then swearing; whence anything 
divided into small parcels was proverbially called (Zov$ o MoXonrr&v.* Eras- 
mus, 5 instead ol bos Molottorum, writes bos Homolottorum, reading fiov; 
'OfAoXorruv instead of (Zous o ^loXorruv, ^ 

Another manner of swearing was that described by Plutarch, 6 who re- 
ports, that when the Grecians had overthrown and utterly routed all the 
forces of Xerxes, being flushed with victory, they entered upon a design 
of making a common invasion upon Persia ; whereupon, to keep them firm 
to their resolutions, Aristides made them all swear to keep the league, and 
himself took the oath in name of the Athenians, and after curses pro- 
nounced against him that should break the vow, threw wedges of red-hot 
iron into the sea; by which was signified that the oath should remain in- 
violable, as long as the irons should abide in the sea without swimming; 
which custom is also mentioned by Callimachus. 7 

There is also another manner of swearing, mentioned by Plutarch in the 
life of Dion, which Dion's wife and sister imposed upon Callippus the 
Athenian, being moved thereto by a suspicion that he was privy to a con- 
spiracy against Dion's life. It was thus: the juror went into the temple 
of Ceres and Proserpine, or, as some say, of Ceres Thesmophorus, or the 
lawgiver, where, after the performance of certain ceremonies, he was 
clothed in the purple vestment of the goddess, and holding a lighted torch 
in his hand, as being in the presence of the deity, took the oath by all the 



1 Eueiath. in Iliad. /. 

•J. Plutarch, in vita Pynhi. 

3 A '.ex. v. 10. 



4 Snicks voce /SoiJj. Zenodot. 6 Vita Aristidis. 

in Proverb, in BoCj. 7 Schol. Sophocl in Antig 

5 In Adag. vev. 270. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



249 



gods in the world ; this the Syracusans accounted the most solemn and 
sacred oath that could be. 

Another test the Sicilians generally made use of at Palice, a city of 
Sicily, where was a fountain named Acadinus, to which the jurors came, 
and having written the oath in a tablet, threw it into the water, wherein, 
if it could swim, the person accused was believed honest; but if it sunk, 
he was immediately to be cast into the flames which issued from the foun- 
tain. 1 

They had also other methods of clearing themselves from the imputation 
of crimes. As when the person accused creeped upon Ins hands through 
the fire ; or held in his hands red-hot iron, called in Greek MuSgos ; which 
was done by the innocent without any sense of pain. 2 Thus one in Sopho- 
cles 3 tells Creon, that all the guards were ready to take upon oath, that 
they neither buried Polynices themselves, nor knew who had done it: 

'fl^ev <T ?7oi^o» Kal /*c<5pouy alpsiv x'spolv, The mass of burning iron in our hands 

Kal Trvp Stip-rrsiVy Kara S-sciij 6pKa>fMOTslv We all were prompt to take, to pass through fire, 

To fjtrjrs tpaaai, /i^rs t£ crvvniki/at To call the gods to witness with firm oath 

To Trpiyfia. jSouX«io-avr* pfiT tlpyzaftisvcp. We did it not, we knew not who designed, 

Or who performed the deed. POTTER. 

A custom not much differing from these was practised in this island by 
our Saxon ancestors upon the same account, and was therefore called the 
f re-ordeal* for ordeal in Saxon signifies purgation. The manner of under- 
going this test was thus: the person accused passed blindfold, with bare 
feet, over certain ploughshares made red-hot, and placed at an equal dis- 
tance from one another. This ordalium Edward the Confessor forced his 
mother Emma to undergo, to vindicate her honour from the scandal of 
incontinency with Alwayne bishop of Winchester ; and by this trial she 
gave a sufficient demonstration of her innocence ; for having passed over 
the iron before she was aware of it, she cried out, When shall I come to 
the place of my purgation ? and Cunigunda, the wife of the emperor 
Henry the Second, upon the like imputation, held a red-hot iron in her 
hand, and received no harm thereby. 

I shall mention but one sort more of these purgation-oaths, which is 
described by Achilles Tatius in the eighth book of his Erotic Romance, 
The Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe. It is this: when a woman was 
accused of incontinency, she was to clear herself from this charge by oath, 
which was written in a tablet, and hung about her neck; then she went 
into the water up to the mid-leg, where, if she was innocent, all things 
remained in the same manner as they were before ; but if guilty, the very 
water swelled, as it were, with rage, mounted up as high as her neck, and 
covered the tablet, lest so horrid and detestable a sight, as a false oath, 
should be exposed to the view of the sun and the world. 



1 Aristot. lib. de Mirabilibus. Steph. Byaant. 3 Antigone, ver. 270. 

in Tla\iicr). . 4 For an account of the various species of ordeal, 

2 This, probably, is the oldest allusion extant to see Encyc. Metrop. part xxxt. 
Sfce Judkia Dei. 



250 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



What a religious regard they had for oaths appears from this, that ivo^ko;, or 
one that keeps his oaths, is commonly used for sy«/3»jj, a pious person. 1 On 
the contrary, when they would express a wicked forlorn wretch, they called 
him torit/gfcos, perjurious ; which was the worst and most infamous title 
they could fix upon him; whence Aristophanes, 2 speaking of Jupiter's 
lightning and thunderbolts, which, as some thought, were chiefly levelled 
against the wicked, says, E7«rs£ /SaXXs; roh; l^io^Kovg, if perjured villains 
are indeed so liable to the stroke, hovj comes it to pass that Cleonymus and 
Theodorus escape so well ? or that the poor oak is so often shattered to 
pieces, oh ya.g ^us Isn*£xs7, since it can never be perjured ? Such as were 
common and customary swearers, the Athenians branded with the name 
of Ardetti, from 'A^erraj, the name of the place wherein oaths were re- 
quired of them, before their admission to public offices. 

False swearers were, in some places, punished with death: in others, 
they suffered the same punishment that was due to the crime with which 
they charged any innocent person; in others, only a pecuniaiy mulct. 
But though they sometimes escaped human punishment, yet it was thought 
the divine vengeance would not fail to overtake them, and the daemons 
always pretended an utter abhorrence of such enormous crimes, of which 
there is a remarkable instance related by Herodotus. 3 There was at Sparta 
a man named Glaucus, famed over all Greece for his justice and integrity: 
into his hands a certain Milesian, fearing some danger at home, and being 
encouraged by the character of the man, deposited a large sum of money. 
After some time the sons of this Milesian came to Sparta, and showing 
Glaucus the bill, demanded the money. Glaucus pretended he was wholly 
ignorant of the matter, yet promised to recollect with himself, and if he 
found any thing due to them, to pay it. To do this he took four months' 
time ; and having gained this delay, immediately took a journey to Delphi, 
on purpose to ask Apollo's opinion, whether it was lawful to perjure him- 
self, thereby to secure the money? The god, moved with indignation at 
the impudence of the man, returned him this answer: 

Perfidious oaths, and violated faith, Which bears not feet or hands, but swift pursues 

Are oft attended by a present gain : The perjured man, until it has destroy'd , 

Swear boldly, then; because the honest man With utter ruin all his house and race ; 

Must die as surely as the vilest slave. Eut honest men hereafter are more bless'd. 

But know, that oath a nameless offspring has, 

This prediction was fully accomplished in Glaucus, notwithstanding" he 
afterwards restored the money ; for his whole family was in a few genera- 
tions utterly extinct, and so became a memorable example of divine ven- 
geance. But though all the other gods took upon them sometimes to 
punish this crime, yet it was thought in a more peculiar manner to be the 
care of Jupiter, surnamed "Ooxiog. And Pausanias reports, that in the 
BovXivrvgtov, or council hall> at Olympia, there w r as a statue of Jupiter 



1 Hesiod. Oper. et Dier. ver. 188. Aristoph. in 2 Nubibus. a-;t. 5. seen. 4. 
Pluto, act. i. seen. 2. 3 Erato, sive vi. St>. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



251 



with a thunderbolt in each hand, and a plate of brass at his feet, on which 
were engraven certain elegiac verses, composed on purpose to terrify 
men from invoking that god to witness any untruth. Besides this, the 
perjured persons were thought to be haunted and distracted by the Furies, 
who, it was believed, made a visitation every fifth day in the month, and 
walked their rounds for that purpose. 1 Whence Agamemnon, swearing 
that he had never known Briseis, called the juries to bear witness. 2 
Though the punishment here meant by Homer seems to have been in- 
flicted after death, because he says, uxo ya.7<x.v uv^uttov;, &c. or the men 
under the earth ; and that this is the meaning of the passage appears from 
another oath in Homer, where the infernal gods are invoked after this 
manner : 

— Kal ol iirkvtf,9a Kafiovraf Witness, ye infernal powers, 

, Av9pi>vovs rlvvvo-Os, '6, rts k ItzIozkov o/Mowy. Who souls below torment for breach of oaths. 

E. D. 

Yet some in that place read jcotpovn:, and then the meaning of it will be, 
that the souls of deceased persons are employed in torturing perjured 
villains. 

In some places even insensible creatures were thought to take revenge 
for this crime ; for it was generally believed in Arcadia, that no man could 
forswear himself by the waters of Styx, without undergoing some severe 
and remarkable punishment ; and it is reported of the subterranean cavern, 
sacred to Palsemon at Corinth, that no perjured person could so much as 
enter into it without being made a memorable example of divine justice. 
In Sicily, at the temple of the Palici in the city Palice, there were certain 
crateres, fonts, or lakes, for so they were sometimes called, named Delli, 
out of which flames and balls of fire, with boiling and stinking water 
continually issued; and thither people used to resort from all quarters, 
for the deciding of controversies. If any one swore falsely near these 
fonts, he was presently struck either blind, lame, or dead, on the spot ; or 
was swallowed up, and drowned in the lakes. But of these mention has 
already been made. 3 

Notwithstanding these, and other instances of the divine displeasure at 
this crime, and the scandal and infamy of it, yet was it so much practised 
by the Grecians, that they could never avoid the imputation of treachery 
and perfidiousness, insomuch that Grceca fides came to be proverbially 
applied to men that were wavering, inconstant, and unfit to be trusted. 
Plautus, 4 by Graca fide mercari, means to buy with ready money, as 
though without that a Grecian was not to be meddled with. Cicero 5 speaks 
after the same manner: ' that nation,' says he, * never made any conscience 
of observing their oaths,' Their own countryman, Euripides, affirms no 
less : 

TLiarov 'EWat oldsv ov&Lv. No sparks of honesty Greece ever had. 



1 Hesiod. 'lWp<u S , ui. 40. D";od. Sic xi. Macrob. Saturnal. v. 19. 

2 Horn. Iliad, xix. 259, 260. 4 Asinaria, i. 3. 47. 

3 Conf. prater Aristot. et Steph. supra laudatos, 5 Pro Fie.cco. 



252 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



And Polybius yet more fully in the sixth book of his history : ' amongst 
the Greeks,' says he, 'if you lend only one talent, and for security have ten 
bonds, with as many seals, and double the number of witnesses, yet all 
these obligations can scarcely force them to be honest.' Yet Ausonius had 
a better opinion of them, unless his words were irony and ridicule, when 
he said to Paulus, 

Nobiscum invenies KaT»v6iibia, si libet uti At my house, too, if you will honest be, 

Non Poena, sed Grceca Jide.— A wanton muse's trifles you may see. E. D. 

The Thessalians in particular were infamous for this vice ; whence, oy 
ewraXuv vofAUffiu, is meant fraud and deeeit; and the other proverb, 
namely, 0sT<raX£v ffoprfta, seems to have had its rise from the treacher- 
ous and double dealing of the Thessalians with their confederates ; a 
memorable instance of which we have in the Peloponnesian war, where, 
in the midst of a battle, they turned sides, and deserting the Athenians, 
went over to the Lacedaemonians ; which reason seems more probable than 
that mentioned by Zenodotus, namely, their solemn vow of a hecatomb of 
men made every year to Apollo, without any design of ever paying it ; 
which they did in imitation of their forefather Thessalus, who made such 
a vow to Apollo, but considering how impious and unpleasing to the god 
it was like to be, neglected the performance of it. The Locrians were no 
less infamous on the same account, whence those proverbial sayings, Ao%- 
^o/ ret? ffuvti'/ixc&s, and KoTt^ut ffvvQvifjiu,, usually denote fraudulent persons 
and practices. And the Lacedaemonians, as they were the most renowned 
of all the Grecians for their valour, temperance, and other virtues, so were 
the most scandalous for their treachery, and contempt of oaths ; whence 
they are 1 called AtpuXoi, i. e. •^/id/rrxi xx) VoXioi, liars and deceitful ; and 2 

Ji-n-dprris 'ivoiKot, iSXia. fiovXev f^ara. Spartans, fam'd ever for base treacheries, 

and are said to have accounted as sacred neither altars, promises, nor 
oaths. 3 And that this was no calumny, may farther appear from the apho- 
rism of Lysander, one of the most eminent generals: 'E^ecprxr^v %ok 
vrxl^Gis /x\v a.ffToa,ya,'koi?, yoXipiovs Vi h'gxots' Boys, said he, are to be 
deceived with dice, but enemies with oaths. Though others will have this 
to be the saying of Dionysius the tyrant. 4 However that be, it is certain 
the Lacedaemonians, though perhaps more just and punctual in private 
affairs, had very little regard for oaths in public business. Their great 
Agesilaus seems to have thought it but a weak obligation, whenever it 
stood in competition with the public good, that great mark to which they 
thought all their actions were to be directed, insomuch that, as Plutarch 
affirms, 3 to serve their country was the principle and spring of all their 
actions ; nor did they account any thing just or unjust, by any measures 
but that. 

The Athenians seem to have had a greater regard for honesty, as may 



lLycoph Ca3sand.ver.U24. 3 Aristoph. Acharn. act. iL 4 Alex, ab Alex. v. 10. 
a Burip. Androm. ver. 446. seen. ii. i> Vita Agesilai. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



253 



appear from the story of Themistocles in Plutarch; for he, telling the 
people he had formed a design, which, if accomplished, would be very 
advantageous to the commonwealth, but might not at this time be com- 
municated to the whole assembly ; they ordered him to impart it to Aris- 
tides in private, who, having heard the matter, came and reported to the 
people that it was indeed a very beneficial contrivance, but withal the 
most unjust in the world ; whereupon they immediately commanded The- 
mistocles to desist from his intention. Diogenian, in his book of collections, 
tells us, that 'AttwaV (ao.£tvs 7 was taken for a sincere and uncorrupt wit- 
ness ; as also 'Arrixh crt<rris, for a true, honest, and untainted faith ; and 
though some would have this proverb taken from the goddess Fides, who 
had a temple at Athens, 1 and others, not from the manners of the people, 
but the nature of their soil, which was so unfruitful, that it brought forth 
just as much as was sown and no more ; whence Attica fides is applied to any 
man that restores all that he was entrusted with ; yet Velleius Paterculus 2 
assures us it was taken from their faithfulness and unshaken loyalty to the 
Romans; whence Attica fides is byFlaccus 3 called certa : by Horace 4 
impolluta : and by Silius 5 pura. Notwithstanding this, their honesty 
was not so firm but that it might sometimes be shaken by the alluring and 
specious temptation of the public good. I will mention one instance of 
this, 6 which is the more remarkable, and more clearly evidences the dis- 
position and temper of that state, because it was approved by the consent 
of the people, and put in execution by Aristides, a man of greater renown 
for justice and upright dealing than any that city ever brought forth. He, 
when the Grecians, after they had utterly routed all the remainder of 
Xerxes' numerous army, designed a common invasion upon Persia, took 
a solemn oath in the name of the Athenians, to observe the league ; but 
afterwards, when things were brought to such a pass as constrained them 
to govern with a stronger hand than was consistent with it, advised them 
to throw the perjury upon him, and manage affairs as their convenience 
required. Upon the whole matter, Theophrastus tells us that this person 
was, hi his own private affairs, and those of Ins fellow-citizens, nicely just; 
but in public matters did many things according to the state and condition 
of his country, for whose sake he frequently committed acts of injustice. 
Then he adds, that it was reported of him, that to one who was in debate, 
whether he should convey a certain treasure from Delos to Athens, con- 
trary to the league, at the persuasion of the Samians, he should say, ' that 
the thing was not just, but expedient. 



1 Plant in Aulul. 3 Aeron, iv. 5 Bell. Punic, xiii. 

2 Hl3t - "■• v 4 Lib. iii. CM. 16. 6 Plutarch, in Vit Aristidis. 



Y 



254 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. VII. 

OF THE GRECIAN DIVINATION, AND ORACLES IN GENERAL. 1 

It was a received opinion in all ages, that the gods were wont to converse 
familiarly with some men, whom they endowed with extraordinary 
powers, and admitted to the knowledge of their counsels and designs. 
These are by the Greeks called ^avrs/j, and pavrtxk is a general name for 
all sorts of divination, and signifies the knowledge of things obscure, or 
future, which cannot be attained by any ordinary or natural means. It is 
divided by Plato, 2 who is followed herein by Aristotle, Plutarch, and 
Cicero, into two species, one of w r hich is called a.rt^os- 9 a^etKreg, and 
naturalisj i. e. unartificial, or natural divination, as not being attained by 
any rules, precepts, or observations, but inspired into the diviner, without 
his taking any farther care about it, than to purify and prepare himself to 
receive the divine afflatus. With this sort were all those endued, who 
delivered oracles, and foretold future events by inspiration, without 
observing external signs or accidents: such were the sibyls, and other 
enthusiasts. There are some that reduce divination by dreams under this 
species because in them revelations were made without any pains or art 
of the dreamers ; but herein lies the mistake of this argument, that not the 



1 Unlike ihe religions of the 
east, the religion of the Greeks 
was contained in no sacred books, 



rve to unite a nation by 

of a common religious creed; but 
it was fitted for gaining that end 
in so far as the external rites of 
religion afforded opportunities. 
But as there was no caste of 
priests, nor even a united order 
of priesthood, it naturally fol- 
lowed, that though particular 
sanctuaries could, in a certain 
degree, become national temples, 
this must depend, for the most 
part, on accidental circumstan- 
ces ; and where everything was 
voluntary, nothing could be set- 
tled by established forms such as 
prevailed in other countries. The 
temples of Olympia, Delos, and 
Delphi, may justly be denomina- 
ted national temples, though not 
in the same sense in which we 
call those of the Jews and the 
JSgyptians national; but their ef- 
fects were, perhaps, more con- 
siderable and more secure, be- 
cause everything connected with 
them was voluntary. These tem- 
ples also cherished and matured 
the fruits of civilization, though 
not in the same manner as those 
of Egypt and iEthiopia ; nor had 
their national festivals, their 
oracles, and their Amphityonic 
assemblies, the same effects as 
hi other countries. But while we 



enumerate them individually, let 
it not be forgotten that all these 
fruits ripened on one and the 
same branch ; that they, there- 
fore, closely united, could ripen 
only together; that by this very 
ineans they gained a higher value 
in the eyes cf the nation ; and 
that this value must he estimated 
by their influence, rather than by 
what they were in themselves. 

We shall hardly be mistaken 
if we consider those sanctuaries 
the most ancient which were ce- 
lebrated for their oracles. Those 
of Dodona and Delphi were de- 
clared tn be so by the voice of 
the nation ; and both of them, 
especially that of Delphi, were 
so far superior to the rest, that 
they are in some measure to be 
esteemed as the only national 
oracles. We leave to others all 
farther investigation of ihese in- 
stitutions ; the question which 
claims our attention is, how far 
they contributed to preserve the 
spirit and union of the nation. 
They did not effect this by being 
regarded as intended only for the 
Greeks. Foreigners also were 
permitted to consult the oracles ; 
and to pay for the answers which 
they received by consecrated 
presents. But this took place 
only in particular cases ; and 
was done probably by none but 
rulers and kings, from the time 
when Alyattes first made appli- 
cation to Delphi. In other cases 



the difference of language was 
alone sufficient to keep foreigner? 
away, as the Pythian priestesi 
always spoke in Greek. These 
instiiutions belonged, if not ex- 
clusively, yet principally, to the 
Greeks; of whom both individu- 
als and cities could always have 
access to them. They formed the 
connecting link between the go- 
vernment and the popular reli- 
gion. Their great political in- 
fluence, especially in the states 
of the Doric race, is too well 
known to make it necessary for 
us to adduce proofs of it. That 
influence, doubtless, became less 
Efter the Persian war. Whether 
this diminution of influence was 
injurious or advantageous cannot 
easily be decided. When the 
reciprocal hatred of the Athenians 
and Spartans excited them to ther 
fury of civil war, how much suf- 
fering would have been spared 
to Greece, if the voice of the 
gods had been able to avert the 
storm. But the affairs of the 
Delphian temple were still con- 
sidered as the concern of the 
Grecian nation; and even after 
infidelity had usurped the place 
of the ancient superstition, the 
violation of that sanctuary gave 
the politicians a pretence suffi- 
cient to kindle a civil war, which 
was destined to cost Greece its 

liberties Hetrm, pp. 108—111. 

2 Phaedo. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



dreamers, but the interpreters of dreams, were the diviners; and that their 
skill was the effect of art and observation, is evident from the many books 
written upon that subject, and the various signs delivered in them to make 
conjectures by: in like manner, it was not so much the business of an 
augur to see the birds of divination, which might casually happen to any 
rude and unskilful person, but after he had seen them, to interpret what 
was portended by them. 

These, therefore, with others of the like nature, are to be referred to 
the second species of divination, called rz%vixh, or artificial, because it 
was not obtained by immediate inspiration, but was the effect of experi- 
ence and observation, as soothsaying: or depended chiefly upon human 
art, invention, or imposition ; which, nevertheless, was not supposed to be 
altogether destitute of divine direction and concurrence : such was divina- 
tion by lots. 

I shall begin with the first sort of divination, as having a more imme- 
diate dependence on the gods : and first with the noblest part of it, I mean 
oracles, winch are called in Greek ^vo-po), %(>nff(ji.uVtau 9 ^^^y^^^j 
poivTivftccTa, Siovr^otfia,, S-i/rcrl(r/>(,a.ra, $icr(pa,<rx, &c. The interpreters, or 
revealers, of oracles, ^^trjxoXoyot, &c. The consulters, SioTroovrot, &c. 
The places in which they were delivered, ^^a-r^tx, ^xvri7x 7 &c. Some 
of these names were also applied to other sorts of divination. 

Of all the sorts of divination, oracles had always the greatest repute, as 
being thought to proceed in a more immediate manner from the gods; 
whereas, others were delivered by men, and had a greater dependence on 
them, who might, either out of ignorance, mistake, or out of fear, hopes, 
or other unlawful and base ends, conceal, or betray the truth ; whereas they 
thought the gods, who were neither obnoxious to the anger, nor stood in 
need of the rewards, nor cared for the promises of mortals, could not be 
prevailed upon to do either of them. On this account, oracles obtained so 
much credit and esteem, that in all doubts and disputes their determina- 
tions were held sacred and inviolable j 1 and vast numbers flocked to them, to 
be resolved in all maimer of doubts, and ask counsel about the management 
of their afiairs; insomuch that no business of great consequence and 
moment was undertaken, scarce any peace concluded, any war waged, 
any new form of government instituted, or new laws enacted, without the 
advice and approbation of an oracle: 2 Croesus, before he durst venture to 
declare war against the Persians, consulted not only all the most famous 
oracles in Greece, but sent ambassadors as far as Libya, to ask advice of 
Jupiter Ammon. Minos, 3 the Cretan lawgiver, conversed with Jupiter, 
and received instructions from him, how he might new-model his govern- 
ment. Lycurgus also made frequent visits to the Delphian Apollo, and 
received from him that platform, which he afterwards communicated to 
the Lacedaemonians. Nor does it matter whether these things were really 
true or not, since it is certain they were believed to be so ; for hence appears 

1 Lib - xvi - 2 Herod. Li. 3 Strabo, lcc. cit- 

Y 2 



256 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES 

what great esteem oracles -were in, at least among the vulgar, when law- 
givers, and men of the greatest authority, were forced to make use of 
these methods to win them into compliance. Nay, we are informed, that 
inspired persons were thought worthy of the greatest honour and trusts ; 
insomuch that sometimes we find them advanced to the throne, and 
invested with regal power; because, being admitted to the counsels of 
the gods, they were best able to provide for the safety and welfare of man- 
kind. 

This reputation stood the priests, who had their dependence on the ora- 
cles, in no small stead ; for finding their credit thus thoroughly established, 
they allowed no man to consult the gods, before he had offered costly sacri- 
fices, and made rich presents to them: whereby it came to pass, that few 
besides great and wealthy men were admitted to ask their advice, the rest 
being unable to defray the charges required on that account, which con- 
tributed very much to raise the esteem of oracles among the common 
people, men generally being apt to admire the things they are kept at 
some distance from, and on the other hand, to contemn what they are 
familiarly acquainted with. Wherefore, to keep up their esteem with the 
better sort, even they were only admitted upon a few stated days : at other 
times, neither the greatest prince could purchase, nor persons of the greatest 
quality anywise obtain an answer. Alexander himself was peremptorily 
denied by the Pythia, till she was by downright force compelled to ascend 
the tripos, when, finding herself unable to resist any longer, she cried out 
'Avinviros u, thou art invincible $ winch words were thought a very lucky 
omen, and accepted instead of a further oracle. 

J As to the causes of oracles, it has been disputed whether they were the 
revelations of demons, or only the delusions of crafty priests. Van Dale 
has composed a large treatise in defence of the latter opinion ; but his 
arguments are not of such force, but that they might, without difficulty, 
be refuted, if either my design required, or time permitted me to answer 
them. However that be, it was the common opinion that Jupiter was the 
first cause of this and all other sorts of divination ; it was he that had the 
books of fate, and out of them revealed either more or less, as he pleased, 
to inferior demons ; for which reason he was surnamed jJetvofiQuios. 2 

Of the other gods Apollo was reputed to have the greatest skill in mak- 



1 Bishop Sherlock, in his dis- 
courses concerning the use and 
intent of prophecy, expresses his 
opinion that it is impious to dis- 
believe the heathen oracles, and 
to deny them to have been given 
out by the devil; to which as- 
sertion Dr Middleton, in his Ex- 
amination, &c, replies, that he 
is guilty of this impiely,and that 
he thinks himself warranted to 
pronounce, from the authority of 
the best and wisest heathens and 
the evidence of these oracles, as 
well as from the nature of the 
thing itself, that they were all a 
mere imposture, whoily invented 



and supported by human craft, 
without any supernatural aid or 
interposition whatever. He adds 
that Eusebius declares that there 
were 600 writers among the hea- 
thens themselves Avho had pub- 
licly written against the reality 
of them. Although the primitive 
fathers constantly affirmed them 
to be the real effects of a super- 
natural power, and given out by 
the devil, yet M. de Fontenelle 
maintains that while they pre- 
ferred this war of combating the 
£uthoritv of the orac es, as most 
commodious to themselves and 
the state of the controversy be- 



tween them and the heathens, 
yet they believed them at the 
same time to be nothing else but 
the eftects of human fraud and 
contrivance, which he has illus- 
trated by the examples of Cle- 
mens of Alexandria, Origen, and 
Eusebius. That the oracles were 
silenced about the time of our 
Saviour's ;;dvent may be proved, 
says Dr Leland, f.om express 
testimonies, not only of Christi- 
ans, but even of heathens them- 
selves. — LnmprifTfi, loc. c>t. 

2 Eustath. in Homer, liiad. 
250. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



257 



nig predictions, and therefore it was one of his offices to preside over, and 
inspire all sorts of prophets and diviners: but this was only in subordina- 
tion to Jupiter, and by converse with, and participation from him, as 
iBschylus 1 gives us to understand, when he says, 

SrsXAeti/ oTrwf ra^toro, ravra yap Tra~r,p Send, quickly send, for so by Jove inspir'd 
Zevj lyKadeT Ao£.'a. . Phoebus commands H. H. 

On the same account, in another place, 2 when he brings in Apollo com- 
manding men to reverence his own oracles, he adds, they must also pay 
due respect to those of Jupiter, without mentioning any of the other pro- 
phetic deities. Others report, that Apollo received the art of divination 
from Pan; 3 others will have him instructed by Themis, 4 others by Glau- 
cus. 5 Lastly, some were of opinion, rhv 'Atyjoblrw Quox/iav uvcci ftwrzgx 
oXav, itu.ff'4s fiocvTuac; kcc) tfgoyvu><ria>; zugtrhv, that the heavenly Venus zvas 
the mother of the universe, and the inventor of all sorts of divination and 
prognostication. 

The manner of delivering oracles was not in all places, nor at all times, 
the same: in some places, the gods revealed them by interpreters, as did 
Apollo at Delphi; in others, more immediately, giving answers them- 
selves, which they either pronounced viva voce, or returned by dreams, or 
lots (the former of which were supposed to be inspired, and the latter 
directed by the gods), or some other way. The oracles which the gods 
themselves pronounced, were termed %o'/}<rf4o s t avTotymor those which were 
delivered by interpreters, ^'/j^o) vvoQnrixoi. In some places several 
ways were used: for instance, they who consulted Trophonius, after hav- 
ing" proposed their questions, first received an answer in a dream; and, if 
that was obscure, and hard to be understood., had the meaning of it inter- 
preted by men kept for that purpose, and instructed in that art by the 
deity. Several other ways also this god used to give answers to inquirers, 
as Pausanias reports in his description of Boeotia ; and in another place, s 
the same author mentions these heroic verses, as spoken by Trophonius: 

Jlp\v topi vvufSaXkeiv Ijfd/MHff, OTTjaao-Qe rp6-rra:pv, Till a distinguish'd trophy you erect, 

'AiTTTi'iSa Koo-fxr)<ravre^ ifj.hv, t'/v, slVaro vj,$ And to my hallowed shield pay due respect,. 

Bovpos ' ' Anio-ofxLvrj^ Mso-c^rto?' avrip s>i roi Which in the temple, with rich presents graced, 

'Afipalv Svofiisvewv p9^a orpa.rjv aaTLvraoy. Ey valiant Aristomenes was placed: 

Let not the bloody ensigns be displayed, This when you've done, you may expect that I 

Nor least attack upon your foes be made, Will crown these toils of war with .joyful victory. 

H. H. 

Which answer was given to the Thebans before the battle at Leuctra, 
wherein, by the conduct of Epaminondas, they gave the Lacedaemonians 
and their confederates a notable overthrow. 

1 In Fraem. S;icerdotum, edit, 3 ApoKonius. Argon, iii. 5 Athen;rus, vji, 

Lrf»isA p-,g m. 4 Orpheus, Hymno in Tbemfc 6 Messev.ic^ 

'Z I'.iu/Kinidibus. dem, ver. 6. 



y3 



258 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. VIII. 

OF THE ORACLES OF JUPITER. 

1 Dodoxa 2 is by some thought to have been a city of Thessaly ; by others 
it was placed in Epirus ; and others, to reconcile these two opinions, will 
have two Dodonas, one in Thessaly, and another in Epirus. They that 
place it in Epirus (and that is generally believed to have been the seat of 
the oracle, whether there was another Dodona in Thessaly or not), are 
no less divided in their opinions about it; for some of them will have it in 
Thesprotia, others in Chaonia, or Molossia; but Eustathius 3 has under- 
taken to decide the controversy, telling us that it did indeed once belong 
to the Thesprotians, but afterwards fell into the hands of the Molossians ; 
and he is herein confirmed by Strabo. 

It was first built by Deucalion, who, in that universal deluge, wherein 
the greatest part of Greece perished, retreated to this place, which by 
reason of its height secured him from the waters. Hither resorted to him 
all that had escaped from the inundation, with whom he peopled his new 
built city, calling it Dodona, either from a sea-nymph of that name, or 
Dodon, the son, or Dodone the daughter of Jupiter and Europa; or from 
the river Dodon, or Don: for so it is called by Stephanus; or as some 
say, from Dodanim the son of Javan, who was captain of a colony sent to 
inhabit those parts of Epirus. At the same time, Deucalion is said to 
have founded a temple, which he consecrated to Jupiter, who is thence 
called Dodonasus. Tins was the first temple in Greece ; but the oracle 
seems to have been a considerable time before it ; for Herodotus, in the 
second book of his history, reports, that it was the most ancient of all 
oracles in Greece, which would be false, had it not been before Deucalion'"s 
time ; for he, as the poet tells us, having escaped the deluge, consulted 
the oracle of Themis on mount Parnassus, on what means he should use to 



1 I am aware, that many pas- 
sages in the classical writers 
p scribe this famed temple to the 
Molossi, but it cannot, I think, 
he doubted that it originally be- 
longed to Thesprotia. This is 
clearly stated by Strabo, who ob- 
serves, that the tragic poets, to- 
gether with Pindar" bestow the 
epithet of Thesprotian on the 
lemple and the god worshipped 
there. Subsequently, however, 
Dodona passed under the do- 
minion of the Molossians. It is 
somewhat remarkable, that, not- 
withstanding the frequent men- 
tion of this renowned oracle by 
ihe poets, geographers, and his- 
torians of Greece, its site sh uld 
at the present day have remained 
undiscovered. 

This is partly to be accounted 
fci from the political change 



above mentioned, and still more 
from the imperfect knowledge 
which we have till lately pos- 
sessed of the present state of 
Epirus, and irs comparative geo- 
graphy. Within the last twenty 
years however, the spirit of en- 
terprise and classical feeling, 
which animates our countrymen, 
has rendered the interior of Epi- 
rus much better knoAvn to us ; 
intelligent and well-informed 
men have traversed its plains and 
mountains, and explored its ruins 
in various directiorrs; thus en- 
abling the geographer by their 
researches to construct a map far 
superior in every respect to any 
that had hitherto appeared. If 
tlieir endeavours to discover the 
site of Dodona have failed, itcan- 
i-ot be attributed to any want of 
knowledge, discrimination, or 



activity in the pursuit ; we must 
rather refer it to the indetermin- 
ate character of the local de- 
scription, given by the ancients 
themselves, of Dodona. Here we 
are not assisted by any accurate 
traveller like Fausanias, nor 
have we any Itineraries or mea- 
surements of distances to guide 
us; all is vague and indefinite: 
and even after a most careful 
comparison of all the various 
passages in which the name oc- 
curs, very different opinions may 
be entertained on the subject. — 
Cramer's Greece, pp. 115, 116. 

2 Eustath. in II. p. 254, et 
IL p. 1074, edit. Basil. Stei li- 
anus Eyzant. 

3 Odyss. f, p. 534. 

4 Ge >gr. x. 



9. Cybele_l' 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



259 



replenish the country with people ; and the same oracle is said to have 
been jointly possessed by the Earth and Neptune, before it belonged to 
Themis. 

The origin of it, though, like all other things of such antiquity, wrapped 
up in fables, I will repeat to you out of the forementioned place of Hero- 
dotus, where he hath given us two accounts of it ; the first of which, he 
tells us, he received from the priests of Jupiter at Thebes in Egypt, which 
was this: that the Phoenicians had carried away two priestesses from that 
place, one of whom they sold into Libya, the other into Greece ; that each 
of these had erected the first oracle in those nations, the one of Jupiter 
Ammon, the other of Jupiter Dodonseus. 1 The other account was given 
him by the priestesses at Dodona, and confirmed by all those that minis- 
tered in the temple, namely, that two black pigeons taking their flight 
from Thebes in Egypt, one of them came to Libya, where she commanded 
that an oracle should be erected to Ammon ; the other to Dodona, where 
she sat upon an oak-tree, and speaking with a human voice, ordered that 
there should be in that place an oracle of Jupiter. Afterwards, Herodotus 
delivers his own opinion about the matter, which was this: that if the 
Phoenicians did really carry two women from Thebes, and sell one of 
them in Libya, and the other in Greece, it might be probable that she 
that was transported into Greece was sold to the Thesprotians, in that 
country, which in his time was called Hellas, but formerly named Pelas- 
gia, where she instituted the oracle to Jupiter, and gave instructions after 
what manner he was to be worshipped. To confirm this conjecture, he 
adds, that those two oracles have a near resemblance to each other. More- 
over, he tells us, the two women were said to be black, because they came 
from Egypt, and were called doves, because their language was barbarous, 
and as unintelligible as that of birds ; afterwards, when they had learned 
the Greek tongue, they were said to speak with a human voice. Eusta- 
tathius 2 gives two reasons more for this appellation ; the first is, that they 
were called HiXuat, or doves, q. IlsXs^avrs/s, because they made their 
predictions by the observation of those birds ; as they who made use of 
crows in divination were named Kogctxoftdvrus. The other reason is, that 



1 Whether the first source of 
oracles may be traced to the two 
Theban females pirated by the 
Phoenicians, and sold respectively 
into Libya and Thesprotia, as the 
Father of History, ii. 56, would 
persuade us: whether with Dio- 
dorus Siculus, v. 67, we should 
ascribe them to so august an ori- 
gin as that of Themis, rrjv e'epiv 

tvphpiav ytyovkvat tZv xpna^tiv: 

or whether with Isaac the Mar- 
onite, cited by Kiicher, we de- 
grade thpm to a diabolic paren- 
tage among the corrupt seed of 
Cham: (Edipus JEgypt. torn. i. 
synt. 3. c. 2. p. 172. it will be 
most discreet toleave undecided; 
and we shall, therefore, adopt 
the dictum of professor Daniel 



Clasen, who has written two 
learned books on oracles in ge- 
neral, and one on the Sibyls in 
particular, in the course of which 
he assures us, id certius est, ora- 
culorum initium uwertum esse. i. 
5. This must be received as no 
slight admission by a writer who 
maintains through more than 
800 quarto pages, first with a 
needless interposition of super- 
natural agency, that the devil 
was a prime mover of all ora- 
cles ; and secondly, in opposition 
to much sound historical evi- 
dence, and satisfactory proof, 
that their responses ceased 
altogether at our Saviour s ad- 
vent. Clasen's second position 
is aftirmcd by him in the words of 



Del Rio rather than in his own. 
The failure of prophetic Gas. 
which Plutarch has assigned as 
a cause for oracular silence, is 
summarily dismissed; and the 
cessation, says the learned Je- 
suit, non tam. tribuendum est va- 
por i seu exhnlationi iili deficienti 
quam virtuti Salvatoris nostri 
Jesu. qu i svpervmiens fortior Jorti 
armato hcec deceptionis vasa ex- 
tnrsit. Disq. Muff. iv. 2. q. 6. p. 
5'35. The physical reason ad- 
vanced by the Greek philoso- 
pher, and the theological one 
adduced by the divine of Ant- 
werp, are perhaps of equal value. 
—Ency. Metrop. Inc. cit 

2 OdivsSi p. 514, 515, edit, 
Basil. * 



200 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



iu the Molossian language, old women were called TliXuoti, and old men 
UiXuot, and those prophetesses being old women, either by a mistake of 
the word, or a poetical equivocation, were called doves ; and why aged 
persons should be thus termed, the old scholiast upon Sophocles 1 informs 
us; for, says he, the three old prophetesses were called HiXnai, q. n«?rc- 
Xtupivui, because of their grey hairs. Servius gives another reason, 2 viz. 
that in the Thessalian tongue, the word srsAs/as is used to signify a pro- 
phetess as well as a dove ; and it seems also no unusual thing amongst the 
ancient Greeks for prophetesses to have the name of doves. 3 

Lastly, others give this account: that in the hieroglyphical way of 
writing, according to Hierapollo, ywouKcz xJactv Wi/^iivao-ccv cc%gi Sowarcy 
B-'iXovrss crnftyvcu tfipHrn^av (jt,z>ciivu.v t,eoy^a<pouffi' they signify a, widow, who 
remains unmarried till death, by a black pigeon : which very well agrees 
with the forementioned relation of Herodotus. Others say, that this oracle 
vias founded by the Pelasgians, who were the most ancient of all the 
nations that inhabited Greece. Of this opinion is Strabo, 4 being led here- 
unto by the testimony of Homer, who calls the same Jupiter by the two 
names of Dodonasus and Pelasgicus, in this verse: 5 

Zev, <Lva &a>&a>va~ie, HeXatTyixs. Jnve, Dodonean god, Pelasgian ! 

Hesiod, whose testimony also Strabo makes use of, is yet more express . 

Aocdwvrjv, <p7,y6v re IlaXao-yaiv Uoavov rjKtv. He to Dodona came, and the hallowed oak, 

The seat of the Pelasgi.— 

And this seems somewhat more probable ; especially if what is commonly 
reported of Deucalion deserve any credit, viz. that he saved himself from 
the deluge, not on the top of the mountain at Dodona, but on Parnassus, 
where was the oracle of Themis, consulted by him after his deliverance. 
Strabo relates another fabulous opinion concerning the foundation of this 
oracle, out of Suidas' Thessalica, who, out of a design to gratify the Thes- 
salians with a new invented fable, has reported that the oracle of Dodona 
was translated into Epirus out of Pelasgia, a country of Thessaly, being 
accompanied by a great number of women, from whom the prophetesses 
in after ages were descended : and that Jupiter received from them the 
appellation of Pelasgicus. 

The persons that delivered the oracles were, at the first, men, as Strabo 
and Eustathius have observed out of Homer, who calls them in the mas- 
culine gender, 'T<7ro<pr l <rce.s, and : G 

Zfu, ava. Auiiuvale, IT«Xa<ryt*-e, Trj\6e* vat'ajv, Thou, whom Dodona's frozen cliffs revere, 

Aooiuivrji peilwv 6vTx ei / JL ^P ov ' <V<P' & SeXXoi Where the prophetic Selli dwell around, 

Sot valovo" irro<pf)Tcu avtrrTonoces X a i* a <-*vvai. And lie with unwash'd feet along the ground. 

Jove, Dodonean god, Pelasgian ! hear I Sothebv. 

Where some, as we are there informed by Eustathius, read ap.<p) £s a "EX- 
X*h making those priests to be caliecl He Hi; but the former reading, he 
tells us, is more generally received. The Selli are so called from Sella?, 



1 Trarhin. v^r 17G. 

2 In Tug. Ectog. is. 13. 



3 Lycoph. Cassandr. vcr. 3D7. 

4 Luo^r. vii. 



5 II. 235 

(j L; C. ClU 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



201 



a town in Epirus; or, according to Enstathius, from the river called by 
Homer Selleis: 1 

"Kyaysv H *X$vro, Trora/xoZ air'o s*XA-.; f kto S . Whom he from Ephyra and Selleis brought. 

But herein he contradicts Strabo, who affirms, that this river doth not 
belong to Ephyra in Thresprotia; for that neither there, nor yet in Molos- 
sia, was ever any river of that name, but to another Ephyra, which is a 
city of Elis in Peloponnesus. The same were called Elli, or Helli, from 
Ellus the Thessalian, from whom Ellopia, a country about Dodona, re- 
ceived its name: and Philochorus in Strabo is of opinion that these priests 
were named Elli from this region; but Pliny will have the Selli, and the 
inhabitants of Ellopia, to have been a different people. Apollodorus, in 
Strabo, thinks they were called "EXXoi, axo ra>* \\Zv } from the fens and 
marshes near the temple of Dodona. We are informed by Aristotle, that 
the country of the Selli was inhabited by the Grseci, who were vdv "EXXfjvg,-, 
in his time called Hellenes. And Hesychius reports, that Aiog U^v tv 
Aaihu-vr,, Jupiter's temple in Dodona was called 'EXXa. Whence it is pro- 
bable that these men were first called Helli, and not Selli. The same is 
farther proved by the scholiast upon Homer, 2 from Pindar, who derives 
the name from one Hellus, rov Tg&rov xxradii^avros to juxvnJov' zvho first 
discovered the oracle. Afterwards, either by a confusion of the words 
r ' E/.Xh, in Homer, which might easily happen, when it was customary to 
write continuo ductn, 'without distinction of words , or sentences; or by 
changing the aspiration into the letter <r, which grammarians have ob- 
served to be a common variation, they were called Selli. However that 
be, from the two epithets of kn^efoveohis, and xupctizuvai, given them by 
Homer, Strabo concludes they were barbarous and uncivilized. Eusta- 
thius 3 tells us they were named %ap,audvKi, because they slept upon the 
ground in skins, and in that posture expected prophetical dreams from 
Jupiter. Others, he tells us, would have them called %ctp.atnvvctt, because 
they did not lie in beds, but upon the bare ground ; and uvivrrcToh;, be- 
cause they never went out of the temple, and therefore had no occasion to 
wash their feet. 4 

Lastly, others will have these names to be understood in a symbolical 
and figurative sense, thus: Xa/zocnvvca ph, avmrovrobis Tt, rovritrn xx/ua.} 
filv ilva^ofjcvjoi, ccviTrTUfjiivoi Be <rwv na.rca <rou; ^ixvotcci;, £/a t^v Iv (mcvtuoiis 
qaXiffoQicLy i. e. their bodies indeed did lie upon the ground, but their minds, 
by the assistance of prophetical philosophy, mounting higher, soared above 
these lower regions. The same, with other accounts of these titles, are also 
given by the old scholiast upon that passage of Homer. 

There is a report, grounded upon the testimony of Pherecydes, that 
before the time of the Selli, the temple of Dodona was inhabited by the 
seven daughters of Atlas, that were the nurses of Bacchus, and from this 



1 Iliad o'. 531. 

2 Iliad, r', Bjftli 



I Ilir.d. t\ jv 1074. edit. Br.sil. 
4 Eurip. in Erectuheus, ver. 



202 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



temple called Dodonides. Their names were these : Ambrosia, Eudora, 
Pasithoe, Coronis, Plexaure, Pytho, and Tyehe, or Tythe. However that 
be, it is certain that in later ages the oracles were pronounced by three 
old women; and Strabo tells us this change was made, when Jupiter 
admitted Dione to cohabit with him, and receive divine honours in this 
temple; nor was it strange or unusual that the same temple should belong 
to two deities ; for Apollo and Bacchus were worshipped in the temple at 
Delphi, Apollo and Branchus, or, as others affirm, 1 Jupiter and Apollo at 
Miletus. 

2 Of the people who consulted this oracle, all others received answers 
from women, but the Boeotians received theirs from men ; and the reason 
of this custom was this • in a war between the Boeotians and Pelasgians, 
the Boeotians coming to Dodona, to inquire of Jupiter the event of the 
war, received answer, that their enterprise should have success, if they 
would act wickedly. Upon this, the Boeotians, suspecting that the pro- 
phetess spoke in favour of the Pelasgians (they being the first founders of 
that oracle), seized her, and cast her into the fire, justifying the lawfulness 
of the fact. On the other hand, they that ministered in the temple, think- 
ing it impious to put to death, especially in so sacred a place, persons 
uncondemned, would have had them refer the matter to the two surviving 
prophetesses: but the Boeotians alleging that no laws in the world per- 
mitted women to do judgment, it was agreed that two men should be in 
joint commission with them. When the time to pass sentence was come, 
they were condemned by the women, and absolved by the men; where- 
upon, as was usual when the number of voices was equal on both sides, 
the Boeotians were acquitted and dismissed. Ever after, it was estab- 
lished that men only should give answers to the Boeotians. 

The prophets of this temple were commonly called tomuri, the pro- 
phetesses tomurse, from Tomurus, a mountain in Thesprotia, at the foot 
of which stood the temple. So commonly was this word made use of, 
that it came at last to be a general name for any prophet ; for so Hesychius 
expounds it, and Lycophron 3 in this sense applies it to Pry lis the son of 
Mercury: 

TSfiovps, rrpJf ra X£<rra vnnspi earare. The best of prophets, and the truest too. 

Some are of opinion that all the oracles were here delivered by women, 
and that the Selli were only inhabitants of the neighbouring country, who 
had some employment in the temple, and published the oracles received 
from the prophetesses to other men. Hence they will have them to be. 
called by Homer, not Trgotp'/ircc;, but v9eo^'hra.s' vTotynrois yao Xsyovtri too; 
vrzgt tv. x^'/iffr'AQia. aer^oXovf^ivooi xu) rot; fjtccvTuag ra? yiyvoftivzg utto toiv 
ligiwv lx<p'igovTKg. That name signifying men who lived in the temple, and 
published the answers made hy the priests. 

Near the temple there was a sacred grove full of oaks or beeches, 



1 iStephanus in voce &l6vpa. 



2 Strab. Geogr. ix. 



3 Cassandr yer. 22& 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



263 



which the diyades, fauni, and satyri, were thought to inhabit, and m 
which they were frequently seen dancing under the shade of the trees. 
Before sowing was invented, when men lived upon acorns, those of this 
wood were very much esteemed. 1 

These oaks or beeches were endued with a human voice and prophetical 
spirit, for which reason they were called vrgoffnyogot, and ^av<n*a< Sgas?, i. e. 
speaking and prophesying oaks. And Argo, the ship of the Argonauts, 
being built with the trees of this wood, was endued with the same power 
of speaking, whence Lycophron calls it A^Xn&oov xitrffxv, a chattering mag- 
pie. 2 The reason of which fiction some think was this: the prophets, 
when they gave answers, placed themselves in one of these trees (for some 
will only allow this vocal faculty to one of them), and so the oracle was 
thought to be uttered by the oak, which was only pronounced out of its 
hollow stock, or from among its branches. And some are of opinion, thai 
the oracles were delivered from the branches of the tree, because the pro- 
phetical pigeon is by Herodotus reported (priyou 'l^crScci, to have sat 
upon the tree : and the scholiast upon Sophocles affirms, 3 that ««rsgav« rod 
/xoivruou ^vo Yiaav >riXtiai, above the oracle there were two pigeons. But 
others rather think that oracles were pronounced from the hollow stock, 
both because the prophetess could best be concealed there, and because it 
is expressed and affirmed in the following fragment of Hesiod's Eoa: 

I must not omit the brazen kettles of this place, which some affirm, and 
others again deny, to have been used in delivering oracles. However that 
be, Demon in Suidas reports, they were so artificially placed about the 
temple, that by striking one of them the sound was communicated to all 
the rest. But Aristotle, cited by the same author, or Aristides, as he is 
called by Stephanus the Byzantian, describes the matter thus: that there 
were two pillars, on one of which was placed a kettle, upon the other a boy 
holding in his hand a whip, with lashes of brass, which being by the vio- 
lence of the wind struck against the kettle caused a continual sound, 
whence came the proverb tycShmctlot ^kXxiTov, l&i <ruv pizgoXoyouvruv, or 
rather \-r) tuv /axxgoXoyovvrav, for it was applied to talkative persons. 
Another saying we have, not much different from the former, namely, 
l^iOKv^oc'iuv fjt.a,crri^ which, as some are of opinion, was taken from this 
whip, which, together with the boy and kettle, were all dedicated by the 
Corcyreans. 4 About what time or upon what account this oracle came to 
cease, is uncertain ; but Strabo, 5 who flourished under Augustus Caesar, 
says that in his time the gods had, in a manner, deserted that and most 
other oracles. 

The same author, 6 in his description of Elis, makes mention of an oracle 

1 Virg. Georg. i, 7, 146. 3 Trachin. ver. 174. 5 Lib. vil. 

2 Cassandr. vef. 1319. 4 Epito;n. Strab. vii. ti Lib. vivii 



264 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



of Olympian Jupiter, which was once famous, but did not continue long 
in repute ; yet the temple in which it stood still preserved its ancient 
splendour, and was adorned with magnificent structures, and enriched with 
presents from every part of Greece. Pindar also has taken notice of an 
altar dedicated to Jupiter at Pisa, where answers were given by the poste- 
rity of Janus. 1 

There was another very ancient oracle of Jupiter in Crete, mentioned 
by Strabo, from which Minos is said to have received a platform of the 
laws afterwards enacted by him : 2 

'Ewiapos 3a<rC\av6 Aioj fxeyaKov oaptyrify. Minos, that counsels dar'd with J ore to mix, 

Nine years Crete's sceptre sway'd. 

That is, as Plato in Strabo expounds it, he descended into the sacred cave 
of J upiter (for this oracle was under ground), and received from him those 
precepts which he afterwards made public for the common benefit of man- 
kind. The will of the gods was revealed in this place by dreams, in which 
the gods came and conversed familiarly with the inquirers ; as we leam 
from the story of Epimenides, 3 who lay asleep in this place many year?. 
Pythagoras also descended into this cave to consult the gods, as Diogenes 
Laertius has related in the life of that philosopher. There was a temple 
in the same place dedicated to Jupiter, from which to the city Cnossus 4 
there was a very pleasant high road. It stood upon mount Ida, and 
though Maximus Tyrius, in the forementioned place, calls it Aixrulou 
Aiis ocvrgov,, yet in his twenty-second dissertation, he says it was placed 
on Ida, to which Diogenes Laertius and others agree. It was sometimes 
called 'Aozsnov, from the word agxtroti, to help, or defend; because the 
sons of Titan, being vanquished by Saturn, fled into this cave, and there 
escaped the fury of their pursuing conqueror. 5 



CHAP. IX. 

OF THE ORACLES OF APOLLO. 

Apollo was thought more peculiarly to preside over prophets, and to 
inspire them with the knowledge of future events; whence the enigmatical 
poet calls him Ki^uog, or gainful, from xiobo;, gain, because of the profit 
which mankind received by his predictions. 6 

The oracles of Apollo were not only the most numerous, but of the 
greatest repute; and amongst them the Delphian challenged the first 
place, as well for its antiquity (wherein it contended even with that of 
Dodona), as for the truth and perspicuity of its answers, the magnificence 
of its structures, the number and richness of the sacred ava^ara;, or 
presents, dedicated to the god, and the multitudes which from all parts 



1 Olymp. initio, Od. vi. 

2 Odyss. t', 179. 

J Muxiin. TyriuS, D'ss. xxvli. 



4 Plato de Leg. i. 

5 Etymo'og-. Auctor. 



6 Cassandr. ver. 20S. Tzetes 
ad ilium locum. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



265 



resorted thither for counsel; in which respects it surpassed not only all the 
oracles of other gods, but even those sacred to Apollo himself. 

The place in which the oracles were delivered was called Pythium, the 
priestess Pythia ; the sports also instituted in honour of Apollo were named 
Pythian, and Apollo himself Pythius; either from Python, a serpent, or a 
man for Ins cruelty so called, who possessed this place and was overcome 
'\v Apollo: or a-ro rod rrvtluv, to putrefy; because the carcass of Python 
was suffered to lie there and putrefy: 1 or uko rov <rv§i<r$cu, to inquire; 
because the oracle was there consulted and inquired of: 2 or from Pytho, 
another name of Delphi, the place of this oracle, given it from Pythis, the 
son of Delphus, the son of Apollo. 

The city Delphi 3 was by some thought to be placed in the middle of 
the world ; and the poets feign that Jupiter, being desirous to ascertain 
the central part of the earth, sent forth two eagles, as Pindar majestically 
styles the birds, in a lost passage, of which Strabo has preserved the 
sense ; two swans, as Plutarch calls them, or two crows, as they are 
named by Strabo himself, 4 one from the east, the other from the west, and 
that they met in this place. However that be, it was situated in the 
middle of Greece: whence it is by the poets commonly called 'Outpccko;, 
a navel, because that is the middle part of the human body; and therefore 
Sophocles calls this oracle pio-optpaXov /xuvtuov; and in allusion to that 
name, Strabo and Pausanias say, there was to be seen in the temple the 
figure of a navel, made of white stone, with a riband hanging from it, 
instead of the navel string, and upon it were placed two eagles, in memory 
of the eagles sent forth by Jupiter. But Lactantius and Phurnutus are of 
opinion, that this name was not derived from the situation of the place, 
but from the divine answers given there, which are in Greek called 
'Of&<pa.}, and Varro herein agrees with them. 5 

Concerning the origin of this oracle, there are various reports ; Diodorus 
the Sicilian 6 tells us, it first belonged to Earth, by whom Daphne, one of 
the mountain-nymphs, was constituted priestess ; the same author after- 
wards says, that in a Greek poem, called Eumoipia, it is reported to have 
been sacred both to Earth and Neptune; and that Earth gave answers 
herself, but Neptune had an interpreter named Pyrco, and that afterwards 
Neptune resigned his part to Earth. Tins goddess was succeeded by 
Themis, who gave oracles about the time of Deucalion's deluge, and was 
consulted by him. 7 Some there are that will have Themis to have pos- 
sessed this oracle from the beginning ; which is the less to be wondered 
at, since Themis and the Earth were commonly reputed the same goddess 
under different names, -toWm o^o^a.rm poo^n y.w? whence Themis is 

1 .Homer Hymn, in A poll. ver. this legend by a quiet comment que est falsum ; quod is locus nec 

37 -. on a passage in Ennius, "0 medius t err arum sit, neqne wste- 

■1 Strab. Geogr. ix. Sancte A 'polio qui umbilicum Ur- umbilicus hominis medius. — D; 

li Strah. be. rurum, obtinex!" Umbilicum die- Lingua Latina, vi. 

4 Strab. is. 411. turn aiunt ab umbilico nostra ; 6 Lib. xvi. 16. et Puus. Phoc. 

- b Varro, however, has very quod is medius sit locus tcrrarum 7 Ovid. Met. i. 

■Ijlj overthrown the whole of ui umbilicus in nobis, quod utrum- 8 JE5,-hy!. Prometh. Vfer. StvJSi 
~ Z 



206 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



called, ®fZv vrgso-puTurv, the oldest of the gods} Yet the same authority 
elsewhere, 2 reports, that this oracle was first possessed by the Earth, then 
by Themis, daughter of the Earth, who resigned it to her sister Phoebe, 
by whom it was at length given to Apollo. Pindar, and from him the 
scholiast upon iEschylus, tells us, that Apollo having seized tins oracle 
by force, the Earth endeavoured to precipitate that god into the infernal 
regions. And Euripides reports, 3 that Apollo having expelled Themis, 
was himself expelled by the Earth, but recovered the oracle by the assist- 
ance of Jupiter. A greeable to which relation is that of Apollodorus, that 
Apollo having learned the art of divination from Pan, came to Delphi, 
where oracles were then given by Themis, and having killed Python, the 
serpent which guarded the mouth of the sacred cavern, seized the oracle. 
It must not be omitted, that when this oracle was possessed by the Earth,, 
she returned answers by dreams. Thus Euripides: 4 

y^/« 

The Earth brought forth nocturnal spectres. And afterwards, Apollo 
being deprived of the oracle, prays Jupiter : 5 

UvOicov do/xuv xQoviuv etQlXiiv 6-oi; ^viv, vv%'i0vs t' svorra?. 

To expel the Earth with her nocturnal oracles from the Pythian iemples. 
And this goddess was reputed the author of dreams in other places, as will 
appear in the chapter concerning that sort of divination. Others will have 
the Delphian oracle to have belonged to Saturn ; 6 and we are informed that 
the Grecians received that celebrated answer on tZj ^tzara %tu to "IXiov 
<ffog6'A<rav<?i, that Troy should be taken by them in the tenth year, from this 
god. 7 However that be, it came at length into the hands of Apollo: nor 
did he long enjoy it alone; for in the war against the sons of Titan, Bac- 
chus being mangled and torn in pieces by them, was afterwards restored to 
his brother Apollo, who received him into his temple, and ordered that 
divine honours should be paid him there. 8 Hence some say, the city 
Delphi was so called, q. 'A^zXtpo), brethren , because Apollo and Bacchus 
were both sons of Jupiter. 

We find it related, 9 that this oracle was first discovered by goats, in 
memory whereof, the Delphians, when they asked counsel of the god, for 
the most part offered a goat. The following circumstances led to the dis- 
covery: upon mount Parnassus, where goats were wont to feed, there was 
a deep cavern, with a small narrow mouth, to which, when any of the 
goats approached, they began immediately to leap after an unusual and 
antic manner, uttering strange and unheard-of sounds. The goatherd 
(Plutarch calls him Coretas), observing this, and wondering at the cause, 
went himself to view the cavern, whereupon he was seized with a similar 



1 Arislid. Orat. de Concordia 5 Loc. cit. ver. 1271. 8 Tzetzes in Lycophr. ver. 'Jt9 

ad Rhod. 6 Ccel. Rhodig. Lect. Amiq. 9 Diodor. Sic. Biblioth. Hist, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



26 7 



frenzy, leaping, and dancing, and foretelling things to come. This being 
noised abroad, vast multitudes of people flocked to the place, where as 
many as looked in were possessed after the same manner. At length, 
when many were possessed with such a degree of divine phrenzy, as to 
throw themselves headlong into the chasm, there was an edict issued, by 
which it was made unlawful for any man to approach it ; and a tripos was 
placed upon the mouth of it, upon which a virgin was appointed to sit, 
and there deliver the answers of the god. This is the most common 
account of the origin of the oracle: Pausanias has given others, which I 
forbear to mention. This much, however, is certain (if any thing so 
remote may be called so,) that this oracle was very ancient, and flourished 
above a hundred years before the Trojan war. 

Concerning the tripos placed upon the mouth of the cavern, there are 
different opinions ; some say it was a pot filled with dust, through which 
the afflatus passed into the virgin's belly, and thence proceeded out of the 
mouth ; some that 1 it was a wide-mouthed brass pot, filled with ^(pot, or 
pebbles, by the leaping of which the prophetess made her conjectures; 
others, that it was a large vessel supported by three feet, into which the 
prophetess plunged herself, when she expected an inspiration. But, 
according to the more common opinion, 3 it was not a vessel, but a table 



Fig. 1. 




or seat, on winch the Pythia leaned or sat. The cover of the tripos, cr, 
as some say, the tripos itself, they called "OXpos, which word properly 
denotes a mortar, or round stone, according to Hesychius; whence Apollo 
is called in Sophocles, "EvoXpoc, and his prophetess "EvoX,ui;. And this, 
as some are of opinion, gave occasion to the proverb, 'Ev h'lfiu iwivuo, 
which is applied to those that speak prophetically ; but others derive it 
from a certain diviner, called Holmus; and others refer it to the old 
superstitious custom of sleeping in these oXpot, when they desired a pro- 
Fig. 1. is a tripos from an antique vase in Closes' Outlines. 
Fig. 2. is a tripos from Stuart's Athens. 
1 Schol. in Aristoph. Lysbirate. 2 Cueli. Lcct. Antiq viii. 15. 

Z 2 



268 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



phetical dream. Phurnutus will have the tripos to have been sacred to 
Apollo, either because of the perfection of the number three, or in allusion 
to the three celestial circles, two of which the sun touches, and passes over 
the third in his annual circuit. And the scholiast upon Aristophanes 1 
will have the three legs of the tripos to signify the knowledge of the god, 
as distinguished by the three parts of time, viz., present, past, and future : 

•Oj t' 'in rd t ijvra, ri r" laai/tfya^ tt P 6 t ear to. Who knew things past, and present, and to come. 

The same tripos was not always used; the first was placed there by the 
inhabitants of the neighbouring country; afterwards, when Pelops married 
Hippodamia, the daughter of (Enomaus, king of the Eleans, he presented 
to Apollo a tripos, wrought by Vulcan, which seems to have been that 
made of brass, so famous amongst the poets. There was also another 
tripos of gold, 2 dedicated to Apollo on tins account: certain fishermen at 
Miletus having sold their next draught to some persons that stood by, 
cast their net into the water, and drew up a golden tripos ; whereupon 
there arose a very hot contention between the fishermen and their chap- 
men; the fishermen alleging that they sold nothing but the fish they were 
to take, and that therefore the tripos belonged to them : the buyers, on the 
other hand, replied that they had bought the whole draught, and therefore 
laid a just claim to whatever came to the net. At length, when neither 
side would yield, they agreed to submit the matter to Apollo's deter- 
mination; whereupon they came to Delphi, and there received this 
answer: 

'S*yov6 M.Xifrot., rpCirodos rr^i io'^ov s.wri'j ; To ask what must be with the tripod done 
"Of oo<ply izcLv-oiv 5r ? £Sros, Toi'rut TpiVooa <5oy. Give it to him whose wisdom claims a ri^ht 
•Art thou a native of Miletus, come Above all others. H. H. 

This oracle was given at the time when the seven wise men flourished 
in Greece ; the tripus, therefore, was presented to one of them (which that 
was, is not agreed on by ancient writers) ; he modestly refusing it, they 
offered it to another, and so on to the rest, till it had been refused by them 
all ; whereupon it was determined to consecrate it to Apollo himself, as being 
the fountain of all wisdom. The tripos was called by the Latins cortina, 
of which appellation there are several reasons assigned, for which I refer 
you to the grammarians. Others say cortina was only the cover of the 
tripos, and therefore derive it from the word corium, that is, a skin, be- 
cause it was made, as they say, of Python's skin. Lastly, others more 
probably think it signified the tent within which was kept the sacred tri- 
pos, and that because of its figure, which was like that of a caldron, 
round; upon the same account cortina was used to signify the tiring-room 
in the theatre, or the curtains, or hangings, out of which the players used 
to be ushered on to the stage ; whence also the celestial hemisphere is by 
Eunius called cceli cortina ; and the tholus, or round compass at the top 
cf a theatre, is by another named cortina theatri. 



\ Initio Fj.ri. 



2 SelioL in Aristoph. (tie. citat. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



269 



The person that delivered the oracles of the god was a woman, whom 
they called Pythia, Pythonissa, and Phoebas: the most celebrated of these 1 
was Phoemonoe, who is remarkable not only as being the first priestess of 
that oracle, but more especially because she was the first, as most say, that 
clothed the oracles with heroic verse. 2 But Boeo, a Delphian lady, in one 
of her hymns, reports, that Olen, with the Hyperboreans, first instituted 
this oracle, and returned answers in heroic verse, of which he was the first 
inventor; her words we find in Pausanias to be thus: 

y F,;9a -rot kv/jivr,OTov xpv<rr>'ioiov 1 xreXlaavTo Where Hyperboreans to thy lasting praise 

Haloes 'XKsp^ootwy, Hiyaao^, jt*i 6los 'Ayvievs, &.C. Eternal oracles did consecrate. 

Then she proceeds to enumerate some others of the Hyperboreans, and in 
the end of the hymn adds, 

'a\riv S' os y*vsTo irpSiros $oi'^o»o trpo^ray, Till the first priest of Phcebus, Olen, rose, 

IJpirof <5' dpjai'ajv etreaiv Texr-gvar aoi&riv. And changed for smoother verse their stunning 

No Grecian yet warm'd with poetic fire prose. H. H 

Could fit the unpolished language to the lyre, 

But herein she contradicts, says my author, the common opinion, which 
is grounded on the testimony of ancient writers, who unanimously agree 
in this, that never any but women were the interpreters of this god. Yet 
several prophets are spoken of by iElian. 3 There is mention in Herodo- 
tus 4 of a certain irgaQnrw, prophet, in this place, whose name was Acera- 
tus. And Apollo is said in Homer to choose the men of Crete to publish 
his oracles. 5 But perhaps these men are to be accounted priests and utto- 
(pvTca, who published to others the answers first by them received from 
the Pythia, rather than inspired persons, and prophets strictly so called. 

Venerius 6 is of opinion that there were more than one Pythia at the 
same time ; which he proves out of Herodotus, who, in the sixth book of 
his history, reports, that Cleomenes corrupted with bribes the prophetess 
Perialla, who was vatieuiantium mulierum antistes, ' the president of the 
prophetesses:' but though these words are in the Latin version, yet no 
such thing is said, or can be inferred from the Greek, where Perialla is 
only called vrgof&avTis, which word (however it may seem to signify a pro- 
phet superior to the rest), according to its common acceptation, implies no 
more than ftdvris. Thus Euripides has used it, 7 when he says, ^oofjt.ocvrtg 
xctxav, one that foretelleth evils to come : in which sense Herodotus 
himself in another place has used the verb vaospavrsvcruro. More instances 
would be needless. 

These women were at the first virgins, till one of them was deflowered 
by Echecrates, a Thessalian; after which time, choice was made of women 
above fifty years of age, that so they might either be secured from the 
attempts of lust, or if they should be at any time forced to the violation of 



1 Pausanias in Phocic's- quity that only women were ob- 4 Lib. viii. 37. 

2 She spake, like her sncces- jects of inspiration; a notion 5 Hymn, in Apollin. ver. S03. 
sors, in hexameters, which, for which is easily explained by their 6 De B:vinat. et Orat. Antiq. 
ii. ost part, limped most grievously facdity of hysterical aftectioii. 7 Helena. 

::: domrre!. Pausanias an\is, that Encyc. Mttrop, 

it was the common bei'ieT of anli- 3 De Animal, x. 26. 



270 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



their chastity, having passed the time of childbearing, they might remain 
undiscovered, and not bring the oracles or religion into contempt. Never- 
theless they wore the habit of virgins, thereby to signify their purity and 
virgin modesty. 1 They were obliged to observe the strictest laws of tem- 
perance and chastity; not being allowed to clothe themselves with rich 
and costly apparel, to use fantastical dresses, to anoint themselves with 
perfumes, or to wear purple garments. The Pythia, before she ascended 
the tripos, used to wash her whole body, especially her hair in Castalis, a 
fountain at the foot of Parnassus, where the poets, men inspired by the 
same deity, used to wash and drink. At her first sitting down upon the 
tripos, she shook the laurel tree that grew by it, and sometimes ate the 
leaves. Herself also, and the tripos, were crowned with garlands of the 
same plant. 2 Nor did the Pythia only make use of laurel in this manner, 
but other prophets also, it being thought to conduce to inspiration ; whence 
it was peculiarly called pxvnzov Qutov, the prophetic plant. The Pythia 
being placed upon the tripos, received the divine afflatus in her belly; 
whence she is called lyyot(rrg'i l uu0o;, or o-Ts^vo^avr;?. She was no sooner 
inspired than she began immediately to swell, and foam at the mouth, 
tearing her hair, cutting her flesh, and in all her other behaviour appear- 
ing like one frantic and distracted. But she was not always affected in 
the same manner: for, if the spirit was in a kind and gentle humour, her 
rage was not very violent ; but if sullen and malignant, she was thrown 
into extreme fury, insomuch that, 3 on one occasion, she affrighted not only 
those that consulted the oracle, but the priests themselves, who ran away 
and left her: and so violent was the paroxysm, that in a little time after 
she died. Some say, that under the tripos sometimes appeared a dragon 
that returned answers, and that the Pythia was once killed by him. And 
Eusebius reports, ^^ockovtoc uXCio-Sou trioi tov rgltfoSoi, that a serpent rolled 
himself about the tripod. 

The time of consulting the oracle was only one month in the year. 
This month 4 was called Bveio;, and in the opinion of many was so named, 
<]. <pu<rio;, from <p6uv, to spring up, because it was in the beginning of 
spring, when all things flourish and put forth buds: but this is not the true 
reason, for the Delphians do not use B for $ (as the Macedonians, who for 
ixuXirfTTos, <f?a,Xaxgo$ and Qi^ouKu, say B'tXitfvos, Ba.Xuz.oo; and Bs^ov^a), 
but instead of II; they usually say, jSars/V for <zra~i7v, and fiittoov for kik^m: 
Bvtnos therefore is put for Ylva-io;, so called lik tfuosv, because in that 
month they were allowed to inquire of Apollo's oracle, and this is their 
genuine and country way of speaking. The seventh day of this month 
they esteemed Apollo's birthday, naming it UoXvtpDoos (not woXv<p0ovo$, as 
some read it), not because they baked a sort of cakes called (p§o'i;, but be- 
cause the god then returned a great many answers ; and at the first the 
Pythia gave answers only on this clay, as Callisthenes and Anaxandridas 



1 Diodorus Sicullis. xvi. 

2 Scliol. in Ariitoj h. JPJut. Ver. 33. 



3 Plutarch de Dsfeet. Orac. 

4 Piut. CHiEest. Gtax. V. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



271 



report. And even in later ages oracles used only to be given once every 
month. 

Whoever went to consult the oracle was required to make large presents 
to the god, whereby it came to pass, that this temple, in riches, splendour, 
and magnificence, was superior to almost all others in the world. And 
aphetorice opes, so called from 'AQfoug, a name of Apollo, given him, as 
some say, from sending forth oracles, have been proverbially used for 
abundance of wealth. Another thing required of those that desired 
answers, was, that they should propound their questions in as few words as 
might be. 1 It was the custom also to offer sacrifices to Apollo, in which, 
unless the omens were favourable, the prophetess would not give any 
answer. At these sacrifices there were five priests, 2 named "Oa-ioi, 
holy, who assisted the prophets, and performed many other offices with 
them, being supposed to be descended from Deucalion ; there was one also 
who presided over these, called 'Oincorbg, or purifier; though Plutarch 
says, that the sacrifice slain when any of the "O<rtoi were declared was called 
by that name ; unless instead of to S-vo ( utvov UgiTov, or the sacrifice hilled, 
we might be allowed to read <r<sv 3-uo/u,ivov koiTov, or the person that hilled 
the sacrifice. There was another priest also that assisted the prophetess 
in managing the oracle, whom they called 'Atpvrcog, upon the same account 
that Apollo was so named. 

The answer was always returned in Greek, as appears from Cicero, 3 
who, speaking of the oracle, reported by Ennius to be given to Pyrrhus 
the Epirote, by Apollo, namely, 

Aio te, .Eacida, Rmumos vihcere posse. Fate has decreed the irrevocable doom, 

Go, Pyrrhus, go, engage with warlike Rome, And you the valiant Romans shall o'ercoms. H. H, 

concludes it was not genuine, because the Pythia never used to speak in 
Latin; and in Pyrrhus' time had left off giving answers in verse, which 
had been the custom in all former ages, from the first foundation of the 
oracle, deriving its origin from Phoemonoe, the first Pythia. The an- 
cient Greeks delivered their laws in verse, whence it came to pass, that 
vo/xog, which properly signifies a law, is often used to signify verses or 
songs. The first philosophers, as oft as they thought fit to communicate 
their mysteries to the world, clothed them in verse, and the primitive ages 
scarce seem to have written any thing curious or excellent, nor any thing 
of weight or moment, but in verse. The verses of the Pythia were, for 
the most part, says Plutarch, 4 rude and unpolished, and not comparable to 
those of Homer or Hesiod ; yet, says he, this is no reflection upon Apollo, 
the patron of poets, because he only communicated the knowledge to 
the Pythia, which she delivered in what dress she pleased ; the sense 
therefore was his, the words her own. In the same book he tells us, that 
some were of opinion, that there were poets maintained in the temple, to 
catch the oracles as they were given, and wrap them up in verse. The 



1 Pliiiostrat. Apollon. vi. 5. 
L Z Piut. ioc. cu. 



3 Lib. ii. de Divinatione. 

4 Lib. de Pythias Oiac. 



272 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



verses were, for the most part, hexameter, insomuch that this oracle was 
thought to be none of Apollo's, because it was not heroic: 

Sopoj So^okX^j, oro(/;iLrepos <5' 'Evpiiriirji, To wisdom Sophocles makes just pretence, 

'Ayipiv 6e iravTwv Stu/cpar^y ffotp-iiTZTOj,. Yet does to sage Euripides give place, 

As he and all men must to Socrates. H. H. 

In later ages, when oracles began to grow into disrepute, this custom 
of versifying was left orT. I shall only add one thing more to be observed, 
that as the custom of giving answers in verse never obtained so univer- 
sally but that sometimes they were delivered in prose, as Plutarch has 
proved by a great many instances, so neither was it ever so wholly left o& ? 
but that sometimes oracles were pronounced in verse; an instance whereof 
he giveth in his own time. The oracle concerning the birth of our Savi our 
Christ, which was delivered in heroic verse to the emperor Augustus, is 
mentioned by Eusebius, Zonaras, and others ; and another, which was 
returned in the same sort of verse to Julian the Apostate, shall be repeated 
hereafter. 

The Delphian oracles, if compared with some others, might justly be 
called plain and perspicuous ; and, as Hermeas the philosopher tells us, it 
was usual for those that had received an obscure answer at Dodona to 
desire Apollo at Delphi to explain the meaning of it: he adds also, that 
Apollo had interpreted a great many of them. Nevertheless, they were 
generally very obscure and ambiguous; 1 insomuch that Apollo, as some 
say, was called Aag/a?, because his answers were \o\ot. xat exoXtk, 
crooked and hard to be understood. And Heraclitus in Plutarch, speak- 
ing of Apollo, says, ourz Xzyzi, ours, xovvrru, ozXXa, (rupx'tni, he doth not 
speak the truth plainly, nor yet ivholly conceal it, but only gives small 
hints of it ; so that if the event happened contrary to any man's expecta- 
tion, he might rather find fault with his own interpretation of the oracles, 
than call in question either the knowledge or veracity of Apollo. The 



1 The ambiguity of the oracu- 
lar responses has always been a 
subject of remark: in this indeed 
all the artifice and adroitness of 
the priests directly centered. 
Every prediction was susceptible 
of a double meaning, and the ve- 
racity of the god in this way re- 
mained safe from impeachment. 
It must be remarked, however, 
that this fatal ambiguity on the 
part of the oracles does not con- 
line itself merely to the ages of 
tradition and fable. On the con- 
trary, it becomes the more fre- 
quent the more men part with the 
improper and degrading notions 
of the deity which they had ori- 
ginally entertained. As long as 
men are still sufficiently rude and 
ignorant to believe the gods 
capable of voluntary falsehood, 
the predictions of oracles need be 
marked by no ambiguity ; a devi- 
ation from truth on the part of 
the deity is in such a condition 
of society regarded merely as a 
mark of divine anger. But when 
the character of the godsii belter 



understood, and when their at- 
tributes are made to assume a 
more perfect and becoming form, 
their honour is consulted, ahd 
the hypothesis of intentional 
falsehood, on their part is no 
longer admitted. The predic 
tions of Jupiter in the Iliad are 
false but not obscure, whereas 
the oracles mentioned in Herodo- 
tus are obscure in order not to 
be false. Thus, it is not merely 
Laius, who, by exposing his 
newly-born child, prepares the 
accomplishment of ihe very pre- 
diction which he believed he was 
eluding; it is not Croesus alone, 
who rushes to his own destruc- 
tion by marching against the king 
of Persia, because the gods had 
announced to him that by cross- 
ing a certain river he would 
overthrow a great empire; — at a 
much later period than all this, 
we find the Pythoness inducing 
the Lacedaemonians by a re- 
sponse of similar ambiguity to 
engage in a war with the Tegas- 
ans, who put them to the route 



(Herod, i. 66 ); and again we 
see the oracle of Dodona, in 
counselling the Athenians to 
establish themselves in Sicily, 
excite them to engage in a war 
with Syracuse, which proved the 
primary cause of their downfall 
and ruin, while, all the time, the 
Sicily indicated by the oracle 
was merely a small hill in the 
neighbourhood of Athens. (Pan- 
san. viii. 2.) In fine, it was at a 
period characterized by the ge- 
neral diffusion of mental culture, 
that Epaminondas, who had al- 
ways avoided maritime expedi- 
tions, because the gods had 
warned him to beware of pclagos, 
that is, as he thought, the sea, 
died in a wood which bore this 
name in the vicinity of Mantinea. 
These anecdotes, whether we 
regard the occurrences connected 
with them as authentic facts, or 
otherwise, serve nevertheless to 
show the prolongation of popular 
belief on this all-engrossing io- 
nic.— Anthou's Lcmpiicrc, vt-1. li, 

1 . iocs. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



273 



reason of this affected obscurity is said to have been this, namely, Ob za.6x- 
xci.0a.oov iQayrrzo-tfczv Szfttrov, 1 &c. that impure persons ought not to he 
admitted to sacred things : being a profanation of the mysteries, and other 
things relating to religion, to communicate them to the vulgar and igno- 
rant. 

The veracity of this oracle was so famous, that To, S« rtfvrohos, the 
responses given from the tripos, came to be used proverbially for certain 
and infallible truths ; and, as Cicero rightly argues, it is impossible the 
Delphian oracle should ever have gained so much repute in the world, or 
have been enriched with such vast presents from almost all kings and 
nations, had not the truth of its predictions been attested by the experience 
of all ages. But in later times the case was altered; and so Cicero tells 
us, it was a long time before his days ; Demosthenes, who flourished three 
hundred years before him, complained that the Pythia did ^iX;?r«r/^g/v, or speak 
as Philip the Macedonian would have her. Before that time, she was said 
to receive a bribe of Clisthenes, to persuade the Lacedaemonians to free 
the Athenians from the tyrants that were imposed on them. Perialla, the 
Pythia, was deprived of her office for being corrupted by one of Cleome- 
nes' agents, to say that Demaratus, Cleomenes' colleague, was not the true 
son of Aristo, king of Sparta, to the end it might be thought he was not 
his lawful successor, and upon that account be dethroned. 2 

At what time, or upon what account, this oracle came to cease, is un- 
certain: Strabo has told us, 3 that in his time it had lost its ancient repu- 
tation. Dio will have it to have been extinct from the time that it was 
polluted by Nero, who killed men it; to crro/mov VZ ov hgov ro frvivpa, Scr/iu, 
in the cavern's mouth, out of ivhich the sacred inspiration asce?ided. In 
Juvenal's time the gods had quite forsaken it, if any credit may be given 
to the following words: 4 

Delphis oracida cessunt. The Delphian oracles are now no more. 

Minutius Felix reports, that cautum illud et ambiguum defecit oraculum, 
cum et politiores homines et minus creduli esse coeperunt ; 5 ' this cautious 
and ambiguous oracle gave over speaking, when men began to be more 
polite and less credulous.' Lucan tells us that it had ceased a long time 
before the battle at Pharsalia. 6 But this must not be understood of a total 
defect, or a perpetual silence ; for this oracle 7 repeatedly lost and recovered 
its prophetic faculty. Lucian 8 reports that answers were given in his 
time, which was about the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and his son Corn- 
modus : but he is uncertain whether those oracles were indeed Apollo's, or 



1 Clemens. Alexand. Strom, v. can be stronger than those which ihice Or. Opera, ii. p. 408. Fran- 

2 When the reader calls to he has employed. "As mathe- cofurti, 1biQ.)—Enct/c. Jletrop. 
mind some of the many equivo- maticians call a straight line the part xxxv. p. (362. 

raliug replies which are every- shortest possible course between 3 Lib. ix. 

where recorded as having been two points, so the answer of the 4 Sat. vi. ver. 554. 

enounced from the tripod, he Pythoness proceeds to the very 5 Ocfavii, pp. 241, 212, ediS. 

may perhaps feel surprised that truth without any diversion, cir- Lugd. Bat. 

so late a writer as Plutarch cuit, fraud, or ambiguity. It has 6 Lib. v. 3. 

should continue to vaunt its in- never yet in a single instance been 7 Van Dale, Dissert, de Orac* 

fallibility. No words, however, convicted of falsehood," {De Py- 8 Alexandro Pseudomant. 



£74 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



only supposititious. And farther, it is certain that this, and those at Delos, 
and Dodona, with some others, continued till the reign of Julian the 
Apostate, and were consulted by him: and he is said to have received from 
Apollo Delphicus the following answer: 

Ovxtrt Qoifio; 'ix u xukv&u-v ou /jlccvtsZoc da.$vYiv, 

By which it appears this oracle was then in a very low and declining con- 
dition ; but at what time it was finally extinct, is uncertain. For more 
particular information consult Van Dale's treatise. 

When the god forsook Delphi, he betook himself to the Hyperborean 
Scythians ; l and in former times he was thought to be a lover of that 
nation, and at certain seasons to remove thither out of Greece. Abaris, 
one of that country, and priest to Apollo, who travelled into Greece about 
the time of Pythagoras, is said to have written a book concerning Apollo's 
oracles, xa) atptfyv iU 'Ttfigfiogiou;, and removal to 'the Hyperboreans? 
And the Athenians, at a time when the plague raged over all Greece, 
received an oracle from thence, commanding them to make vows and 
prayers in behalf of the rest ; and they continued to send gifts and offer- 
ings thither, as they had formerly done to Delphi. 3 

There was another of Apollo's oracles at Cirrha, a seaport belonging to 
Delphi, from which it was distant about sixty stadia. This is mentioned 
in Statius' Thebais: 4 

Tunc et Apollinece tacuere oracula Cirrha?. 

Where Lutatius observes, that ' at Cirrha none but prosperous oracles 
were pronounced ; and if any calamity was to befall them who came for 
advice, that was declared by the god's silence? Several others have men- 
tioned this oracle, though not taken notice of either by Strabo or Pausan- 
ias ; the latter of whom has left us a particular account of the temple, 
sacred field of Apollo, and other remarkable things in Cirrha. Some 
speak of this oracle in such a manner as makes it probable that it was the 
same with the oracle at Delphi. Thus Seneca will have it become 
Apollo's, by his victory over Python, whereby he is known to have 
obtained the Delphian. 5 And a prophetess is reported by the same author 
to have delivered oracles at Cirrha, as was done in the Delphian temple. 6 
Lastly, there was a cavern at Cirrha, as in the other place. 7 

Next to this oracle may justly follow that at Delos, the most celebrated 
of all the Cyclades, which were a group of islands in the iEgean sea. It 
is famous among the poets for having been the birth-place of Apollo and 
Diana, and was therefore accounted so sacred and inviolable, that the 
Persians, when they pillaged or destroyed almost all the other Grecian 
temples, durst not attempt any thing upon the temple in tins island, 

* Go, tell the king the daedal temple has fallen to the ground; no longer Apollo has a grove or divin- 
ing laurel tree ; the fount speaks no more, and the once beautiful stream is dry. 

1 Claud. 1'aneg. de vi. consul. 3 For a more minute descrip- 5 Hercul. GEt. ver. 92. 
Honorii Augusti, ver. 25. tion of the Delphian temple, the 6 CRdip. ver. 269. 

2 .Suidas, v. *A/?opij, Diodyrus reader is referred to Pausanias. 7 Stat. Thcbaid. ij v. 474. 
Siculus, aliique. 4 Lib. vii. ver. 411. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



275 



winch was seated on the sea shore, looking towards Euboea, in the very 
place where Apollo was feigned to be born. He had an image erected in 
this place, in the shape of a dragon ; and gave answers, for their certainty 
and perspicuity, not only not inferior to those at Delphi, but, as some 
report, 1 far exceeding them, and all other oracles of Apollo: being delivered 
in clear plain terms, without any ambiguity or obscurity. But these answers 
were not to be expected all the year ; Apollo only kept his summer's resi- 
dence in this place, and in winter retired to Patara, a city of Lycia .2 
One of the altars was by some reckoned among the seven wonders of the 
world. It was erected by Apollo at the age of four years, and composed 
of the horns of goats killed by Diana upon mount. Cynthus, which were 
compacted together in a wonderful manner, without any visible tie or 
cement. 3 To sacrifice any living creature upon this altar was held unlaw- 
ful, and a profanation of the place, which it was the god's will to have 
preserved pure from blood, and all manner of pollution. 4 No dogs were 
permitted to enter into this island: and it was unlawful for any person to 
die, or be born in it ; and therefore, when the Athenians were by the 
oracle commanded to purify it, they dug up the dead bodies out of their 
graves, and wafted them over the sea, to be interred in one of the adjacent 
islands ; this done, the better to preserve it from pollution, they put forth 
an edict, commanding, that all persons sick of any mortal or dangerous 
disease, and all pregnant women, should be carried over to the little isle 
called Rhena. 

I must not omit here the annual procession made by the Athenians to 
this place. The author of this custom was Theseus, who being sent with 
the rest of the Athenian youths into Crete, to be devoured by the Mino- 
taur, made a vow to Apollo that if he would grant them a safe return, 
they would make a solemn voyage to his temple at Delos every year. 
This was called ©sat^iet, the persons employed in it Giago), and AnXioLtrralj 
from the name of the island, the chief of them * Ao^iSiu^os, and the ship in 
which they went, ©iu^ic, or AvXiac;, which was the very same that carried 
Theseus and his companions to Crete ; being, says Plutarch, preserved by 
the Athenians till Demetrius the Phalerean's time, they restoring always 
what was decayed, and changing the old rotten planks for those that were 
new and entire, insomuch that it furnished the philosophers with matter 
of dispute, whether, after so many reparations and alterations, it might 
still be called the same individual ship ; and served as an instance to illus- 
trate the opinion of those who held that the body still remained the same 
numerical substance, notwithstanding the continual decay of old parts, and 
acquisition of new ones, through the several stages of life. For which 
reason Callimachus calls its tackle augaovrcc, ever-living: 5 

ieiZwovrot Becup'iSoi, Upa *oi'£o», The sturdy Theoris the Athenians send; 

KexponCfui irk^-KovaL roirr,ta vt)o% cneCvi)s. Yet spite of envious time, and angry seas, 
To great Apollo's temple every year, The vessel ever whole will be. E. D. 

1 Alexand. ab Alex. AcotiL ver. 99. Conf. etiam P!ut. tiani Miscel. cap. 52. 

i Sr-rv. i-, Vi,-. r . ; En. iv. 143. fie Solert. Animal. C.:llur.Pchi 4 Thucyd. lib. iv. 
3 Ovid. Ejrisf. Cydippes ad Hvmn. in Apollin. ver. 53. Toll- 5 Hymn- in Bellum. 



276 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The beginning of the voyage was computed from the time that the priest 
of Apollo first adorned the stern of the ship with garlands ; l and from that 
time they began to cleanse and lustrate the city: and it was held unlawful 
to put any malefactor to death till its return, which was the reason that 
Socrates was reprieved thirty days after his condemnation. 2 The Theori 
wore garlands of laurel upon their heads, and were accompanied by two of 
the family of the Kvgu%i$, who were appointed to be Tict^a-iroi at Delos 
for that year. Before them went certain men with axes in their hands, 
in show as if they designed to clear the ways of robbers; to commemorate 
the fact that Theseus, in his journey from Troezen to Athens, freed the 
country from all the robbers that infested those parts. 3 When they went 
thither they were said ava/Wvs/v, to ascend; when they returned, xarcc- 
fioctvuv, to descend. When they arrived, they offered sacrifice, and cele- 
brated a festival in honour of Apollo; this done, they repaired to their ship, 
and sailed homewards. At their return, all the people ran forth to meet 
them, opening their doors, and making obeisance as they passed by. 4 

The next oracle I shall speak of is that of Apollo Didymreus, so named 5 
from the double light imparted by him to mankind ; the one directly and 
immediately from his own body, and the other by reflection from the 
moon. The place of it was also called Didyma, and belonged to the 
Milesians, and hence Apollo is called Milesius. It was also called the 
oracle of the Branchidse, and Apollo himself was called Branchides, from 
Branchus, who was the reputed son of Macareus, but begotten by Apollo; 
for it was no unusual thing for the ancient heroes to be called the sons of 
two fathers, the one mortal, who was always their mother's husband, the 
other some lascivious deity that had fallen in love with her: so Hercules 
was the reputed son of Jupiter and Amphitryon ; Hector of Priam and 
Apollo. The origin of this oracle is thus described by Varro, where 
speaking of Branchus' mother, he reports, 'that being with child, she 
dreamed the sun entered into her mouth, and passed through her belly; 
whence her child was named Branchus, from fi^'oyxos, the throat, through 
which the god had penetrated into the womb. The boy afterwards having 
kissed Apollo in the woods, and received from him a crown and sceptre, 
began to prophesy, and presently after disappeared/ Whereupon a mag- 
nificent temple was dedicated to him and Apollo Philesius, so called from 
QiXiTv, to kiss; some derive the name from Branchus, a Thessalian youth, 
beloved by Apollo, who received him into his own temple, and commanded 
that divine honours should be paid him after death. But others 6 tell us, 
that this oracle was sacred to Jupiter and Apollo, and perhaps it might 
belong to all three. However that be, we are assured that this oracle was 
'very ancient, and frequented by all the Ionians and iEolians:' 7 and 
farther, that it was accounted x^/kttv^uv "EXXwizwv pzra As\<pov; xourto-- 
rov, the best of all the Grecian oracles, except the Delphian. 

1 Plato in PhreJone. 4 Euripid. Hipcolyto, ver. 792. 7 Herodot. i. 157. Or.on. :a 

2 Xenoph. Memorab. >v. 5 Macrob. i. 17. Photh Biblivthep. 

3 Euripid. Etiinenici. initio. 6 Steph. Byzant, voce Aiivfth, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



277 



In the time of the Persian war, 1 this temple was plundered and burned, 
being betrayed into the hands of the barbarians by the Branchidae, or 
priests, who had the care of it ; but they, conscious of their own wicked- 
ness, and fearing lest they should meet with condign punishment, desired 
of Xerxes, that, as a requital of their service, he would grant them a 
habitation in some remote part of Asia, whence they might never return 
into Greece, but live secure, beyond the reach of justice. Xerxes granted 
their request : whereupon, notwithstanding a great many unlucky omens 
appeared to them, they founded a city, and called it after their ancient 
name, Branchidae. But for all this, they could not escape divine ven- 
geance, which was inflicted on their children by Alexander the Great, 
who, having conquered Darius, and possessed himself of Asia, utterly 
demolished their city, and put all its inhabitants to the sword, as detesting 
the very posterity of such impious wretches. 

The Persians being vanquished, 2 and peace restored to Greece, the 
temple was rebuilt by the Milesians, with such magnificence, that it sur- 
passed almost all the other Grecian temples in size, being raised to such 
a bulk, that they were forced to let it remain uncovered ; for the compass 
of it was no less than that of a village, and contained at least four or five 
stadia. 

Another of Apollo's oracles we read of in Abae, a city of Phocis, and 
are told it was more ancient than the Delphian. 3 

The temple of this oracle was burned by Xerxes. 4 

At Claros, a city of Ionia, not far from Colophon, there was another 
oracle sacred to Apollo, first instituted by Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, 
who fled thither in the second Theban war, when the Epigoni, that is, the 
sons of those that were slain in the former war, invaded Thebes, under 
the conduct of Alcmaeon, in revenge of their father's death. The person 
that delivered answers, was a man generally chosen out of some certain 
families, and for the most part out of Miletus; 5 he was usually unlearned, 
and very ignorant, yet returned the oracles in verses wonderfully satisfac- 
tory, and adapted to the intention of the inquirers : and this by virtue of a 
little well, feigned to have sprung out of the tears of Manto, when she 
bewailed the desolation of her country. Into this he descended when any 
one came to consult him; but paid dear for his knowledge, water being 
very prejudicial to his health; and 6 a means to shorten his life. By this 
oracle, the untimely death of Germanicus was foretold. 7 

At Larissa, a fort of the Argives, there was an oracle of Apollo, sur- 
named AupaStar'/ig, from Diras, a region belonging to Argos. The answers 
in this place were returned by a woman, who was forbidden the company 
of men. Every month she sacrificed a lamb in the night, and then, hav- 
ing tasted the blood of the victim, was immediately seized with a divine 
phrenzy. 8 

1 Strabo, xiv. et Suicbs in zant. voca 'A0«l, item Hesych. 5 Coel. Rhod. Ant. L. xxvii. 5, 




6 Plin. Nat. Hist. ii. 103. 

7 Tacit. Annal. ii. 54. 

8 Puusun. Corinth. 



2 A 



278 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Apollo had another famous oracle at Eutresis, a village in Boeotia, 1 
seated in the way between the Thespians and the Platceans. 

Oropaean Apollo delivered oracles at Orope, a city of Euboea. 

At Orobice in Euboea, there was a.-fyivbiffru.rov fiooinlov, a most infallible 
oracle, of Apollo Selinuntius. 2 

Another oracle of Corypsean Apollo, at Corypre in Thessaly, is men- 
tioned in Nicanders Theriaca: 



It is reported, 3 that the Carians, on a certain time, consulted Apollo's 
oracle at Hybla, which Casaubon would have to be read Abse, but for no 
better reason than that he finds no mention of the Hyblcean oracle in any 
other author. 

There was an oracle of Apollo Ichnseus, at Ichntea, in Macedonia. 4 
At Tegyrre, a city in Boeotia, there was an oracle sacred to Tegyraean 

Apollo, which was frequented till the Persian war; but after that remained 

for ever silent. 5 

No less famous was Ptous, a mountain in Boeotia, for the oracles given 
by Apollo, surnamed Ptous, from that place, where was a temple dedicated 
to him. This oracle ceased when Thebes was demolished by Alexander. 6 

Apollo, surnamed AaQvaiog, from Daphne, his beloved mistress, or the 
laurel into which she was transformed, had an oracle near the Castalian 
fountain, the waters of which were also endued with a prophetic virtue. 7 

Apollo was called Ismenius, from Ismenus, a river and mountain in 
Boeotia, in which he had a temple, and gave answers to those that came 
to inquire of him. 

We are told of another place in Boeotia,8 where Apollo returned an- 
swers, namely, a stone called ^axp^oviffrr,^, upon which he had an altar, 
erected out of the ashes of victims offered to him; whence he was called 
Spodius, from *2arobos, ashes. He did not here, as in other places, 
signify his will by inspired prophets, but by ^X^ovs?, ominous sowids, in 
the observation of which he instructed persons appointed for that purpose ; 
for this mode of divination also was in use among the Grecians, especially 
at Smyrna, where was a temple built on the outside of the city wall for 
that purpose. 



Trophonius, the son of Eresinus, and brother of Agamedes, 9 being pos- 
sessed with an immoderate thirst of glory, built himself a mansion under 



Moivrtiu; Kogvxc&7o; sO'sjzaTO, xou Qiftiv uvdgvv. 



CHAP. X. 



OF THE ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS. 



1 Stephan.in voce KurpTjo-ic. 

2 Strab. lib. x. 

3 Athenians, xv. 4. 




7 Clemens Protrept. 
S Pausanias Boeoiicis. 
Suidas, voce Tpotf-ii-tes. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



279 



ground, at Lebadea, a city of Boeotia, into which, when he entered, ho 
pretended to be inspired with an extraordinary knowledge of future events ; 
but at length, either out of design to raise in men an opinion that he was 
translated to the gods, or being some way necessitated thereto, perished 
in his hole. 1 Others tell us, 2 that Trophonius and Agamedes, having built 
Apollo's temple at Delphi, requested of the god, that as a recompense for 
their labour, he would give them the best thing that could happen to man. 
Apollo granted their petition, and promised them that it should be effected 
the third day after ; accordingly, on that day, in the morning, they were 
found dead. Several other fables concerning him, and the manner of his 
death, are related in the scholiast upon the Clouds of Aristophanes. 

However that be, Trophonius had divine honours paid him after death, 
•and was worshipped by the name of Jupiter Trophonius. 3 Nor was it a 
thing unusual for men deified to be honoured with the name of a god, 
several instances whereof might be produced, but one shall suffice for all, 
namely, that of Agamemnon, who was worshipped at Sparta, by the name 
of Jupiter Agamemnon. 4 

This oracle came first into repute on this account ; on a time when, for 
the space of two years, there had been no rain in Boeotia, all the cities of 
that country, with a joint consent, appointed chosen persons to go to Del- 
phi, there to pay their devotions to Apollo, in the name of their country, 
and desire his advice and assistance: the god accepted their piety, but 
returned them no other answer than that they should go home and consult 
Trophonius at Lebadea. The ambassadors immediately obeyed, and repaired 
to Lebadea, still remaining as much in the dark as at first ; there being 
not the least sign or footstep of any oracle in that place ; at length, when 
they had searched a long time to no purpose, and began to despair of suc- 
cess, one Saon, an Acrephian, the senior of all the ambassadors, espied a 
swarm of bees, and immediately took up a resolution to follow them ; by 
this means he came to a cave, into which he had no sooner entered, than 
he perceived, by some evident tokens, that in that place was the oracle 
Apollo had commanded them to inquire of. Upon this he paid his devo- 
tion to Trophonius, and received from him a welcome and satisfactory 
answer, together with instructions in what manner, and with what rites and 
ceremonies, he would have those that should come for advice, to approach 
him. 5 

The place of this oracle was under the surface of the earth, and there- 
fore it was commonly called »ara/3a<mv, and the persons that consulted it 
xarctfixivovris, because the way to it was a descent. Concerning it there 
are innumerable fables, which it would not be worth the while to mention 
in this place ; I shall therefore pass them by, only giving you the accounts 
Pausanias and Plutarch have left of it ; the former of whom consulted it in 



1 Phavorin. 

2 Cic. Tusc. Cuxst. i. M. 



3 Strabo, lib. ix. 

4 Cassandr. ver. 1123. 



2 a 2 



5 Pausanias Boeoticis. 



280 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



person, and thereby had an opportunity of being an eye-witness of what he 
reports. 

When any one desires to descend into the cave of Trophonius, he must 
first take up his residence for a certain number of days in a building des- 
tined to this purpose. This building is a temple of the Good Damon, and 
of Good Fortune. While he stays here he purifies himself in other re- 
spects, and abstains from hot baths. The river Hercyra is used by him 
for a bath: and he is well supplied with animal food from the victims 
which are sacrificed. For he who descends hither, sacrifices to Tropho- 
nius and his sons; to Apollo, Saturn, and Jupiter the king; to Juno the 
chariot driver ; and to Ceres, whom they call Europa, and who they say 
was the nurse of Trophonius. A diviner is present to each of the sacri- 
fices, who inspects the entrails of the victims, and while he beholds them, 
prophesies whether or not Trophonius will propitiously receive the person 
who consults him. The other victims do not in a similar manner disclose 
the mind of Trophonius: but each person who descends to him, sacrifices, 
on the night in which he descends, a ram in a ditch, invoking, at the same 
time, Agamedes. They pay no regard to the former entrails, even though 
they should be favourable, unless the entrails of the ram are likeAvise aus- 
picious. And when it happens that the entrails thus correspond in signi- 
fication, then the person that wishes to consult Trophonius descends with 
good hope, and in the following manner: The sacrificers bring him by night 
to the river Hercyra; there they anoint him with oil; and two boys be- 
longing to the city, each about thirteen years old, and whom they call 
Mercuries, wash him, and supply him with eveiy thing necessary. 

He is not immediately after this led by the sacrificers to the oracle, but 
is first brought to the fountains of the river, which are very near to each 
other. Here he is obliged to drink of that which is called the water of 
Lethe, that he may become oblivious of all the former objects of his pur- 
suit. Afterwards he must drink of another water, which is called the 
water of Mnemosyne, or memory, that he may remember the objects 
which will present themselves to his view on descending into the grove. 
Having therefore beheld the statue, which they say was made by Dfcdalus 
(and which the priests never show to any but those who desire to consult 
Trophonius), performed certain religious ceremonies, and prayed, he pro- 
ceeds to the oracle clothed in white linen, begirt with fillets, and having 
on his feet such slippers as are worn by the natives of this place. The 
oracle is above the grove in a mountain, and is inclosed with a wall of 
white stone, whose circumference is very small, and whose altitude is not 
more than two cubits. Two obelisks are raised on this wall, which, as 
well as the zones that hold them together, are of brass. Between these 
there are doors; and within the inclosure there is a chasm of the earth, 
which was not formed by nature, but was made by art, and is excavated 
m according proportion with consummate accuracy and skill. The shape 
of this chasm resembles that of an oven. Its breadth, measured diametri- 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



231 



cally, may be conjectured to be about four cubits. Its depth does not 
appear to me more than eight cubits. There are not steps to its bottom: 
but when any one designs to descend to Trophonius, they give him a lad- 
der, which is both narrow and light. On descending into this chasm, 
between its bottom and its summit there is a small cavern, the breadth of 
which is about two spans, and its altitude appears to be about one span. 

He, therefore, who descends to the bottom of this chasm lays himself 
down on the ground, and holding in his hand sops mingled with honey, 
first of all places his feet in the sma]l cavern, then hastens to join his knees 
to his feet ; and immediately after, the rest of his body contracted to his 
knees, is drawn within the cavern, just as if he was hurried away by the 
vortex of the largest and most rapid river. But those that have descended 
to the adytum of this place are not all instructed in the secrets of futurity 
in the same maimer. For one obtains this knowledge by his sight, and 
another by his hearing: but all return through the same opening, and walk 
backwards as they return. They say no one that descended here ever died 
in the chasm, except one of the spear-bearers of Demetrius, who would 
not perform any of the established religious ceremonies, and who did not 
come hither for the purpose of consulting the divinity, but that he might 
enrich himself by carrying the gold and silver from the adytum. It is also 
said, that his dead body was thrown up by a different avenue, and not 
through the sacred opening. Other reports are circulated about this man, 
but those which I have mentioned appear to me to be the most remarka- 
ble. When the person that descended to Trophonius returns, the sacri- 
ficers immediately place him on a throne, which they call the throne of 
Mnemosyne, and which stands not far from the adytum. Then they ask 
him what he has either seen or heard, and afterwards deliver him to cer- 
tain persons appointed for this purpose, who bring him to the temple of 
Good Fortune, and the Good Daemon, while he is yet full of terror, und 
without any knowledge either of himself, or of those that are near him. 
Afterwards, however, he recovers the use of his reason, and laughs just 
the same as before. 1 I write this not from hearsay, but what I have seen 
happen to others, and from what I experienced myself, when I consulted 



1 This pointed assertion effec- 
tually disproves the notion that 
a visitor of the cave of Trophoni- 
us never smiled after his return. 
It is probable that the gloom, the 
mephitie vapours, and perhaps 
some violence from the priests 
which he encountered in his de- 
scent, might seriousiy affect his 
constitution, and render him me- 
lancholy; and thus Aristophanes 
strongly expresses terror, bv an 
expression in Tlie Clouds (507), 
which became proverbial, 

.*•«» wara/SaiVcuv Sjjrtp sj T H ofiV- 

')nc moil, indeed, is noticed by 



Athenaeus (xiv. ].), who did not 
recover his power of smiling till 
assisted by another oracle. Phi- 
meniscus of Metapontnm finding 
himself thus wofuHy dispirited, 
went to Delphi for a remedy, 
and Apollo answered that he 
would find a cure if he resorted 
to his mother. The hypochon- 
driac interpreted this response as 
relating to his own native coun- 
try ; but on being disappointed 
in his hope there, he sought re- 
lief in travelling. Touching by 
accident at Delus, he entered a 
temple of Latona, and unexpect- 
edly casting his eyes upon an 
idol of that goddess (Apollo's 

2 a 3 



mother) most grotesquely sculp- 
tured, he burst into an involun- 
tary flood of laughter. Of other 
recorded descents into the cave 
of Trophonius, that of Timar- 
chus, described by Plutarch [de 
Socratis Genio j Opera, ii. 590.), 
is dismissed by the writer him- 
self as a fable, 6 pkv ii^apxov 
fiv9os ovtoj. That of Apollonius 
Tyanaeus (Philostratus, iv. 8.) 
was an irruption, not a legitimate 
visit. The impostor appears to 
have bullied the priests, and to 
have done exactly according to 
his pleasure both above and b--; low 
ground. — Enctjc. Mcirop. j.art 
xxxv. p. CGI. 



2S2 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the oracle of Trophonius. All, too, that return from Trophonius are 
obliged to write in a table whatever they have either heard or seen. 

Thus far Pausanias. Plutarch's relation concerns the appearances ex- 
hibited to consultants, which, though they were various, and seldom the 
same, seeing it is a remarkable story, I will give it you. 

' Timarchus being a youth of liberal education, and just initiated in the 
rudiments of philosophy, was greatly desirous of knowing the nature and 
efficacy of Socrates' demon: wherefore, communicating his project to no 
mortal body but me and Cebes, after the performance of all the rituals 
requisite for consultation, he descended Trophonius' cave: where having 
staid two nights and one day, his return was wholly despaired of, inso- 
much that his friends bewailed him as dead: in the morning he came up 
very brisk, and, in the first place, paid some venerable acknowledgments 
to the god : after that, having escaped the staring rout, he laid open to us 
a prodigious relation of what he had seen or heard, to this purpose: in his 
descent, he was beset with a caliginous mist, upon which he prayed, lying 
prostrate for a long time, and not having sense enough to know whether 
he was awake or in a dream, he surmises, that he received a blow on his 
head, with such an echoing violence as dissevered the sutures of his skull, 
through which his soul migrated; and being disunited from the body and 
mixed with bright and refined air, with a seeming contentment, began to 
breathe for a long time, and being dilated like a full sail, was wider than 
before. After this, having heard a small noise, whistling in his ears, a 
delightsome sound, he looked up, but saw not a spot of earth, only islands 
reflecting a glimmering flame, interchangeably receiving different colours, 
according to the different degrees of light. They seemed to be of an infi- 
nite number, and of a stupendous size, not bearing an equal parity betwixt 
one another in this, though they were all alike, namely, globular; it may 
be conjectured, that the circumrotation of these moved the ether, which 
occasioned that whistling, the gentle pleasantness of which bore an ade- 
quate agreement with their well-timed motion. Between these there was 
a sea or lake, which spread out a surface glittering with many colours, in- 
termixed with an azure ; some of the islands floated on its stream, by 
which they were driven on the other side of the torrent ; many others 
were carried to and fro, so that they were well nigh sunk. This sea, for 
the most part, was very shallow and fordable, except towards the south, 
where it is of great depth ; it very often ebbed and flowed, but not with a 
high tide: some part of it had a natural sea-colour, untainted with any 
other, as miry and muddy as any lake : the rapidness of the torrent carried 
back those islands from whence they had grounded, and situating them in 
the same place as at first, or bringing them about with a circumference : 
but in the gentle turning of them, the water makes one rising roll; be- 
twixt these, the sea seemed to bend inwards about (as near as he could 
guess) eight parts of the whole. This sea had two mouths, which were 
inlets to boisterous rivers, casting out fiery foam, the flaming brightness 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE 



283 



of which covered the best part of its natural azure. He was very much 
pleased at this sight, until he looked down, and saw an immense hiatus, 
resembling a hollow sphere, of an amazing and dreadful profundity. It 
had darkness to a miracle; not still, but thickened, and agitated: here he 
was seized with no small fright, by the astonishing hubbubs, and noises of 
all kinds, that seemed to arise out of this hollow, from an unfathomable 
bottom, namely, he heard an infinity of yells and howlings of beasts, cries 
and bawlings of children, confused with the groans and outrages of men 
and women. Not long after, he heard a voice invisibly pronounce these 
words 1 

What follows is nothing but a prolix and tedious harangue upon various 
subjects. One thing there is more especially remarkable in this account, 
viz. that he makes Timarchus to return from consultation with a brisk and 
cheerful countenance, whereas, it is commonly reported that all the con- 
sultants of this oracle became pensive and melancholy ; that their tempers 
were soured, and their countenances, however gay and pleasant before, 
rendered dull and heavy ; whence, of any person dejected, melancholy, or 
too serious, it was generally said T^oQuviov fttpavrivrui, he has been 
consulting the oracle of Trophonius. But this is only to be under- 
stood of the time immediately ensuing consultation ; for, as we learn from 
Pausanias, all inquirers recovered their former cheerfulness in the temple 
of Good Genius and Good Fortune. 2 



CHAP. XI. 



OF OTHER GRECIAN ORACLES. 



Amphiaraus was the son of Oicleus, and married Eriphyle the sister of 
Adrastus, king of Argos: he was an excellent soothsayer, and by his skill 
foresaw that it would prove fatal to him if he engaged in the Theban war. 
Wherefore to avoid inevitable destruction, he hid himself, but was dis- 
covered by his wife Eriphyle, whom Polynices had corrupted with a pre- 
sent of a gold chain. Being discovered, he was obliged by Adrastus to 
accompany the army to Thebes, where, as he had foretold, together with 
his chariot and horses, he was swallowed up by the earth. 3 Some say this 



1 Plut. de Socrat. Genlo. manently AyeWroj, introduced than that number (559) in which 

2 Dr Clarke in his visit to Le- the whole length of his body in- he approaches the precincts of 
bad.ua found every thing belong- to the cavity, and by thrusting a the oracle, and the melancholy 
ing to the Hieron ot Trophonius long pole before him found it ut- charm which clouded the brow 
in its original state, excepting terly stopped. The waters of of others has been powerless 
that the narrow entrance to the Lethe and Mnemosyne at pre- with him. But it must be re- 
adytum was choked with rubbish, sent supply the washerwomen of membered that he awoke before 
The Turkish governor was afraid Lebadaea. AVe must not fart he stepped within the entrance, 
ot a popular commotion if he gave from the cave of Trophonius — Eucy. Metmp. part xxxv. p. 
permission for cleansing this without an allusion to Addison's 6G4. 

aperture. Mr Cripps, however, dream. Few of the Spectators 3 Ovid. 3. de Punt, epist. t» 

despite the fear of becoming per- exhibit more graceful humour ver, 0Z- 



234 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



accident happened in the way betwixt Thebes and Chalcis: and for that 
reason the place is called "Ayicc, a chariot, to this day. 1 

After his death he was honoured with divine worship; first by the 
Oropians, and afterwards by all the other Grecians : and a stately temple, 
with a statue of white marble, was erected to him in the place where he 
was swallowed up, being about twelve stadia distant from Oropus, a city 
in the confines of Attica and Boeotia, which for that reason is sometimes 
attributed to both countries. There was also a remarkable altar dedicated 
to him in the same place. It was divided into five parts ; the first of 
which was sacred to Hercules, Jupiter, and Pseonian Apollo ; the second, 
to the heroes and their wives ; the third, to Vesta, Mercury, Amphiaraus, 
and the sons of Amphilochus (for Alcmaion, the sou of Amphiaraus, was 
not allowed to partake of any of the honours paid to Amphilochus, or 
Amphiaraus, because he slew his mother Eriphyle) ; the fourth to Venus, 
Panacea, Jason, Hygiea, and Pseonian Minerva: the fifth part to the 
Nymphs, Pan, and the rivers Achelous and Cephisus. 

Answers were delivered in dreams : Jophon the Gnosian, who published 
the ancient oracles in heroic verse, reports, that Amphiaraus returned an 
answer to the Argives in verse ; but my author herein contradicts him, 
and reports farther, that it was the general opinion, that only those who 
were inspired by Apollo gave answers after that manner; whereas all 
the rest made predictions either by dreams or the flight of birds, or the 
entrails of beasts. He adds, for a confirmation of what he had said before, 
viz. that these answers were given in dreams, that Amphiaraus was 
excellently skilled in the inteq^retation of dreams, and canonized for the 
invention of that art. 

They that came to consult this oracle, were first to be purified by 
offering sacrifice to Amphiaraus, and all the other gods, whose names 
were inscribed on the altar :2 they were to fast twenty-four hours, and 
abstain three days from wine. After all, they offered a ram in sacrifice 
to Amphiaraus; then went to sleep, lying upon a victim's skin, and in that 
posture expected a revelation by dream. In the same manner did the 
people of Apulia Daunia expect answers from Podalirius, who died there, 
and returned prophetic dreams to those that came to inquire of him. 
Whoever consulted him was to sleep upon a sheep's skin at his altar. 3 

To return: all persons were admitted to this oracle, the Thebans only 
excepted, who were to enjoy no benefit from Amphiaraus in this way ; 4 for 
he gave them their option of two things, viz. his counsel and advice, to 
direct them in time of necessity, or his help and protection, to defend 
them in time of danger, telling them they must not expect both: where- 
upon they chose the latter, thinking they had a greater need of defence 
than counsel, which they could be sufficiently furnished with by Delphian 
Apollo. 



1 Pausanias Atticis. 

2 I'hilostrat. Vita Apollonii Tyanuji, ii. 



3 Lycophron, Cassandra, ver. 1050. 

4 Heiodut. viii. 13J. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



285 



This oracle was had in very great esteem: it was amongst the five 
principal ones of Greece, 1 consulted by Croesus, before his expedition 
against Cyrus, viz. the Delphian, Dodonean, Amphiaraus', Trophonius', 
and the Didymaean; and 2 was not inferior cither to the two first of those 
already mentioned, or to that of Jupiter Ammon. 

Near the temple was the fountain, out of which Amphiaraus ascended 
into heaven, when he was received into the number of the gods, which, 
for that reason, was called by his name : it was held so sacred, that it was 
a capital crime to employ the waters of it to any ordinary use, as the 
washing of hands, or purification ; nay, it was unlawful to offer sacrifices 
before it, as was usual at other fountains. The chief use it was employed 
in was this, viz. they that by the advice of the oracle had recovered out of 
any disease, were to cast a piece of coined gold or silver into it: and this 
Pausanias 3 tells us was an ancient custom, and derived from the primi- 
tive ages. 

At Pharse, a city of Achaia, answers were given by Mercurius *Aya- 
qouo;, so named from ayooa,, the market-place, wh«re was a statue of 
stone erected to him, having a beard, which seems to have been a thing 
unusual in his statues ; before it was placed a low stone altar, upon which 
stood brazen basins soldered with lead. They that came for advice, first 
offered frankincense upon the altar, then lighted the lamps, pouring oil 
into them; after that, they offered upon the right side of the altar a piece 
of money, stamped with their own country impression, and called ^ccXkov; ; 
then proposed the questions they desired to be resolved in, placing their 
ear close to the statue, and after all departed, stopping both their ears 
with their hands, till they had passed quite through the market-place ; 
then they plucked away their hands, and received the first voice that pre- 
sented itself as a divine oracle. The same ceremonies were practised in 
Egypt, at the oracle of Serapis. 4 

At Bura 5 in Achaia, there was an oracle of Hercules, called from that 
city Buraicus. The place of it was a cave, wherein was Hercules' 
statue : predictions were made by throwing dice. They that consulted 
the god, first addressed themselves to him by prayer ; then taking four 
dice out of a great heap that lay ready there, they threw them upon the 
table : all the dice had on them certain peculiar marks, all which were 
interpreted in a book kept for that purpose: as soon, therefore, as they had 
cast the dice, they went to the book, and there every man found his 
doom. 

At Patra;, 6 a city on the sea-coast of Achaia, not far from the sacred 
grove of Apollo, there was a temple dedicated to Ceres, in which were 
erected three statues, two to Ceres and Proserpine, standing; the third to 
Earth, sitting upon a throne. Before the temple there was a fountain, in 
which were delivered oracles, very famous for the truth of their predic- 



1 Herorlot. i. 46. 

2 Vrtl. Max. viii. 15. 



3 Atlicis. 

4 Pciusun. Achaicis. 



5 Prnsan. Achaicis. 

6 ibid. 



286 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



tions. These were not given upon every account, but concerned only the 
events of diseases. The manner of consulting was this ; they let down a 
looking-glass by a small cord into the fountain, so low that the bottom of 
it might just touch the surface of the water, but not to be covered by it: 
this done, they offered incense and prayers to the goddess ; then looked 
upon the glass, and from the various figures and images represented in it, 
made conjectures concerning the patient. 

At Troezen, 1 a city of Peloponnesus, there was an old altar dedicated 
to the Muses and Sleep, by Ardalus, one of Vulcan's sons, who was the 
first inventor of the flute, and a great favourite of the Muses, who from 
him were called Ardalides. They that came for advice were obliged to 
abstain certain days from wine ; afterwards they lay down by the altar to 
sleep, where, by the secret inspiration of the Muses, proper remedies for 
their distempers were revealed to them. 

At Epidaurus, 2 a city of Peloponnesus, there was a temple of iEscula- 
pius, famed for curing diseases ; the remedies of which were revealed in 
dreams. When the cure was perfected, the names of the diseased per- 
sons, together with the manner of their recovery, were registered in the 
temple. This god was afterwards translated to Rome, by command of 
Delphian Apollo, who told them that was the only way to be freed from 
the plague, which at that time raged exceedingly amongst them: where- 
upon they sent ambassadors to Epidaurus, to desire the god of them; but 
the Epidaurians being unwilling to part with so beneficial a guest, 
iEsculapius, of his own accord, in the shape of a great serpent, went 
straight to the Roman ship, where he reposed himself, and was with great 
veneration conveyed to Rome, where he was received with great joy; and 
having delivered them from the distress they lay under, was honoured 
with a temple in the little island, encompassed by the river Tiber, and 
worshipped in the same form he had assumed .3 

At Amphiclea, called by Herodotus Ophitea, by Stephanus Amphicrea, 
there was a temple sacred to Bacchus, but no image, at least none exposed 
to public view. To this god, 4 the Amphicleans ascribed both the cure of 
their diseases, and the foretelling oMuture events; the former he effected 
by revealing proper remedies in dreams, the latter by inspiring into his 
priests divine knowledge. 

Strabo, in his description of Corinth, tells us, that Juno had an oracle 
in the Corinthian territories, in the way between Lechaeum and Pagse. 

There was also in Laconia, a pool sacred to Juno, by which predictions 
were made after this manner: they cast into it cakes made of bread-corn; 
if these sunk down, good, if not, something dreadful was portended. 

5 Orpheus' head at Lesbos gave oracles to all inquirers, but most espe- 
cially to the Grecians, and told them that Troy could not be taken without 
the arrows of Hercules. The kings of Persia and Babylon often sent 



J Pausan. Achaicis. 
2 Idem Coi inthiac. 



3 Plin. iv. Ovid. Met. xv. 

4 Pausan, Phocicis. 



5 Coel. Khod. Antiq. xv. 9. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



287 



ambassadors to consult this oracle, and particularly Cyrus, who being 
desirous to know by what death he was to die, received this answer, Ta 
l/xu, 2 Kvgz, rk trot, my fate, Cyrus, shall be thine. Whereby it was 
meant he should be beheaded ; for Orpheus suffered that death in Thrace, 
by the fury of the women, because he professed a hatred and aversion to 
the whole sex: his head being thrown into the sea, was cast upon Lesbos, 
where it returned answers in a cavern of the earth. There were also 
persons initiated into the mysteries of Orpheus, called 'OgQoriXgtrrcti, who 
assured all those that should be admitted into their society of certain 
felicity after death; of which, when Philip, one of that order, but miser- 
ably poor and indigent, boasted, Leotychidas the Spartan replied, « Why 
do not you die then, you fool, and put an end to your misfortunes, together 
with your life?' At their initiation, little else was required of them be- 
sides an oath of secrecy. 

An oracle of the Earth is said to have been in the country of Elis.i 

An oracle of Pan, which was consulted by the inhabitants of Pisa,, 
seems to be alluded to hi Statius. 2 

Seneca speaks of an oracle at Mycenae. 3 

An oracle of the Night is mentioned by Pausanias. 4 

In Laconia, in the way betwixt GEbylus and Thalamic, 5 there was a 
temple and oracle of Ino, who gave answers by dreams to those that in- 
quired of her. 

Plutarch 6 mentions another famous oracle in Laconia, at the city 
Thalamise, which was sacred to Pasiphae, who, as some say, was one of 
the daughters of Atlas, and had by Jupiter a son called Ammon. Others 
are of opinion it was Cassandra the daughter of king Priam, who, dying in 
this place, was called Pasiphae, vaga, to -rao-i <pettvuv <ra fiuvreTa, from re- 
vealing oracles to all men. Others will have it, that this was Daphne, the 
daughter of Amyclas, who, flying from Apollo, was transformed into a 
laurel, and honoured by that god with the gift of prophecy. This oracle, 
when Agis, king of Sparta, endeavoured to reduce the Spartans to their 
ancient manner of living, and put in force Lycurgus' old laws, very much 
countenanced and encouraged his undertaking, commanding the people to 
return to the former state of equality. Again, when Cleomenes made the 
like attempt, it gave the same advice, in this manner, as my author relates 
the story: 7 ' About that time,' says he, 4 one of the ephori, sleeping in 
Pasiphae's temple, dreamed a very surprising dream ; for he thought he 
saw the four chairs removed where the ephori used to sit and hear causes, 
and only one placed there ; and whilst he wondered, he heard a voice out 
of the temple, saying, This is the best for Sparta.' 

Upon the top of Cithaeroii, a mountain in Boeotia, was a cave called 
Sphragidium, where many of the inhabitants of that country were inspired 



1 Pausanias Eliae. a'. 
1 Thebaid. iii 476. 
o Thyeste, ver. G77. 



4 Att;;ris, p. 75, edit. Hanov. 

5 Pausan. Laccnicis. 
€ Plut. A^ide. 



7 Piut. Cleomene. 



28S GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

by the Nymphs called Sphragitides, and thence named w^o^t-toi, 
inspired by the Nymphs. 

We read of other oracles of less repute, which I forbear to mention. 2 



GHAP. XII. 



OF THEOMANCY. 



Having given you an account of the most celebrated oracles in Greece, 
which make the first and noblest species of natural divination, I come now 
to the second, called in Greek eiopavrsiet, which is a compound word, 
consisting of two parts, by which it is distinguished from all other sorts of 
divination; by the former, namely, &&og, it is distinguished from artificial 
divination, which, though it may be said to be given by the gods, yet does 
not immediately proceed from them, being the effect of experience and 



1 Pausanias Boeoticis. 

2 Lucian has treated the ex- 
tinction of oracles with great 
humour as a subject of much 
congratulation to Apollo. il How 
troublesome," he says, l ' must 
have been the incessant duty or 
the soothsaying god ; how stun- 
ned must have been his ears with 
hourly inquiries. First, he was 
obliged to be at Delphi, then he 
must run post haste to Colophon, 
cross over to Xanthos, return to 
Claros, look in at Delos, and 
hurry on to the Branchidae. 
Wherever, indeed, any one of his 
ghostly interpreters chose to sip 
holy water, nibble the laurel, 
and mount the tripod, thither 
must Apollo resort with all dili- 
gence and obsequiousness, or 
good bye to his reputation." 
{Bis accusaiux, ad init.) That at 
our Saviour's birth "the oracles 
were dumb," was long a received 
article of belief, a doubt concern- 
ing which would have savoured 
of profaneness ; and the splendid 
use which Milton has made of 
that fancy in his Ode on the JVa-, 
tivity reconciles us to its exist- 
ence. But, in truth, it is no 
more than a fancy; and one 
which, instead of elevating the 
majesty of heaven, must tend to 
its degradation in the eyes of 
the soberly pious. On this point 
we may learn a lesson from a 
Pagan: *ara/xiy»-tif tov Qiov li>- 
Opta-nivais #p«<uj ov (psl&erai rijy 
o-f^viSrj/TOf, ovii rr,pe2 to a'$id>^.a 
Kal to peyeBof ovto ttjj dpsTTjf. 

(Plut. de De/ectu Orac. 414.) 
W ithout attributing this cessation 
to Divine agency, there were 
obvious reasims for its occur- 
rence, which was not sudden but 
giadua!. As men became- less 



ignorant they were less easily de- 
ceived, and the oracular trade 
being no longer profitable fell 
out of the market. The frauds 
which Eusebius notices as re- 
vealed by the confessions of Pa- 
gan priests in the reign of Con- 
stantine [Prceparatin Evangelica, 
iv. v. vi.) must have been long 
suspected, if not in many in- 
stances discovered, and must, 
consequently, have tended great- 
ly to render oracles contemptible. 
The parallel which such in- 
stances afford to the impostures 
laid open by the visitations of 
many of our own religious houses 
at the Reformation, cannot fail 
to strike the most inattentive 
reader. 

Van Dale, a Dutch writer of 
the last century, whose work 
was presented to the French in a 
lighter form by Fontenelle, in 
his Histoire des Oracles, has cited 
innumerable authorities to dis- 
prove the common opinion, that 
oracles ceased at the birth of 
Christ. Among them are no less 
distinguished writers than Taci- 
tus, Philostratus, Lucian, Stra- 
bo, Juvenal, Suetonius, Martial, 
Statius, Pliny the younger, Ter- 
tuliian, Herodian, Plutarch, Dion 
Cassius, Capitolinus, Trebellius 
Pollio, Zosimus, Sozomen, and 
Ammianus Marcellinus (Diss. 1. 
de Orac. pp. 86-117.) all of whom 
have incidentally mentioned ora- 
cular responses as existing in 
their own days. It would detain 
us far too long if we were to ex- 
amine these accounts separately; 
and the point which is sought to 
be established by them scarcely 
requires the citation of anterior 
testimony if we produce the 
latest evidence which has baen 



given. Theodoret writes of Ju- 
lian, when he was about to un- 
dertake his Parthian war, that 
•If vivravra ra icena tt)V 'Paiftaitav 
Tjyepoviav £p??Jrr?pta T0I15 evvovorii- 
Totf Twi> {nrjjicowv i%STrijj.ipsv (Hi. 

9.) Julian would not have taken 
this trouble of sending to all the 
oracles in his dominions if they 
had long since been silent; that 
they were not a few may seem 
implied by aVavra; and whether 
the emperor himself believed in 
them or not, there cannot be a 
doubt from his anxiety to obtain 
their sanction, that he knew them 
to possess influence over the 
minds of the populace. Macro- 
bius, who flourished yet later, in 
the reigns of Arcadius and Ho ■ 
norius, speaks of the Sortes Anti- 
ance, in words which distinctly 
prove that they were consulted 
as oracles in his time. The idol 
of the Heliopolitan god, he says, 
is carried abroad by its priests, 
ferunturque divi?to spiritu, nou 
sito arbitrio, sed quo Dens propel- 
lit vekentes : ut videmus apud 
Antium promoveri simulacra for- 
tunarum ad danda responsa. Sa- 
turnalia, i. 23. 

Bayle says less on oracles than 
might be expected, but that little 
is pungent. The Pagan notions 
of the Deity, he observes, were 
as false as atheism itself. After 
a favourable response from Jupi- 
ter, we meet countless instances 
of application to Apollo as the 
judge de dernier ressort ; and 
many gods were consulted, just 
as we consult many advocates 
concerning a. lawsuit, in order 
that we may obtain the surest 
opinion by comparison. Tot ca- 
pita tot sensus. — Encyc, Mttrop. 
part xxxv. p. 66;»- 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



289 



observation. By the latter, namely, (auvtuu, it is opposed to oracular 
divination; for though ficavruoc be a general name, and sometimes signify 
any sort of divination, yet it is also used in a more strict and limited 
sense, to denote those predictions that are made by men ; and in this 
acceptation it is opposed to ^^^cV. 1 

Thus much for the name. As to the thing, it is distinguished from 
oracular divination (I mean that winch was delivered by interpreters, as at 
Delphi, for in others the difference is more evident), because that was con- 
fined usually to a fixed and stated time, and always to a certain place ; for 
the Pythia could not be inspired in any other place but Apollo's temple, 
and upon the sacred tripos ; whereas the 3-iop,dvru; were free and uncon- 
fined, being able, after the offering of sacrifices, and the performance of 
the other usual rites, to prophesy at any time or in any part of the world. 

As to the manner of receiving the divine inspiration, that was not 
always different ; for not only the Pythia, but the Sybils also, with many 
others, were possessed with divine fury, swelling with rage, like persons 
distracted and beside themselves. 

— Cai talia fanti 

Ante fores subito non vullus, non color wins, &C.2 

Few that pretended to inspiration but raged after this manner, foaming, 
and making a strange, terrible noise, gnashing with their teeth, shivering 
and trembling, with other antic motions ; and therefore some will have 
their name, namely, pu.vns, to be derived uno rod paivio-Qoit, from being 
mad. 

Other customs there were, common to them with the Pythia ; I shall 
only mention those about the laurel, which was sacred to Apollo, the god 
of divination, being sprung from his beloved Daphne, and thought to con- 
duce very much to inspiration, and therefore called /xxvnxov (pvrov, the 
prophetic plant? With this they used to crown their heads. Thus Cas- 
sandra is described by Euripides. 4 And iEschylus 5 speaks thus of her: 

Kal tnti-KTpa, xal ftavTrZa Trepl 6tpy crriipT). Her hand a laurel sceptre grasps, her neck 

The same prophetic plant with garlands deck. 

Where, by o-xvirrgov, he means a staff of laurel, which prophets usually 
carried in their hands ; it was called in Greek thvr^iov, as we learn from 
Hesychius. It was also usual to eat the leaves of this tree ; whence Lyco- 
phron says of Cassandra: 6 

tacpv-ntpaymv (polpaZev Ik Xai/xSiv Kira. The mouth with laurel morsels oft replete, 

In mystic words unriddled future fate. 

And the Sibyl in Tibullus speaks of it as one of her greatest privileges, 
placing it in the same rank with that of virginity, 7 a thing held by her 
very sacred, though not always observed by other prophets ; for Cassandra 
was Agamemnon's concubine; and though the condition of a captive 



1 Schol. in Sophocl.CEdip. Tyr. 109. 6 Cassandr. ver. 6. 

2 Virg. J£n. vi. 47. " 4 Androm. 7 Tibull Vu el, 5. ver. 63. 
S Claudian. de rapt. Pros. ii. 5 Agamemn. ver. 1273. 

2 B 



990 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



might lay some force upon her, yet it is agreed by all, that Helenus mar- 
ried Andromache ; and that blind Tiresias was led up and down by his 
daughter Manto. 

It was also customary for diviners to feed upon the Kv^iu<rxra. pogia %ou* 
ftcuiTizcdv, principal parts of the prophetical beasts y such were the hearts 
of crows, vultures, and moles, thinking that by these they became partakers 
of the souls of those animals, which by a natural attraction followed the 
bodies, and by consequence received the influence of the god, who used to 
accompany the souls. 1 

Thus much of these prophets in general. I shall only add, that they, 
as also other diviners, were maintained at Athens at the public charge, 
having their diet allowed in the UovretvsTov, or common hall. 2 

Of the there were three sorts among the Greeks, distin- 

guished by three distinct manners of receiving the divine affiatus. 

One sort were possessed with prophesying demons, which lodged within 
them, and dictated what they should answer to those that inquired of them, 
or spoke out of the bellies or breasts of the possessed persons, they all the 
while remaining speechless, and not so much as moving their tongues or 
lips, or pronounced the answers themselves, making use of the members 
of the demoniac. These were called ^oupovokntfroi, possessed with 
demons ; and because the spirits either lodged or spoke within their 
bodies, they were also named lyyaffr^ifAvOoi, which name was also attri- 
buted to the daemons, lyyaerr^fteivrus, crzoyo^.a.)/rzi%, lyyttcrrgTrcci, &C. 
This way of prophesying was practised also in other countries, and parti- 
cularly amongst the Jews ; as also necromancy ; for the prophet Isaiah 
denounced God's judgments upon those that made use of either of them. 3 
His word?, as they are translated by the Seventy, run thus: Kai \kv zUwci 
rtpo; vp&g, ^YiT'hfa.Ti rob; zyya.GTQipvQovi, zcti rob; ccvro rn; yvs (pcovouvra;, 
<rov; PczvoXoyovvrcx.;, ol \x rvs kqiXi&s {pavovtxiv' ovz zho; vrgos $&ov aurou zk^tj- 
T'Affovffi rt ZK^nrovcri vrtoi tmv £cov<reuv <rob; vz%oou$ ; And if they say unto 
you, seek unto them whose speech is in their belly, and those that speak out. 
of the earth, those that utter vain words, that speak out of their belly : shall 
not a nation seek unto their god f Why do they inquire of the dead con- 
cerning the living ? These diviners were also named Eti^uxMt; and Eu- 
<ivx\urai, from Eurycles, the first that practised this art at Athens ; 4 and 
TLu^uvts, and Uv^ojvitco), from TLvOuv, a prophesying demon, as Hesychius 
and Suidas have told us: the same is mentioned in the acts of the Apos- 
tles:^ Ey&vzro ol vro^ivopzvojv vifjcojv zls wgotrzup^hv, ^ai^ta'KTjv <tivoc 'l^oucruv 
tfvzvpa. IIwWj,-, cc7ru.vTvi<Ta.i hp-7v. Our translators have rendered it thus: 
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel, possessed 
with a spirit of divination, met us. But the margin reads python, instead 
oi divination, which is a general name, and may be used in that place, as 
more intelligible by the common people. Plutarch, in his treatise con- 



4 Aristoph, Vespis. 
b Cap. xvi. 10. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



291 



earning the cessation of oracles, says these familiar spirits were anciently 
called Ey£tf*X«JV, and TLvtimts only in latter ages: ' It is absurd,' says he, 
4 and childish, to suppose that the god himself, like the ^EyyuffrgifAvSot, 
which were formerly called Eb^uxXuz, but are now named TlMaivis, should 
enter into the bodies of prophets, and make use of their mouths and voices 
in pronouncing their answers.' 

As to the origin of this name (python) there are various conjectures ; 
the most probable of which seems to be, that it was taken from Apollo 
Pythius, who was thought to preside over all sorts of divination, and after- 
wards appropriated by custom to this species ; for so we find a great many 
words of a general signification, in time made peculiar to some one part 
of what they signified before. To give one instance, Tuoocwo;, by the 
ancient Greeks, was applied to all kings, as well the just and merciful, as 
the cruel, and whom we now call tyrannical; but in more modern ages 
was appropriated to that latter sort, and became a name of the greatest 
ignominy and detestation. On the contrary, words of a narrow and limited 
sense have sometimes passed their bounds, and taken upon them a more 
general and unconfined one : so Mavrua., which at first signified only that 
sort of prophesying which was inspired with rage and fury, being derived, 
as Plato and others after him will have it, avo rod fjctx.ivnxCa.i, from being 
mad, and by Homer, 1 in that sense opposed to some other ways of divina- 
tion, as that by dreams and entrails, came at length to be a general name 
for a]l sorts of divination. 

The second sort of Q&ofAccvrus were called 'EvOovffictffrce,), 'EvhottrriKo), and 
&iocrvtvrreii t being such as pretended to what we also call enthusiasm ; and 
different from the former, who contained within them the deity himself; 
whereas these were only governed, actuated, or inspired by him, and in- 
structed in the knowledge of what was to happen. Of this sort were 
Orpheus, Amphion, Musasus, and several of the Sibyls. 

A third sort were the , Ezirra.rix.o), or those that were cast into trances 
or ecstasies, in which they lay like men dead or asleep, deprived of all 
sense and motion; but after some time (it maybe days, or months, or 
years, for Epimenides, the Cretan, is reported to have lain in this posture 
seventy-five years), returning to themselves, gave strange relations of what 
they had seen and heard. For it was a vulgar opinion, that man's soul 
might leave the body, wander up and down the world, visit the place of 
the deceased, and the heavenly regions, and by conversing with the gods 
and heroes be instructed in things necessary for the conduct of human life. 
Plato, in the tenth book of his Politics, speaks of one Pamphilus^ a Phce- 
rean, who lay ten days amongst the carcases of slain men, and afterwards 
being taken up, and placed upon the funeral pile to be burned, returned 
io life, and related what places he had seen in heaven, earth, and hell, and 
what was done there, to the astonishment of all that heard him. And 



1 Iliad. «'. 
2 Bft 



292 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Plutarch, in his discourse concerning Socrates's demon, says, it was re- 
ported of the soul of Hermodorus the Clazomenian, that for several nights 
and days it would leave his body, travel over many countries, and return 
after it had viewed things, and discoursed with persons at a great distance, 
till at last, by the treachery of a woman, his body was delivered to his 
enemies, who burned the house while the inhabitant was abroad. Several 
other stories of the same nature are recorded in history ; which, whether 
true or false, it matters not much, since they were believed and received 
as such. 

Hither may also be reduced another sort of divination. It 1 was com- 
monly believed that the souls of dying men, being then in a manner loosed 
from the body, could foresee future events. Whence Hector is introduced 
by Homer,2 foretelling to Achilles the authors and place of his death ; and 
Orodes, by Virgil, foretelling the death of Mezentius. 3 I will only men- 
tion one example more, which is related by Cicero, 4 concerning Calanus, 
the Indian philosopher, who, being asked by Alexander, whether he had a 
mind to speak any thing before his death, replied, Optime, propediem te 
videbo : * Yes, I shall see you shortly.' Quod ita contigit ; which accord- 
ingly, says Cicero, came to pass. 

Thus much for natural divination. I come in the next place to speak- 
something of that which is called artificial. In doing which, because 
divination, or prediction by dreams, seems to bear a more near affinity to 
the natural than the rest, and is by some reckoned amongst the species of 
it, I shall, therefore, in the first place, give you an account of the customs 
practised in it. 



CHAP. XIII. 



OF DIVINATION BY DREAMS. 5 ( 



Of the dreams by which predictions were made, there were three sorts. 
The first was Xgypocrttrpo;, when the gods or spirits in their own, or 



1 u It is an opinion of great 
anticpiity, that when the soul is 
on the point of being delivered 
from the body, and makes a near- 
er approach to the divine nature; 
at such a time its views are 
stronger and clearer, and the 
mind endowed with a spirit of 
true prediction. So Artemon of 
Miletum says in his book of 
dreams, that when the soul hath 
collected all its powers from 
every limb and part of the body, 
and is just ready to be severed 
from it, at that time it becomes 
prophetical. Socrates also, in his 
iietenci? to the Athenians, says, ' I 
am now arrived at the verge of 



life, -wherein it is familiar with 
peopie to foretel what will come 
to pass.' " — Eustathius. 

2 Iliad. 355. 

3 ^Eneid. x. 739. 

4 De Divinat. ii. 

5 Metaphysical writers differ 
in opinion concerning what pow- 
ers of the mind are occupied in 
dreaming, and how far these 
powers are exerted. Dreams 
most frequently relate to those 
pursuits which excite the deep- 
est interest in the individual, but 
they have also often a reference 
to occurrences with which the 
person who dreams ran tryue no 
connexion. Many dreams have 



been actually verified, but this 
could not fail to be the case, 
seeing what a wide field dreams 
embrace, and how reasonable it 
is that there should occasionally 
occur a coincidence between spe- 
culation and fact. Fur one dream 
that turns out to be true, at least a 
thousand are false. What tends 
to nouri>>h the superstitious ve- 
neration entertained regarding 
dreams is, that only those which 
are verified are remembered, 
while the others are speedily 
forgotten, or only thought of as 
id.e vagaries. — Ed. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



293 



under any assumed form, conversed, with men in their sleep: of this sort 
was Agamemnon's dream at the beginning of the second Iliad; where tlie 
god of dreams, in the form of Nestor, advises him to give the Trojans 
battle, and encourages him with the promise of victory. Such also was 
the dream of Pindar, 1 in which Proserpine appeared to him and complained 
that he had dealt unkindly with her, having composed hymns in honour of 
all the other gods, while he had neglected her: she added, that when he 
came into her dominions, he should celebrate her praises also. Not many 
days after, the poet died, and in a short time appeared to an old woman, 
a relation of his, that used to employ a great part of her time in reading 
and singing his verses, and repeated to her a hymn he had composed in 
honour of Proserpine. 

The second is "OgapoL, wherein the images of things which are to hap- 
pen are plainly represented in their own shape and likeness: and this is 
by some called uut 1x0$. Such was that of Alexander the Great, 2 

when he dreamed that he was to be murdered by Cassander; and that of 
Croesus, king of Lydia, when he dreamed that his son Atys, whom he 
designed to succeed him in his empire, should be slain by an iron spear. 3 

The third species, called "Omgo;, is that in which future events are re- 
vealed by types and figures ; whence it is named ' AXXvyo^Kog , an allegory,* 
' a figure by which one thing is expressed and another signified. 7 Of this 
sort was Hecuba's, when she dreamed she had conceived a firebrand ; and 
Ccesar's, when he dreamed that he lay with his mother; which signified 
that he should enjoy the empire of the earth, the common mother of all. 
living creatures. From this species, those whose profession it was to in-, 
terpret dreams have derived their names, being called in Greek 'Ovuooz^U 
' ' QviiotzToov uvoxQiTcx.), from judging of dreams: 'Ovzigorxo'z'ot, from pry- 
ing and looking into them ; and 'Ovugofokoi, because they were conversant 
about them. To one of these three sorts may all prophetical dreams be 
reduced: but the distinction of their names is not always critically ob- 
served. 

The first author of all dreams, as well as of other divinations, was Ju- 
piter : 

Kal yap t livap Ik At J? eonv. For dreams, loo, come from Jove. 5 

But this must not be understood as if dreams were thought to proceed 
immediately from Jupiter; it was below his dignity to descend to such 
mean offices, which were thought more fit for inferior deities. 

To omit therefore the apparitions of the gods, or spirits in dreams, upon 
particular occasions, such as was that of Patroclus' ghost to Achilles, 6 to 
•desire his body might be interred ; the earth was thought to be the cause 
of dreams : 7 

as ir&Tvta. xetuv, Hail, venerable Earth, from whom 

toeXaycTTTSovycoi/ ^arrp ova'ptov. &able- w ing'd dreams derive their birth. 



1 Pausan. Boeoticis. 4 HeracUd. de Alienor. Homer. 7 Ettrirt. Hecub. ver. 70. 

2 Val. Max. i. 7. 5 Horn. Iliad, a', 63. 

3 Herodoi. i. 3i. 6 Iliad, 65. 

2 15 3 



294 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



because the earth, by obstructing the passage of the light of the sun, causes 
the night in which dreams present themselves, which are on this account 
imputed to the earth as their mother. Or, because out of the earth pro- 
ceeds meat, meat causes sleep (sleep, being nothing but the ligation of the 
exterior senses, caused by humid vapours ascending from the stomach to 
the brain, and there obstructing the motion of the animal spirits, which 
are the instruments of sensation, and all other animal operations), and 
from sleep come dreams: but these were esteemed mere cheats and delu- 
sions. 1 Of such as these Homer speaks, when he makes dreams to inhabit 
near the ocean, the great receptacle of the humid element. 2 

Others were ascribed to infernal ghosts. 9 Hence Sophocles brings in 
Electra, saying that Agamemnon, out of a concern for Orestes and his 
designs, haunted Clytemnestra with fearful dreams. 4 

Others were imputed to Hecate, and to the Moon, who were goddesses 
of the night, and were sometimes taken for the same person: they were 
also supposed to have a particular influence, and to preside over all the 
accidents of the night, and therefore were invoked at incantations, and 
other night mysteries. 

But the chief cause of all was the god of sleep, whose habitation 5 was 
among the Cimmerii, in a den dark as hell, and in the way to it; around 
him lay whole swarms of dreams of all sorts and sizes, which he sent forth 
when and whither he pleased. Virgil assigns to the false and deluding 
dreams another place, upon an elm at the entrance of hell. 6 It may be, he 
supposes this to have been the receptacle of some part of them, and the rest 
to accompany the god of sleep. 7 He had three attendants, more ingenious 
than the rest, who could transform themselves into any form ; their names 
were Morpheus, Phobetor or Icelos, and Phantasus: the employment of 
the first was to counterfeit the forms of men, the second imitated the like- 
ness of brutes, and the last that of inanimate creatures. 

In Virgil, the god of sleep descended from heaven upon Palinurus; 
which is not to be understood as if heaven was his proper seat, but that he 
was sent thence by some of the ethereal gods, by whom he had been called 
thither; or else he is to be supposed to rove up and down through the 
heavens, or air, to disperse his dreams among men as he sees convenient. 8 

There was another deity also, to whom the care of dreams was com- 
mitted, called Brizo, from the old Greek word /W£s/v, to sleep : 9 she was 
worshipped in the island Delos, and boats full of all sorts of things, except 
fish, were offered to her. But she was thought rather to assist at the in- 
terpretation of dreams, than to be the efficient cause of them, and is 
therefore sometimes called Bgigoftuvrts. The Greeks used to pray to her 
for the public safety and prosperity ; but more particularly, that she would 
vouchsafe to protect and preserve their ships. 10 



1 liustath. in Horn. Odys. lib. 
xix 

2 Odvs. 12. 

3 Vir». JEn. vi. 



4 Electra. ver. 480. 

5 Ovid. Metam. xi. fab. 10 

6 2F,ne\d. vi. 2S3. 

7 Ovid. loc. citat. 



8 iEneid. v. 838. 

9 Coel. Antiq. Lect, xxvii. 10. 
10 Athenas. lib. viii. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



295 



Lastly, it was believed that hawks, or vultures Qt^Ktg), when they were 
dead, did fAotvrtvstrtieci xa.) ovil^arx l<z , i<z'i[t<zruv, prophesy and send dreams / 
being then divested of their bodies, and become yv/Aveti ^v^u), naked 
souls. 1 

There were two ways by which dreams were supposed usually to come ; 
one for delusive dreams, which passed through a gate of ivory, another for 
the true, which passed through a gate of horn. 2 

In allusion to these gates, it was customary to represent any dream in 
a white garment, wrapped over a black one, with a horn in his hand. 3 

The time in which true dreams were expected was Nyxro? ujuoXyog' 
and therefore Penelope, having an auspicious dream concerning her son 
Telemachus, who was travelling in search of his father Ulysses, rejoiced 
the more, because it appeared to her at that time. 4 What time that was 
grammarians are not agreed : some derive it from the privative particle « 
and poXiw, to walk, or poy\u, to labour and toil, as though it were oc^oXog 
or c&poyos, and by epenthesis, ccpoXyog, as though it should signify the 
dead of the night, in which people neither labour nor walk abroad. Others 
also think it may signify the middle or depth of the night, but for a differ- 
ent reason : for apoXyog, say they, is the same with avKtlg, thick or 
close compacted ; and Hesiod hath used the word hi this sense, when he 
says, 

Mot£o4 r oc/xoXyxr/j 

That is, vroifiivixn appciatx, a thick cake, such as the shepherds and labour- 
ing men eat. Others allow it the same signification, but for a third reason: 
upoXyog, say they, according to the glossographers, amongst the Achceans, 
is the same with a,xpn y which signifies the midst or height of any thing, 
as uaph S-sgov$, that part of summer when the height is most violent, 
midsummer ; and men are said to be h azpri, when they are in their full 
strength; and therefore apoXyog, or uz,uh vvzrog must be the depth or 
midst of the night. But this signification concerns not our present pur- 
pose, for I nowhere read that dreams had more credit because they came 
in the dead of the night. It must therefore be observed, that upoXyog was 
used in another sense ; for the time in which they used to milk cattle, 
being derived from up'iXyu, to milk ; and then apoXyog wzrog must sig- 
nify the time of milking in the morning, in opposition to 'h/xigctg upoXyog, 
or the evening milking-time. That it was used in this sense is evident 
from Homer's twenty-second Iliad, where he says the dog-star, which rises 
a little before the sun, appears h vvzrog uy.oXyu>? 

And Horace assures us that this was the time in which dreams were 
thought to deserve the greatest regard. 6 Ovid appears to be of the same 
opinion, and Theocritus agrees with them. 

The reason of which opinion was this, namely, they thought all the 



1 .'Elianusde Animal. %\. 39. 3 PhiIo9tratus. 

'i Horn. Odys. xix. 56i. Virg. 4 Horn. Odys. iv. 839. 



6 Sat. x. 31. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



remainders of the meat upon their stomachs might by that time he pretty 
well digested and gone; for till then dreams were believed rather to pro- 
ceed from the fumes of the last night's supper than any divine or superna- 
tural cause ; and therefore Pliny tells us, a dream is never true presently after 
eating or drinking ; and Artemidorus farther observes, that small credit is 
to be given to a morning dream, if you have eaten too plentifully the night 
before ; because all the crudities cannot then be carried off. 

For that reason, they who desired a prophetic dream, used to take a 
special care of their diet, so as to eat nothing hard of digestion, as parti- 
cularly beans, or raw fruit. Some, that they might be sure to be free 
from fumes, fasted one day before, and abstained from wine for three. 
Fish is not soon or easily digested, and therefore, it is probable, was 
thought to obstruct true dreams, which seems to have been the reason why, 
when such quantities of other things were offered in sacrifice to the god- 
dess Brizo, fish only were excepted. Plutarch observes, 1 that the head of 
the polypus was prejudicial to those who desired prophetical dreams, be- 
cause it is sweet and pleasant to the taste, but disquiets men in their sleep, 
and makes them restless, causing troublesome and anxious dreams: and 
therefore he compares poetry to it, which contains many things, both pro- 
fitable and pleasant to those that make a right use of it; but to others is 
very prejudicial, filling their heads with vain, if not impious notions and 
opinions. In short, all things apt to burden the stomach, to put the blood 
into a ferment, and the spirits into too violent a motion ; all things apt 
to create strange imaginations, to disturb men's rest, or to hinder in any 
way the free and ordinary operations of the soul, were to be avoided ; that 
so the mind and fancy being pure, and without any unnatural or external 
impressions, might be the fitter to receive divine insinuations. Some 
choice there was also in the colour of their clothes: Suidas tells us, it was 
most proper to sleep in a white garment, which was thought to make the 
dreams and visions the clearer. 

Besides all this, before they went to bed, they used to sacrifice to Mer- 
cury. The Calasiris in Heliodorus, after he had prayed to all the rest 
of the gods, calls upon Mercury to give him ibovu^ov vvx.ro., a night of 
good dreams. Mercury was thought to be vwov }orh^, the giver of slecj) ; ' 
and therefore they usually carved his image upon the feet of the bod, 
which were for that reason called Igftivts* Others will have Igpus to be 
derived from to pa, a prop, or support, because by it the bed was up- 
held or supported. However that be, certain it is, that one of Mercury's 
employments was to preside over sleep and dreams, and the night also, 
with all things which belong to it. 3 

After all this preparation, they went to sleep, expecting to discover 
whatever they were solicitous about before the morning: but if their fate 
was revealed in obscure or allegorical terms, so that themselves could not 
dive into their meaning, then an interpreter was consulted. The first of 



1 Initio Libelli de Audiendis Poetis. 2 Eustathias. 3 Horn. Hymn, in Merc. ver. 14. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



297 



this kind was Amphictyon, Deucalion's son. 1 Pausanias would have it to 
be Amphiaraus, who had divine honours paid him, for the invention of 
that art. Others ascribe it to the inhabitants of Telmissus ; 2 but whoever 
was the author of it, it is certain, that amongst the ancient Greeks it 
had very great credit, as appears from the number of books written con- 
cerning it. Geminus Pyrius composed three books upon this subject; 
Artemon the Milesian two and twenty; besides Panyasis the Halicarnas- 
sean, Alexander the Myndian, Phoebus the Antiochian, Demetrius the 
Phalerean, Nicostratus the Ephesian, Antipho the Athenian, Artemidorus, 
Astrampsychus, Philo Judseus, Achines the son of Scyrimus, Nicephorus, 
&c. Yet it was never in so great request as the other species of divina- 
tion. The many false and frivolous dreams which happen to every man 
cast a suspicion upon all the rest ; and those which were nothing but delu- 
sions made the truly QtocrtfAwrot) prophetical to be called in question ; and 
therefore, when the hero in Homer 3 advises the Greeks to inquire of 
some prophet, what means they should use to appease the anger of the 
gods, he speaks boldly, and without hesitation, of ^avr^, or the inspired 
prophet $ and hgzvs, or him that consulted the entrails of victims offered in 
sacrifice (for so hg&v$ must signify in that place); but when he comes to 
cniootfoXo;, or the interpreter of dreams, he is forced to make a sort of an 
apology in this manner: 



AXX' Sys &i] TLva ti6.VT*v epe(ou.EV, ?j lepr/a, 
*K Kat, ovFiooiro^ov, K al yao r' Svap e« Aidj sartv. 

But let some prophet., or some sacred sage, 



Explore the cause of great Apollo's rage; 

Or learn the wasteful vengeance to remove, 

By mystic dreams, for dreams descend from Jove. 

POPE. 



Whereby he anticipates a question, which he foresaw might be proposed 
to him thus : — Why should we ask counsel of one whose business is only 
to expoimd these delusions? why should we trust the safety of the whole 
army in the hands of a cunning impostor? To this he answers, that in- 
deed there were many false and deceitful dreams ; yet some also were true, 
and came from Jupiter, the common father of all prophetical predictions, 
and therefore might be depended upon. In later ages, dreams came to be 
little regarded, except by old doting women, who were very superstitious 
in observing them. 4 

In more remote ages, the people who lived near the Gades, and Borys- 
thenes, and the inhabitants of Telmissus and Hyb.la Gereatis, a city be- 
longing to the Cataneans, in Sicily, were famed for their skill in this 
art. 

When any frightful or obscure dream appeared, the dreamer used to 
disclose his fears to some of the gods, offering incense, or some other 
oblation; and praying, that if good was portended, it might be brought to 
pass: if the contrary, that the gods would avert it. This telling of dreams 
was not appropriated to any particular deity. Some discovered them to 
Hercules, others to Jupiter, others to the household gods, because they 



1 Piin. vii, 5. 2 Clemens Alexand. Strom, i. p. 306. 3 Iliad, a'. 4 Propert. lib. ii. ep. 4. 



298 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



were nearest at hand, and were thought to have a peculiar concern and 
care for the family in which they were worshipped, and particularly to 
Vesta. 1 

Apollo also had a peculiar title to this worship, under the name of 
'E^xxurrngioSf ' Atforgo-rato;, or Av err uncus ; from averting evils, and 
UcoffTccTn^ios, from presiding over and protecting houses; on which ac- 
count, he had images erected to him in the porches. Whence in Sopho- 
cles, Clytemnestra having seen a terrible dream, calls upon her woman 
thus .2 

^En-aipe 6h <ri S-i'i/xaS', tj -rrapovra poi, Thou, my attendant, the oblations bring 

nay*a ? 7r\ ai/u«n t£ <5' oVto? \vr V ptntf Of the earth's various fruits, that I may pour 

Svxas Ivaozai isijuaraiv 'd vvv tx M ' prayers to royal Phoebus, from my soul 

To chase the terrors thatappall me now. — potter. 

And then she begins her prayer: 

KXims av V)Zr), *oI/3« irpoaraTvpi*, O thou, who hnld'st thy guardian station here, 

5(5' aKovi 7y6s ydp n?yic <ppuira>. Now, Phoebus, hear the whispers of my voice. 

'a ydp wpoaeliov wktI t^M (paopuTa. The nightly visions of this doubtful dream, 

AtooZv ove.tpwv, ravra pot, Avkbi' "Avag, If they portend me good, Lycean king, 

El /xer nt'pyvev t.oQXa, 60s reXftripopa' Bring thou to good effect; if ill, avert 

El <5' Ixfyh toIs ix 9 ^ 01 " 8/*w»Xm» /j.i8es. That ill from me, and turn it on my foes. POTTER. 

But before that, she had discovered her fears to the Sun, whence Chryso- 
themis learned the dream from one that overheard her-. 3 

TatavTa rov irapovros, fjvtx 1 'H\iu> This from one present, when she told her dream 

Af.Uvvai. roZvap, ZkXvov itqyovpivov. To the bright Sun, I heard. POTTKK. 

Both the scholiasts upon that place tell us that it was done conformably 
to the ancient custom of relating dreams to the Sun; and Triclinius gives 
this reason for it, viz. that the Sun being contrary to the Night, averted 
or expelled all the evils which proceeded from it. The same we find done 
by Iphigenia in Euripides, 4 with this difference, that she discloses her 
thoughts to the heavens, whereas Clytemnestra had done it to the Sun 
alone. The doing this they called a^crs^rs^a:/, u. , z'o1}io<zop<7n7<T@ott, and 
u.7rar()i<7ti<TQu,i svvv^ov o^/tv, or oc^oT^o^ioi^ier^ui <ru> '4X100, &C. 

But before they were permitted to approach the divine altars, they were 
obliged to purify themselves from all the pollutions of the night; by wash- 
ing the body, or at least the hands, in some running stream. 5 

Amongst the Romans it was usual to dip their heads five times in water 
before morning prayer. 6 



CHAP. XIV. 

OF DIVINATION BY SACRIFICES. 

Divination by sacrifices, called 'is^avrs/a, or 'U^qixk^U, was divided 

1 Piopert. i. ep. 29. 4 Taur. ver. 43. 

- Kleotra^ ver. G3J. 5 Msehjl. Pcrsis. ver. 206. 

■<i lb. ver. 4z7. Virg. Mn. viii. 09. Sil. lul. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREIiCE. 



293 



into different kinds, according to the diversity of the materials offered to 
the gods. They first made conjectures from the external parts and mo- 
tions of the victim ; then from its entrails, from the flame in which it was 
consumed, from the cakes and flour, from the wine and water, with seve- 
ral other things, of which in their order. 

The art, which made observations in killing and cutting up the victim* 
was called Qvr/xy. It was regarded as an unlucky omen, when the beast 
was drawn by force to the altar, when it escaped by the way, and avoided 
the fatal blow, did not fall down quietly, and without reluctance, but 
kicked, leaped up, or bellowed, bled not freely, was long a dying, showed 
any tokens of great pain, beat upon the ground, expired with convulsions, 
or did any thing contrary to what usually happens in the slaughter of 
beasts; especially if the beast prevented the knife and died suddenly. 
Whence Pyrrhus king of Epirus, being about to make a league with two 
other kings, Theodotus forbade him to proceed, and withal foretold the 
speedy death of one of the kings, 1 when one of the three victims, which 
were brought to the altar, suddenly fell down dead. But, on the contrary, 
the gods were judged to be propitious, and willing to receive the devotions 
paid to them, when every thing was carried on with ease: when the victim 
went voluntarily, and without compulsion, to the slaughter, endured the 
blow patiently, fell down quietly, bled freely, and expired without groan- 
ing, then the victim seemed willingly to submit to death: any sign of 
this was a most fortunate omen. 2 Hence it was customary to pour water 
into its ear, Ivrmv'/i ru7g TsXeraJV, that it might by a nod consent to be 
sacrificed? Somewhat also was observed in the wagging of the tail; 
whence the poet says, 

Ksptos Ttmtl xaXZi. The victim kindly wags Ms tail. 

On this account it was usual to draw a knife from the victim's head to its 
tail. Other predictions were made from the tail, when cast into the fire ; 
when it was curled by the flame, it portended misfortunes ; when it was 
extended out in length and hung downward, it was an omen of some over- 
throw to be suffered ; but when erected, it signified victory. 4 

After tbis, the victim being cut open, they made observations from its 
entrails; these were termed 'l^rv^a, from the fire wherein they were 
burned. The omens were called by Plato to. zfAWga. avifAa.ru., and the 
divination was distinguished by the name of % h' IfAvvgaiv fcuvrucc. By 
some it was feigned to have been first occasioned, or veiy much improved, 
by the death of the Delphian Sibyl, whose body being reduced to earth, 
imparted first to the herbs, and by their means to the beasts which fed 
on them, a power of divining: as also those other parts of her, which, 
mixed with the air, are said to have occasioned the divination by ominous 
words. 5 If the entrails were whole and sound, had their natural place, 
colour, and proportion, then all was well; but if any part was decayed, or 



1 Plut. Pyrrho. 3 Myrl. i ( Lesbioor. 5 Clemens. Alex. Strom. J. p, 

2 Senec. in Hercule Forente. 4 Eurip. 'Schol. i'iioeniss. 304. 



soo 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



wanting ; if any thing was out of order, or not according to nature, evil 
was portended. 1 

The palpitation of the entrails was a very unfortunate omen 2 
The first and principal part to be observed was the liver: if this was 
corrupted, they thought that both the blood, and by consequence all the 
body must be so too ; and therefore if it was found very bad, they desisted 
immediately, not heeding what the other parts might promise: these signs 
were called axi\iv§a, as hindering them from going any farther. 3 This 
observing of the liver was called 'Hsrara^xaw/a, which also became a general 
name for divination by entrails, being the chief part of it. If the liver 
had a pleasing and natural redness ; if it was sound, without spot or ble- 
mish ; if its head was large, if it had two heads, or there were two livers ; 
if its lappets were turned inwards, then prosperity and success were 
expected. On the other hand, nothing but dangers, disappointments, and 
misfortunes were to be looked for, if there was B/^a?, too much dryness, 
or titTyM, a tie between the parts, especially if it was uXofios, without a 
lappet, or the liver itself was altogether wanting. Pythagoras the sooth- 
sayer foretold Alexander's death, on aXofi'ov et to nvrci^ r,v tiouov, because 
his victim's liver had no lobes. And his friend Hephoestion's death was 
prognosticated by the same omen. 4 Bad signs also were accounted such 
as these : if there appeared upon it any blisters, wheals, or ulcers ; if it 
was parched, thin, hard, or of an ugly blackish colour ; had any corrupt 
and vitiated humours; was in any way displaced; or, lastly, if in boiling it 
did not conspicuously appear amongst the rest of the entrails ; was polluted 
with any nasty corrupt matter, became very soft, and, as it were, melted 
into a jelly. The concavous part of the liver was called Itrnas, that is, 
belonging to the family, because the signs observed there concerned 
themselves and their friends; the gibbous side IvrtfioXis, or avrto-rc&Tis , 
because the tokens in it concerned their enemies: if either of these parts 
was shrivelled, corrupted, or any way changed for the worse, it boded 
ruin to the person concerned in it; but if large and sound, or bigger than 
usual, it was a prosperous omen. 5 That the Romans also used this method, 
appears from Lucan, who tells us that Caesar's victory over Pompey was 
foretold in this way. His words are these : 

Quodque nefas nullis impune apparuit extis, Lo ! by the fibrous liver's rising head 

Mece videt capiti Jibrarum increscere. molem, A second rival prominence is spread; 

Alterius capiti pars cB^ra et marcida pendet, All sunk and poor the friendly part appears, 

Pars micat, et ceUri venas mnvet improba , pulsu. And a pale, sickly, withering visage wears. 
One prodigy superior threatened still, ROWE. 
The never-failing harbinger of ill : 

The place or seat where all the parts of the liver lay, was called Ss|<$, and 
loxfi- T ne P lace between the parts in the middle was termed ^uXxtx, and 
WQV&t{f*f by Hesychius ei$o), or ; by Euripides vvXcti. 

■ ■ xvXatt za,i do^'h srlA«£ 

Kansas 'ityaiivov toj ctcotovvti trgotrfioXccs. 

• \ Senec. CKdip. ver. 367. 3 Hesychius. 5 Senec. OEdip. ver. 360. 

i It. ver. 353. 4 Anian- Expel Alex. vii. 6 Demos. Inter, in Orat. de Cor. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



This was an unfortunate omen, when found compressed or closed ; 
whence Dio relates, 1 that the soothsayers warned Caracalla to take care of 
himself, on a.1 tov vvruros vrvXat xixkuvrcu, because the gates of the liver 
were closed. 

The next thing to be taken notice of was the heart, which, if it was 
very little, palpitated much, leaped, was shrivelled, or wrinkled, or had 
no fat at all, portended bad fortune ; if there was no heart to be found, it 
was a most deadly omen. 

Next to the heart, they observed the gall, the spleen, the lungs, and the 
membranes in which the bowels were inclosed. If there were two galls ; 
if the gall was large, and ready to burst out of its skin; then sharp and 
bloody, but yet prosperous, fights were expected. If the spleen lay in its 
own place, was clear and sound, of its natural colour, without wheals, 
hardness, or wrinkles, it boded nothing but success; as the contrary signs 
presaged misfortunes. So did also the entrails, if they chanced to slip out 
of the hands of him that offered the sacrifice ; if they were besmeared with 
blood, of a livid colour, or spotted; were full of blisters or pimples, filled 
with corrupt or salt matter, broken or torn in pieces, or stunk like putre- 
fied bodies. Lastly, if serpents crawling, or any thing else terrible and 
unusual was found in them. If the lungs were cloven, the business in 
hand was to be deferred ; if whole and entire, it was to be proceeded in 
with all possible speed and vigour. 

Other parts of the victim did sometimes presage things to come, espe- 
cially if any thing happened extraordinary, and contrary to the common 
course of nature. For instance, on the day that king Pyrrhus was slain 
at Argos, his death was foretold by the heads of the sacrifices, which being 
cut off, lay licking their own blood. 2 Another unlucky omen happened to 
Cimon, the Athenian genera], a little before his death; for when the priest 
had slain the sacrifice according to custom, the blood that ran down, and 
congealed upon the ground, was by a great many pismires carried to 
Cimon, and placed all together at his great toe. They were a long time in 
doing this before any man perceived them ; but Cimon had no sooner 
espied them out, but the augur brought him word that the liver had no 
head ; and in a very short time after, that famous captain died. 

Hither are to be reduced some other ways of divination by things made 
use of at sacrifices ; as, first, Utfaofiuvrsiet, divination by the fire of the 
sacrifice. Good signs were such as these: if the flames immediately took 
hold of, and consumed the victim, seizing at once all the parts of it; on 
which account they usually prepared to Qgvyuvot, dry sticks, which would 
easily take fire. Also, if the flame was bright and pure, and without noise 
or smoke; if the sparks tended upward in the form of a pyramid; if the 
fire went not but till all was reduced to ashes. Contrary signs were, 
when it was kindled with difficulty, when the flame was divided, when it 
did not immediately spread itself over all the parts of the victim, but 



1 Caracalla. 



2 Plin. xi. 37 

2c 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



creeping along, consumed them by little and little; when, instead of 
ascending in a straight line, it whirled round, turned sideways, or down- 
wards, and was extinguished by winds, showers, or any other unlucky 
accident ; when it crackled more than ordinary, was black, casting forth 
smoke or sparks, or died before all the victim was consumed. All these, 
and such like omens, signified the displeasure of the gods. Some of these 
signs Tiresias speaks of in Sophocles as very fatal and pernicious: 1 



Sometimes, when the entrails foretold nothing certain by dissection, the 
priest made observations from them in the fire ; in order hereto he took 
the bladder, and binding the neck of it with wool (for which reason Sopho- 
cles calls the bladders puXXoYiroi; xuirtus) put it into the fire, to observe in 
what place it would break, and which way it would dart the urine. 2 Some- 
times they took pitch off the torches, and threw it into the fire ; whence if 
there arose but one entire flame, it was taken for a good omen. In mat- 
ters of war, or enmity, they took notice of the u,z.ca Xa,ft<zra$ , or uppermost 
part of the flames, and the gall, irizooi yao \^6oo) 9 enemies being bitter like 



Ka«rv0 ( tfc«»<rs/«, divination by the smoke of sacrifices, in which they 
observed what windings and turnings it made, how high it ascended, and 
whether in a direct or oblique line, or in wreaths; also how it smelled, 
whether of the flesh that was burned, or any thing else. 

AifiuvofcKVTi'tUt divination by frankincense, which, if it presently catched 
fire, and sent forth a grateful odour, was esteemed a happy omen ; but if 
the fire would not touch it, or any nasty smell, contrary to the nature of 
frankincense, proceeded from it, it boded ill. 

OivofAuvrslet, and 'T^^avrs/a, divination by wine and by water, when 
conjectures were made from the colour, motion, noise, and other accidents 
of the wine of the libations; or the water in which the victims were 
washed and some parts of them boiled. 3 

KgifopavruK, and ' AXtugopavnla,, divinations by which predictions were 
made from the flour with which the victim was besprinkled. 

Hither also may be referred 'l%0uofAavriiet, divination by the entrails of 
fishes; for which Tiresias and Polydamas are said to have been famous: 
as also '{loorxov'ia, which made predictions by eggs, and several others. 

Who was the first inventor of this divination is uncertain. By some it 
is attributed to Prometheus, the great father of most arts. Clemens of 
Alexandria 4 ascribes it to the Hetrurians; and Tages, one of that nation, 
whom they feigned to have sprung out of a furrow in the Tarquinian fields, 

1 Aflli2<m. v ?r. !12-i. 2 Eurip. Sfctfol. Phan. 3 Virg. sF.n. W. 433. 4 Strom, i. pag. 30&. 




But from the sacrifice no flame shone bright, 

Nor vapour from the humid flesh arose-, 

It waste. 1 , on the ashes, and rolled low 

A dull black smoke, exuding on the fire ; 

The entraiis swelled and burst-, the mehingthighs, 

Shrunk from the involving cauls, lay bare. 



POTTER. 



gall. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



303 



was commonly thought by the Italians to have been the first who com- 
municated this divination to mankind. 1 It was certainly veiy ancient, 
and obtained so great credit amongst the Greeks, that they would desist 
from the greatest, and seemingly most advantageous undertakings, and 
attempt things most hazardous, and unlikely to be attained, if the 
entrails of victims dissuaded them from the former, or encouraged them 
to the latter. Of this we have a remarkable instance in Plutarch's life of 
Aristides: c When Mardonius the Persian made an assault upon the Gre- 
cians, Pausanias the Lacedaemonian, at that time general of all the Grecian 
forces, offered sacrifice, and finding it not acceptable to the gods, com- 
manded the Lacedaemonians, laying down their shields at their feet, to 
abide quietly and attend his directions, making no resistance to any of 
their enemies. Then offering a second time, for if the first victim afforded 
not auspicious omens, it was usual to offer on till they obtained what they 
desired, as the horse charged, one of the Lacedaemonians was wounded ; 
at this time also Callicrates, who by report was the most comely proper 
man in the army, being shot with an arrow, and upon the point of expir- 
ing, said that he lamented not his death (for he came from home to lay 
down his life in the defence of Greece), but that he had died without 
action. The cause was heard, and wonderful was the forbearance of the 
men ; for they repelled not the enemy that charged them, but expecting 
their opportunity from the gods and their general, suffered themselves to 
be wounded, and slain in their ranks ; and so obstinate they continued in 
this resolution, that though the priests offered one victim after another 
without any success, and the enemy still pressed upon them, they moved 
not a foot, till the sacrifices proved propitious, and the soothsayers foretold 
the victory.' 



CHAP. XV. 

OF DIVINATION BY VIRUS. 

I come, in the next place, to speak of divination by birds ; the invention 
of which is by some ascribed to Prometheus, or Melampus, the son of 
Amythaon and Dorippe; Pliny reports, 2 that Car, from whom Caria 
received its name, was the first that made predictions by birds; and 
Orpheus by other animals: 3 Pausanias tells us, that Parnassus, after whose 
name the mountain Parnassus was called, first observed the flight of birds. 
The same, Clemens of Alexandria reports concerning the Phrygians. 4 
This art was very much improved by Calchas, who, as Homer tells us, 
was 

olwvoiroXo* apieroj. Of augurs far the best. 



1 Cic. it. de Divination?. Luc. i. 2 Lib. vii. 55. 3 Pliocicis. 

2 c 2 



4 Strom. L pag. 306. 



304 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



At length it arrived at such perfection, and gained so much credit in the 
world, that seldom any thing of moment was undertaken, either in time 
of war or peace, seldom any honours conferred, any magistrates created, 
without the approbation of birds ; nay, other divinations were sometimes 
passed by unregarded, if not confirmed by them. At Lacedasmon, the 
king and senate had always an augur attending upon them to advise with; 1 
and Coelius reports, that kings themselves used to study the art. The 
birds, because they were continually flying about, were thought to observe, 
and pry into men's most secret actions, and to be acquainted with all 
accidents ; whence that verse of Aristophanes : 2 

OiJely 04*6 rov S-qzavgov rov e/ioj', irXf ; v etrty ap" opvty. None, but perhaps some bird, knows any thing 

About my treasure 

And the scholiast quotes such another saying out of him : 

Cuc'ei'y fte 5ewptu, 7rX;,v o Trapm-ra/ievoy 8pv:j. None sees me, but the bird thatflieth by. 

There is a proverb also much to the same purpose ; for when they thought 
themselves secure from the knowledge of all persons, they used to say, 
Ob^z>s o\^i ti cafttkr,<ra, vkwv yi tin; ogvt;' none is conscious to what I have 
been conversing about, except perchance some bird? Aristophanes hath 
introduced the birds themselves, telling what religious observance was paid 
them: 

~ETfj.lv o' vplv'Apfiwv, AsX^ol, A'-ocic^, $oZ$os 'Ato'X- For we to you instead of Ammon are, 

Instead of Delphi and Dodona's oik, 
EX0ovt£s yap itfwTov sjt' Zpvei$, oZtid irpbs array-* Instead of Pucebus ; for our oracles 

■rpi-rsade. You first consult, then prosecute designs. 

The omens given by birds were by the Greeks called oW?, ooviocnwriKx, 
eclnpa,, o'tcavo), oiMntrpciTa., &c. and the observers of them, ooyiotrKO'zrot, hvi- 
CopavTu:, onvrfoffy/ovToi, olwviffTu.), oiavotHircu. oisovocroXot, &c. ; but afterward?, 
these names were promiscuously used for almost all the species of artificial 
divination; as aruspicium, and augurium were among the Latins. The 
scholiast of Aristophanes has observed, that o1ojvov$ x.u.\ov<Tt xat to, /th o^.-cc, 
they called omens, winch are not made by birds, by the name of olate't. 
And the same author affirms, that 

7th >.iyiTu.i ogvis, every omen which either encourages to, or dissuades from 
any thing, was termed ogv$. Plato is of opinion that oiedvio-rixh was ori- 
ginally a general name, and written with an o micron, oloviff-iyJ/i, signify- 
ing any thing V ou olbfUtOx to. (uiXXovra, by which we make conjectures of 
what is to come; but now, says Aristides, they write it with a mega, ro u 
ffi/uvvvovri;, to give the letter grace to it. 

The Grecian augurs were not, as the Latin, clothed in purple, or 
scarlet, but in white, having a crown of gold upon their heads when they 
made observations. 4 They had also olavicrrvipiaVf that is, a place or seat 
appointed for that purpose, called sometimes by the general names of 
Sctxo;, and S-'Zko;, as in Sophocles' Antigone, where Tiresias speaks thus: 5 

Eif yap TraXo.ov SZkov ipvi9oa K 6-n-oy J?or sitting in my wonted hallow'd place, 

"l&w^ IS % p M ot jra^of ia..,o5 Xcrfv. Whither all birds of divination flock. 



J Antiq. Lect. rut 1. 

Z Avibus. 



3 Lo:;. citat X v. 40. 

4 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 5 Ver. 1115. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE, 



"05 



And the scholiast upon that place tells us, this seat was peculiarly named 
and that Tiresias had power to assemble the birds from all quarters 
when he had occasion for them. They used also to carry with them 
writing tables, as the scholiast upon Euripides reports, in which they 
wrote the names and flights of the birds, with other things belonging 
thereto, lest any circumstance should slip out of their memory. 

The omens that appeared towards the east were accounted fortunate by 
the Greeks, Romans, and all other nations; because the great principle 
of all light and heat, motion and life, diffuses its first influences from that 
part of the world. On the contrary, the western omens were unlucky, 
because the sun declines in that quarter. 

The Grecian augurs, when they made observations, kept their faces 
towards the north, the east being upon their right hand, and the west upon 
their left: that they did so appears from Homer, who brings in Hector, 
telling Polydamas, that he regarded not the birds: 1 

Efr' lirl <5f?' tax™ jrpos rj<Z ~' m*»$* **j Or where the suns arise, or where descend; 

E"r' en- ipurreoa ral yg ttotI %6<pov ^ecosvra. To right, to left, unheeded take your way, 

Ye vagrants of the sky ! your wings extend, While I the dictates of high heaven obey.— POVE. 

The reason of this, as it is delivered by Plutarch, from Plato and Aris- 
totle, was, that cco%vi ris %i\7to-ico;, the beginning of the celestial motions, 
was in the oriental parts of the world, and that therefore these were 
accounted l-^ik rou xcffpou, the right side of the world; and the west, 
where the motion terminates, aoio-noa,, the left. Hence the signs that 
were presented to them on the right hand were accounted fortunate, and 
those on the left unlucky. On the contrary, the Romans, making obser- 
vations with their faces towards the south, had the east upon their left 
hand, and the west upon the right, of which there are innumerable proofs, 
which, for brevity's sake, I shall pass by, remitting such as desire farther 
satisfaction to Varro and other Latin authors. For this reason, whatever 
was fortunate the Grecians called Jg|/ov, the Romans sinistrum, on what 
hand soever it appeared. And though the Roman poets do sometimes 
call things unlucky, sinistra, yet then they speak Grceco more: and so 
doth Virgil, when he saith, 2 

S^epe sinistra cava prcedixit a J j ilice cnrnix. By croaking from the left, presaged the coming 

Oft the hoarse raven, on the blasted bough, blow. dryden. 



On the contrary, Statius, though the business in hand concerned the Gre- 
cians, speaks more Romano, when he says in his Thebais, 



Hence it came to pass, that things awkward and foolish were called sinis- 
tra or lava; in which sense Virgil has used this latter word: 3 



That is, my misfortunes were often presaged by the oaks torn in pieces by 
thunder, if I had but had wit or foresight enough to have understood the 




ST.pe malum hoc noJi*, si mens non bcva fuisset y 
De ccelo tadas memini prtedicere qttercus. 



This, had I not been blind, I might have seen, 
And heaven-struck oaks my monitors have been. 

c. s. 



1 Lia.!, ver, 239. 



2 Seleg. i. ver. 18. 

2 c 3 



3 Eclog. ver. 16. 



306 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



divine prodigies. In Sophocles, the word konrn^ot has the same signifi- 
cation: 1 

Ilijj; TiXocuavog, s/3«j. • 

He means, that if Ajax had been in his right wits, he would never have 
committed actions so foolish and ridiculous ; and the old scholiast upon 
that place tells us, in express terms, that the right hand signified prudence, 
and the left folly; k^Tioa,, says he, o\ vrxXoaoi toc pco^cc ixxXouv, ^s^a Ti 

T2 (TVViToi. 

Birds were fortunate, or unfortunate, either by their own nature, or by 
the place and manner of their appearance ; for the same birds at different 
times have boded different and contrary events. The unlucky birds were 
called IZcuXouf/.oi, pernicious; avroSufAioi, hated or ungrateful; auxiXioi, 
troublesome, from a, priv. and zUw, cedo, q. non sinistra ; i. e. non sinen- 
tes, because they would not permit a man to proceed in his undertakings ; 
so sinistra, if we may believe Festus, is rather derived d sinendo, than a 
sinistra <manu» For the same reason they were also named TtuXvrixa.), 
and tl^zrtxa.), because they restrained men from what they had designed. 
Those that appeared out of their wonted place, or in any unlucky place, 
were called ftfyoi, and sgs^/, which words are peculiar to the soothsayers, 
though they be sometimes applied to other things that are displaced, as 
when Euripides says, eZtfyoi %$ovos, i. e. persons banished, and that had 
left their own country : and sfyfyos (pgivav, a man distracted and out of 
his wits. In Hippolytus, the same phrase signifies a thing done contrary 
to right reason: 2 

■ iZ7r\r,<r<rcv(r'i /xi 

On the contrary, lucky birds are called a.'l<rioi, eil<nu.oi, haltriftot, oha, and 
ffvvih^os. I shall give a brief account of some of both sorts, and the omens 
signified by them; only give me leave first to add, that there were two 
sorts of ominous birds : the raw^rs^vyi;, or alites, whose flight was 
observed by the augurs: and the cfhiKou or oscines, which gave omens by 
their voices and singing. 

First, then, if a flock of all sorts of birds came flying about any man, it 
was an excellent omen, and portended some extraordinary felicity, or un- 
expected success; such as Diodorus Siculus observes happened to Gor- 
dius, who, from a poor country farm, was exalted to a kingdom. 

The eagle, if she appeared brisk, clapping her wings, sporting about in 
the air, flying from the right hand to the left, was one of the best omens 
the gods could give: as Niphus tells us out of Appian. 3 King Priam, 
designing to go to the Grecian fleet to redeem Hector, begs of Jupiter 
that he would give him assurance of his protection, by sending his beloved 
bird the eagle: 



1 Ajace, ver. 184. 



2 Vcr. 934. 



3 De Auguri'is. i. 9. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



307 



Alrei £' oleovov ra%vv ayyf.Xov, oj re croi airy 

A^iov' i(ppa fj.tv avrbu ev 6<p9j.\fxo1ai voritras, 
Hp wlavvos inl v9jay ipy Aavawv ra-x'-'iriiXuv. 1 
If such thy will, dispatch from yonder sky 
Thy sacred bird, celestial augury ! 



Let the strong sovereign of the plumy race 
Tower on the right of yon ethereal space : 
So shall thy suppliant, strengthen'd from above, 
Fearless pursue the journey marked by Jove. 



POPE, 



Aristander, observing an eagle to fly from Alexander's camp to the 
enemy's, foretold that Alexander should obtain the victory. Observations 
also were made from the manner of taking their prey; for instance, 2 when 
Telemachus was at Sparta in search of Ulysses, an eagle came flying upon 
his right hand, bearing in her talons a tame goose, which she had caught 
in her roost ; from which omen Helena then foretold that Ulysses would 
return, surprise all Penelope's courtiers in his house, and inflict upon them 
the punishment they deserved. And Penelope is said to have made the 
same conjecture, from an eagle that seized upon twenty geese, whilst they 
were feeding in her house. When an eagle dragged a fawn by the feet, 
and cast it down upon Jupiter PanompliEeus' altar, the Greeks, though 
before quite disheartened, took such courage, that they gave the Trojans 
a signal defeat. On the contrary, when Hector attempted to burn the 
Grecian fleet, an eagle appeared towards the left hand ; carrying in her 
talons a serpent, which made such resistance, that she, not able to convey 
it to her nest, was forced to let it fall ; whereupon Polydamas presently 
foretold that Hector would be constrained to desist from his enterprise. 
When Penelope's suitors waylaid Telemachus, there appeared an eagle on 
the left with a dove in her talons ; and Amphinomus concluded from that 
omen that their design would not succeed. When two eagles appeared 
tearing each other with their talons, and hovering over the assembly 
wherein the suitors were, Halitherses foretold that they should be all slain 
by Ulysses. Lastly, to mention but one instance more, an eagle, which 
snatched a javelin out of the hand of a soldier of Dionysius the Syracusan, 
and cast it into the deep, portended the downfall and miseries that tyrant 
was to suffer. 3 

The flight of vultures was very much observed, because, as some say, 
they do but seldom appear, and their nests are rarely or never found ; 
wherefore a sight so unusual was thought to portend something extraordi- 
nary; or, according to Herodotus of Pontus, because vultures feed only 
upon carcasses, not meddling with living creatures: and therefore he tells 
us, Hercules was always well pleased when a vulture appeared to him at 
the undertaking of any enterprise ; because he esteemed it the most just 
of all the birds of prey. 4 But Aristotle and Pliny reckon them among the 
unlucky birds ; and acid, that they were usually seen two or three days 
before any great slaughter ; and it was the common opinion, that vultures, 
eagles, kites, and other birds of prey, if they followed an army, or con- 
tinued for a considerable time in any place, were certain signs of death 
and bloodshed. 



1 Iliad, a,', 292. 

Z Homer. Odyss. a/, 160. 



3 Plutarchus Dion. 

•i Piutarc:hus Homulo, p. :>3, edit. Paris. 



SOS 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The hawk is a ravenous bird, and an unlucky omen, portending death, 
says Niphus, if she appeared seizing upon her prey ; but if the prey slipped 
from her, or made its escape, thereby was signified deliverance from dan- 
gers. The buzzard, called in Greek T^ioo^ns, because he has three stones, 
was accounted by Phoemonoe a very ominous bird. The falcon-hawk, in 
Greek, Kigxog, 1 was veiy lucky to people that were about marriage, or any 
money-business. This bird was sacred to Apollo, as Homer tells us ;2 and 
when Telemachus was solicitous in mind about his mother's suitors, 
apppeared in this manner: 



*Oj apa ol elirSvrt l-rrkTrraro f>s%i9$ Spvif, 
Kip/coj, "AttoAAcoi/os Taxi's ayyeXoy, Iv hi Trooeotrt 
1 i'AA« irtXeiJ-v &X (ov i tura 6e irrepo. x e ^ ev epa^e 
M«(T<T7?-yvj vyjos re, ica.1 avrov Tr/Ae^d^oio. 
Thus speaking, on the right uproar'd in air, 
The hawk, Apollo's s wilt- win g'd messenger; 



His deathf'ul pounces tore a trembling dove; 
The clotted feathers scattered from above, 
Between the hero and the vessel pour 
Thick plumage, mingled with a sanguine shower. 

POPJ£. 



By which Theoclymenus foretold that Telemachus should prevail over his 
enemies. 

Swallows flying about, or resting upon a place, were an unlucky omen. 
In Darius' expedition against Scythia, the appearance of them presaged 
the total defeat of his army by the Scythians. The same birds, sitting 
upon Pyrrhus' tent, and Anthony's ship, are said to have signified the 
overthrow of the armies of both those generals. 

Owls were for the most part looked upon to be unlucky birds, but at 
Athens were omens of victory and success, being sacred to Minerva, the 
protectress of that city; and therefore the proverb, rXuvl 'Ivrrarui, was 
usually applied to persons whose undertakings met with success. Plutarch 3 
reports, that when Themistocles was consulting with the other officers 
upon the uppermost deck of the ship, and most of them opposed him, being 
unwilling to hazard a battle, an owl coming upon the right side of the ship, 
and lighting upon the mast, so animated them, that they unanimously 
concurred with him, and prepared themselves for the fight. But in other 
places 4 owls were unlucky omens when they appeared to men going about 
any serious business; an instance of which we have in king Pyrrhus, 
whose inglorious death at Argos was portended by an owl, which came 
and sat upon the top of his spear, as he held it in his hand. And for this 
reason, when Diomedes and Ulysses went as spies to the Trojan camp, 
though it was night, the most proper time for owls to appear in, yet Homer 
reports, 5 that Minerva gave them a lucky omen, by sending an loa}tos 9 or 
heron : 

Tolirt Si &*%tiv t)khv IpuiUov eyyi>$ ocola As they were marching on, a lucky heron 
IlaAAaj ' AQrjvaLr). M inerva sent. 

Where Eustathius says that this bird was a token of success to men that 
lay in ambush, or were engaged in any such secret designs. Yet owls 
were not at all times esteemed inauspicious, as appears from Hieron, at 



3 Plin. x. 13. 
2 Od S3, o', 523. 



3 Themistncle. 5 Iliad. 

4 /Elian. Histor, Anim. xv. 59, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



209 



whose first admission into military service, an eagle came and sat upon 
his shield, and an owl upon his spear; by which was signified that he 
should be valiant in war, and wise in council, and at length arrive to the 
dignity of a king. This story you may find in Justin, at the end of his 
third book. 

The dove in Homer is a lucky bird ; so also was the swan, especially to 
mariners, being an omen of fair weather, for which we have a reason in 
iEmilius, as he is cited by Niphus: 

Cygnus in auspiciis semper lectissimus ales : The mariner, when toss'd by angry seas, 

Huuc eptant nautce, quia nunquam mergit in undis. Straight for a swan, the luckiest omen, prays; 

For spite of tempests she upon the surface stays. 

Ravens were very much observed, being thought to receive a power of 
portending future events from Apollo, to whom they were Upo) xou uxoXov- 
6ot, sacred and companions} When they appeared about an army, they 
were dangerous omens: if they came croaking upon the right hand, it was 
a tolerably good omen ; if on the left, a very bad one ; as also the chatter- 
ing of magpies seems to have been. When Alexander entered into Baby- 
lon, and Cicero fled from Anthony, their deaths were foretold by the noise 
of ravens: and these birds alone were thought to understand their own 
predictions, because, as Pliny affirms, 2 the worst omens were given by 
them, when they made a harsh sort of noise, rattling in their throats, as if 
they were choked. 

Cocks were also accounted prophetical, especially in matters of war, for 
they were sacred to Mars, and therefore are called by Aristophanes 'Agtog 
vbotto), a,nd were usually offered in sacrifice to him, and pictured with him. 
The crowing of cocks was an auspicious omen, and presaged Themistocles' 
victory over the Persians ; in memory whereof he instituted an annual feast, 
called 'AXtxvgoowv ayav, which was observed by fighting cocks in the 
theatre. And that signal victory, wherein the Boeotians overthrew the 
Lacedaemonians, was foretold by the crowing of cocks some whole nights 
before, which was interpreted to be an omen of success ; because the cock, 
when he is overcome, sits silent and melancholy; but when he obtains the 
victory, struts and crows, and, as it were, triumphs over his vanquished 
enemy. On the contrary, if a hen was heard to crow, they thought some 
dreadful judgment was hanging over their heads. 

Thus I have given a short account of the principal birds that were 
esteemed ominous. There were several others by which they made pre- 
dictions, and several other ways of foretelling, from those I have already 
mentioned; but what I have said is, I think, sufficient; and therefore 
shall not be much farther tedious to you. Only I must not forget to add, 
that some pretended to understand the language of birds, and thereby to 
be privy to the most secret transactions ; such a one was the famous magi- 
cian Apollonius the Tyanean, of whom it is reported, that as he was 
sitting in a parlour with his friends, there came a sparrow, and chattered 



1 .Elianus de Animal, i. 48. 



2 Lib. x. 12. 



oIQ 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



to a flock of birds that were before the window : Apollonius, having heard 
the noise, said, she invited them to a feast, at such a certain place, where 
a mule loaded with corn had let his burden fall; the company, desirous to 
know the truth of the business, rose up immediately, went to the place, 
and found it as he had told them. Democritus also was a pretender to 
this art, and gave out, that he could teach others the method of attaining 
it; which he did by telling them the names of certain birds, out of a mix- 
ture of whose blood a serpent would proceed ; which, being eaten, would, 
without any farther trouble, inspire into them this knowledge. 1 It is also 
feigned that Melampus arrived at this art by having his ears licked by 
dragons. Such another story Eustathius relates of Helenus and Cassan- 
dra, the children of Priam, the Trojan king, namely, that being left in 
Apollo's temple, serpents came to them, and rounding themselves about 
their ears, made them so quick of hearing, that they could discover the 
counsels and designs of the gods. I must add one thing more out of 
Apuleius, namely, that when any unlucky night-birds, as owls, swallows, 
bats, &c. got into a house, to avert the bad omen they took especial care 
to catch them, and hang them before their doors, that so the birds them- 
selves might undergo or atone for those evils, which they had threatened 
to the family. 

Thus much for birds. It will be convenient, in the next place, to 
speak something concerning the predictions made by insects, beasts, and 
signs in the heavens. First, then, ants were made use of in divination, 
as may appear from the instance given in the last chapter, where I told 
you Cimon's death was presaged by them. Another instance we have in 
Midas, the Phrygian king ; for when he was a boy, and fast asleep, ants 
came, and dropped grains of wheat into his mouth; whereupon the sooth- 
sayers being consulted, foretold that he would be the richest man in the 
world. 

Bees were esteemed an omen of future eloquence, as appears from the 
story of Plato ; for as he lay in the cradle, bees are said to have come and 
sat upon his lips ; whereupon the augurs foretold that he should be famous 
for sweetness of language and delightful eloquence. And Pindar is said 
to have been exposed, and nourished by bees with honey instead of milk. 
Other things also were foretold by them: but the Romans esteemed them 
an unlucky and very dreadful omen, as may be found in Plutarch's life of 
Brutus. Before Pompey's defeat, p-\i<ram lapos Wt ro7; p>ojpo7; ixdhtrt, a 
swarm of bees sat upon the altar. 2 

There was a locust, green, and slow in motion, called M«vr< ; , which 
was observed in soothsaying, as Suidas takes notice. Toads were accounted 
lucky omens. Snakes also, and serpents, were ominous, as appears by the 
serpent that, in Homers second Iliad, devoured eight young sparrows 
with their dam; which was by Calchas interpreted to signifj', that the 



1 Plinius Nat. Hist. ix. 49. 



2 Appian; lib. ii. Bell. Civil. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



311 



siege of Troy should continue nine whole years. Boars were unlucky 
omens, boding an unhappy event to all the designs of persons that met 
them. I shall mention but one more, namely, the hare, a most timorous 
animal; and therefore appearing in time of war, it signified van quishment, 
and running away: when Xerxes had prepared a vast army to invade 
Greece, it happened that a mare brought forth a hare ; which prodigy was 
a presage of Xerxes' base and cowardly flight, after his fleet was destroyed 
by Themistocles. 

I come, in the last place, to the omens from heaven. I do not mean 
those by which philosophers and astrologers made their predictions, but 
such as were usually observed by the common people ; such were comets, 
which were always thought to portend something dreadful. 

Such also were eclipses of the sun or moon, with which several armies 
have been so terrified, that they durst not engage their enemies, though 
upon never so great advantages. Nicias, the Athenian general, being- 
surrounded on every side by his enemies, was struck into such a conster- 
nation by an eclipse of the moon, that he commanded his soldiers to lay- 
down their arms, and so, together with a numerous army, tamely yielded 
up himself to the slaughter. 1 For the true cause of them being unknown, 
they were imputed to the immediate operation of the gods, that were 
thought thereby to give notice of some signal and imminent calamity; and 
so strongly were the vulgar possessed with this opinion, that Anaxagoras 
brought himself into no small danger by pretending to assign the natural 
reason for them. 

Lightnings also were observed; and if they appeared on the right hand, 
were accounted good omens, but if on the left, unlucky ; as Eustathius has 
observed in his comment upon the second Iliad ; where Nestor tells the 
Grecians, earnestly desiring to return into their own country, that Jupiter 
had made a promise that they should take Troy, and confirmed it by 
lightning: 

'AcTToaTrrof IttI 5«gV tvalet/xa cr^ara (pa^eov. By ominous lightning gave the lucky sign. 

Other meteors also were observed by the soothsayers, as the ignis lam- 
lens, which was an excellent omen, presaging future felicity, as appears 
from Servius Tullius, whose promotion to the kingdom of Rome was fore- 
told by it. The Argonauts, in their expedition to Colchis, were overtaken 
by a dangerous tempest, near the Sigean promontory; whereupon Orpheus 
made supplication to the gods for their deliverance: a little after, there 
appeared two lambent flames about the heads of Castor and Pollux ; and 
upon this ensued a gentle gale, the storm ceasing, and the sea becoming 
calm and still. This sudden alteration begot in the company a belief, that 
the two brethren had some divine power and efficacy, by which they were 
able to still the raging of the sea ; insomuch that it became a custom for 
mariners, whenever they were in any dangerous storms, to invoke their 



I Piutarch. de Supsrstit. 



S12 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



assistance. If the two flames, which, from this story , are called by the 
names of the two heroes, appeared together, they were ever after esteemed 
an excellent omen, foreboding good weather; and therefore Theocritus, in 
his hymn upon the Dioscuri, praises them for delivering poor seamen, 
ready to be swallowed up by the deep. 

Horace speaks to the same purpose, calling these two meteors stel/ce, or 
stars. 1 

If one flame appeared single, it was called Helena, and was a very dan- 
gerous omen, portending nothing but storms and shipwrecks, especially if 
it followed Castor and Pollux by the heels, and, as it were, drove them 
away. Though Euripides, in his Orestes, makes them all prosperous and 
desirable signs, where, speaking of Helena, he says, 

Znvot yip olaav %'rv viv Z>p9irov xp'^ v ^ F° r being sprung from Jove, she needs must be 

LidoTopi re RoXvSf okei. r ev alQipoj xt»x*1s Immortal too ; and with her brethren share 

XvfOaKos icrrat vaiTtAotj awrripioi. The heavenly regions, -where her glorious beams 

Will shine alike, to help the mariner. E. D. 

Earthquakes were unfortunate omens. Hence Seneca, among other 
direful presages, mentions an earthquake: 2 

Luciis tremiscit, tota succusso s>,h 
Kutavit aula, dubia quo pondus daret, 
Ac Jluctuanti similis. 

Earthquakes were commonly thought to be caused by Neptune, who is 
hence termed 'Evvoffiycuo;, and 'Evv6ir!%0ojv, by the poets: and therefore it 
was usual to sing paeans, and to offer sacrifices, on such occasions, to avert 
his anger. This we find was done by the Lacedaemonians. 3 A gulf being 
opened at Rome, Curtius leaped into it to appease the angiy gods. And 
the same occasion happening at Celsenae, a city of Phrygia, king -Midas 
cast many things of great value, and at length his own son into the gulf, 
by the command of an oracle. 4 

The winds also were thought to contain in them something prophetical, 
and were taken notice of in soothsaying. 5 

Many others might be added ; but I shall only mention one more, 
namely, the thunder, the noblest and most observed of all the heavenly 
omens. It was good or bad, like other signs, according to its different 
position; for on the right hand it was lucky; on the left unfortunate. 
Thunder, in a clear and serene sky, was a happy sign, and given by Jupi- 
ter in Homer, 6 as a confirmation that he granted the petitions made to 
him. The poet's words are these, where he speaks of Ulysses, who had 
prayed to the gods for some sign, to encourage him in his enterprise 
against Penelope's courtiers: 

'Qf lipaj' Atfiftsvof" rov <5' I*Av<? fi-nrlera Ze^s* The pi'ying god his guardian aid avows. 

Alrltca <5' iBpivzijoiv air' alyX^evTos 'OXvp-rrov, Loud from a sapphire sky his thunder sounds ; 

'r-),6()t v U vi(piwv- y/i9r,<re il clot 'Olvtcrtv*;. With springing hope the hero's heart rebounds.* 

"Whilst lowly thus the chief adoring Lows, POPE. 

It was an unfortunate omen to have any thing thunderstruck. The 



1 Carm. i. 12. 

2 Thyestis, v r. 07. 



3 Xenoph. Graw. Hist. iv. 

4 Conf. Stob. Serin, j. 



5 Stct Thebaid. iii. 

6 Odyss. ver. 102. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



shepherd in Virgil relates, that all his misfortunes were thus foretold: 1 

S&pc malum hoc nobis, si mens non Ice a fuixset, This, had I not been blind, I might have seen, 
De calo tactas memini prcedicere quercus. And heaven-struck oaks my monitors had been. 

c. s. 

There is a parallel passage in Ovid's letter to Li via: 

Jupiter ante deditfati mala signa fuinri Of future fate Jove's sigi.ais patent stand, 

Fiammi/era petiit cum tria templa manu. Three temples struck by his flame-darting hand. 

C. S. 

To avert unlucky omens given by thunder, it was usual to make a liba- 
tion of wine, pouring it forth in cups. And they stood in so much fear of 
lightning, that they adored it. 2 They endeavoured to avert its malignant 
influences, by hissing and whistling at it, which they called srwsru^s/y, as 
appears from Aristophanes, 3 when he says, xa.v ccvc&irroa^co, if I cast forth 
lightning, vroir&vffooffi, they will hiss / where the scholiast observes, that it 
was usual reels tfourtfuguvj to hiss at the lightning. In places 

which had suffered by thunder, altars were erected, and oblations made, 
to avert the anger of the gods ; and after that, no man adventured to touch 
or approach them. Hence Artemidorus observes, 4 that by the thunder 
obscure places were made Ivrttr'/i^a, remarkable, by reason of the altars and 
sacrifices which were there presented to the gods ; and that, on the con- 
trary, places which had been frequented, became sgvpst zui afistra, desert 
and solitary ; ovists ycco lv abrols ^tocratfiuv sV; S-zXzr because no man 
would, after that accident, stay there. At Rome, places affected by thun- 
der were inclosed by a public officer; and the fragments of the thunder- 
bolt, if any such could be found, were carefully buried, lest any person 
should be polluted by touching them. And it was farther customary to 
atone for any thing, which was thunderstruck, by sacrificing a sheep which 
being called Udens, the thing affected by thunder came to be termed 
bidentaU 



CHAP. XVI. 

OF DIVINATION BY LOTS. 

Of lots there were four sorts, namely, political, military, lusorious, and 
divinatory: the three first do not at all concern my present purpose, how- 
ever treated of by some, in this place. Of the prophetical, there were 
divers sorts, two of which were most in use, namely, 2ri%oftuvrtta and 
fSLXfipoputifriiee. 

~2Ti%opocv7iiCi was a sort of divination by verses, wherein it was usual to 
take fatidical verses, and having wrote them upon little pieces of paper, to 
put them into a vessel, and so draw them out, expecting to read their fate 



1 Eclog. i. 16. 
2. Piin- xxviii. 2. 



3 Vespis. 

i OneirocriL lib. ii. 

2 a 



j Fers, Satir. ii. 25. 



311 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



in the first draught. This was often practised upon the Sibylline oracles, 
which were dispersed up and down in Greece, Italy, and all the Roman 
empire : whence there is frequent mention in authors of the Sortes Sibyl- 
lines. Sometimes they took a post, and opening in one, or more places, 
accepted the first verse they met with for a prediction. This was also 
called 'PaipatbafAavretu, from the rhapsodies of Homer; and as some are of 
opinion, proceeded at the first from the esteem which poets had amongst 
the ancients, by whom they were reputed divine and inspired persons. 
But, as Homer had of all the poets the greatest name, so also the Sortes 
Homericce of all others were in the most credit ; yet Euripides, and other 
poets, were not wholly neglected. Virgil also, and the Latin poets, were 
made use of in this way, as appears as well from other instances, as that 
remarkable one of Severus in Lampridius, whose promotion to the Roman 
empire was foretold by opening at this verse: 

Ta reqcrc imperio populos, Roman", memento. Remember, Roman, with imperial sway 

To rule the people. 

The christians also practised the like on the Bible, according to that of 
Nicephorus Gregoras: 1 ' Aws£§i9szptv& li7v lv ypaXr/ipleu troZfok'/iuct tojv oizusov 
ktooiuv, he judged it necessary to dip into the psalter, that there he might 
find a support or defence against the distress he laboured under. And 
Heraclius is reported by Cedrenus to have asked counsel of the New Tes- 
tament, %c&i ii/gi~v l^iTiiTrovrx. lv ' AXfiotvlu <z , ci£ct%zi{A'jura.i } and to have been 
thereby persuaded to winter in Albania. And St Augustine himself, 
though he disallows this practice in secular affairs, yet seems to approve 
of it in spiritual matters, as appears from his epistle to Januarius. 2 

KXriooftKvn'iac was a sort of divination, wherein they made conjectures 
by throwing rov; xXvoou;, lots: where you may observe, that lots were 
called in the plural number xXyiph, and by the Latins, sortes; to distinguish 
them from zkr^oe, and soj*s, which, in the singular number, usually signi- 
fied the hint, or occasion given to diviners, to make their conjectures by, 
as the scholiast upon Euripides reports. These xXr^oi were usually black 
and white beans; amongst the ancients little clods of earth; pebbles also, 
dice, or such like things, distinguished by certain characters: hence this 
divination was termed by several names, as •^r^o^avriia, aaroccyakofiav- 
rucc, nvfiouuvri'ia, yritro-opcivTua., &c. They cast the lots into a vessel, and 
having made supplication to the gods to direct them, drew them out, and, 
according to the characters, conjectured what should happen to them. All 
lots were sacred to Mercury, whom they thought to preside over this 
divination; and therefore the ancients, as Eustathius observes, 3 iu-ou,lcc$ 
tsixa,, for go r >d luck's sake, and that Mercury might be propitious to them, 
used, with the rest of their lots, to put in one, which they called 'F^pou 
xXr.oov, Mercury's lot, which was an olive leaf, and was drawn out before 
the rest. Sometimes the lots were not cast into vessels, but upon tables 
consecrated for that purpose. 4 This divination was either invented, or at 

3 Tl. n'p. US, pd. Basil. 

4 Pindari Sdioliastcs in Pythian Oti. iv. 338. 



1 Lib. vii;. 

2 Episf. 119. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



315 



least so much practised, by the Thrice, who were three nymphs that nursed 
Apollo, that at length the word <d^oct came to be a synonymous term with 
xXr,oof whence the proverb: 

IIoAAoi ep»o.S<'.Xo«, vavpoiU t* paynes avupes* Crowds of ymir lot-diviners everywhere, 

But few true prophets. 

To this species of divination we may reduce 'VeifiBopa.vvi'uz,, or prophe- 
sying by rods, mentioned also in the holy writings, wherein Hcsea, 1 
amongst other abominable wickednesses committed by the Israelites, reckons 
this as none of the smallest, 'Ev av^'oXoi^ l^nou/reo^ ma) Iv pdfoloi; abrov 
uvrrtyyukov avru, 9rvtu/x,a,Ti vroovuoc; \<7rka.yn§n<ra.v, aoti iz > i<7r'op)>ii)<ru.v ocxo tou 
Oiov ccvtusv. Our translation renders it thus: My people ask counsel of 
their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them y for the spirit of ivhorcdom 
hath caused them to err, and they have gone a ivhoring from under their 
God. This divination, as it is described by St Cyril of Alexandria and 
Theophyiact, 2 was thus performed: having erected two sticks, they mur- 
mured forth a certain charm, and then, according as the sticks fell back- 
wards or forwards, towards the right or left, they gave advice in any affair. 
Not much different was Bikopavnla, in which divination was made by 
arrows, shaken together in a quiver. Others are of opinion, that the 
arrows were cast into the air, and the man w r as to steer his course the 
same way that the arrow inclined in its descent. This seems to be the 
divination used by Nebuchadnezzar in Ezekiel, where he deliberates about 
invading the Israelites and the Ammonites; the words are these, as they 
are rendered by our translators: 3 Appoint a way, that the sword may come 
to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 
For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of 
the two icays, to use divination y he made his arrows bright (the septua- 
gint translation speaks not of jSs^oj, but pdCSoi), he consulted ivith images, 
he looked in the liver. At his right hand ivas the divination for Jerusalem, 
to ap>point captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice 
ivith shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast a mount, 
and to build a fort. But because the prophet speaks of making his arrows 
bright, some are of opinion that he divined by looking upon the iron heads 
of the arrows, and observing the various appearances in them ; in the same 
manner as some in our days pretend to tell fortunes by looking upon their 
nails, says Clarius upon that place. Another method of divination by rods 
was used by the Scythians, and is described in Herodotus. 4 From the 
Scythians, it was derived, with some alteration, to the Germans, and is 
described by Tacitus. 5 Others you may also read of in Strabo, 6 Athenseus, 7 
and Ammianus Marcellinus ; s but these, and some others; I shall pass by, 
as not pertinent to my present design. 

Another way of divination by lots was used in Greece and Rome, in 
this manner: the person that was desirous to learn his fortune carried with 

1 Cap. iv. 12. 4 Lib. iv. 7 Lib. -cii. 

2 In citatum Hoseas locum. S Lib. tie Morib. German. 8 Lib. xx.ix. 
o Cap. xx't. 20. C Lib. iv. 

% D 2 



316 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



him a certain number of lots, distinguished by several characters or in- 
scriptions, and walking to and fro in the public ways, desired the first boy 
that met him to draw ; and if that which came forth agreed with what he 
had conceived in his mind, it was taken for an infallible prophecy. This 
divination is, by Plutarch, in Ins treatise about Isis and Osiris, said to be 
derived from the Egyptians, by whom the actions and words of boys were 
carefully observed, as containing in them something divine and propheti- 
cal ; and for that reason no less absurd than the practice itself, all the 
grounds they had for it being only this, namely, that Isis having wandered 
up and down, in a fruitless search after Osiris, happened at last upon a 
company of boys at play, and was by them informed about what she had 
so long sought for in vain. To this custom of divining by boys, as some 
think, Tibullus alludes, when he says, 1 

Jtta sacras pup.ri sortes ter sustulit, Mi Thrice in the streets the sacred lots she threw 

Reiu'.it e triviis omina certa puer. And thrice the boy a happy omen drew. 

But I am rather of opinion, that the poet speaks of a different kind of lots, 
which was this: in the market, highways, and other places of concourse, 
it was usual for a boy, or a man, whom the Greeks called 'Ayvgrr,;, to 
stand with a little tablet, called in Greek wUciZ a.yvortx.o; t or ayvanxh 
raw:, upon Which were written certain fatidical verses, which, according 
as the dice light upon them, told the consultants what fortune they were 
to expect. Sometimes, instead of tablets, they had pots or urns, into which 
the lots or fatidical verses were thrown, and thence drawn by the boys; 
and I am the rather inclined to think the poet's words are to be under- 
stood in this sense, because he says, the woman herself, that had a mind to 
be instructed what was to hefall her, took up the lots ; which can never be 
meant of the boys drawing lots out of the woman's hand. Artemidorus, 
in his preface, speaks of <ra>v lv uyooa. ptzvr'icov, diviners in the market- 
place ; and the sortes viales were very common at Rome: the circus was 
thronged with those, and a great many other diviners, whom the poor silly 
women used to consult. 2 AVhereby it appears that lots had very small 
credit in Juvenal's days, being consulted only by the meaner sort, and 
such as were not able to be at the charge of more reputable divination. 
Didymus tells us, this was brought to pass by Jupiter, who, being desirous 
that Apollo should preside in chief over divination, brought lots winch are 
said to have been invented by Minerva, into disrepute. 



CHAP. XVII. 

OF DIVINATION BY 03IINOUS WORDS AND THINGS. 

Another sort of divination there was, very different from all those I have 



1 Lib. L eleg. 3. 



2 Juv. Sat. vi. ver. 56L 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



317 



hitherto spoken of, which foretold things to come, not by certain accidents, 
and casual occurrences, that were thought to contain in them presages of 
good or evil. Of these there were three sorts: the first, of things internal, 
by which I mean those that affected the persons themselves. The second, 
of things external, that only appeared to men, but did not make any im- 
pression upon them. The third were ominous words. Of these in their 
order. 

First, of those omens that men received from themselves, which are 
distinguished into four kinds: First, marks upon the body, as 'iXonui, spots 
like oil. Secondly, sudden perturbations seizing upon the mind; such 
were the panici terrores, ' panic fears,' which were sudden consternations 
that seized upon men, without any visible cause, and therefore were im- 
puted to the operation of demons, especially of Pan, upon men's fancies. 
Of these there is frequent mention in history ; as when Brennus, the Gal- 
lic general, had been defeated by the Greeks; the night following, he and 
remainder of his troops were seized with such terrors and distractions, 
that, ignorant of what they were doing, they fell to wounding and killing 
one another, till they were all utterly destroyed. Such another fright gave 
the Athenians a great advantage against the Persians, insomuch that Pan 
had a statue erected for that piece of service ; as appears from one cf 
Simonides' epigrams: 

r'ov rpayoTrowifis Uai-a, -rbv' AoieaSa, rj» .vara M>j<W, In gratitude by brave IVIiltiades : 

Tif ' K9rjyala>v (rrjeaTo MiAna^f. Because I aided him and warlike Greece 

This bust to u:e, Arcadian Pan, was placed Against the powerful Medes. 

These terrors were attributed to Pan, because when Osiris was bound 
by Typho, Pan and the satyrs appearing, cast him into a fright ; or, be- 
cause he affrighted the giants that waged war against Jupiter. There is 
also a third reason assigned by mythologists, which will be explained in 
the following book. 1 In these terrors, whereof there was either no appa- 
rent cause, or at least none answerable to the greatness of the sudden con- 
sternation, it was a good remedy to do something quite contrary to what 
the danger would have required, had it been such as men vainly imagined. 
Thus Alexander caused his soldiers to disarm themselves, when they 
were on a sudden in a great fear of they knew not what. 

All sudden and extraordinary emotions and perturbations, in body or 
mind, were looked upon as evil omens ; such was that of Penelope's cour- 
tiers described by Horner, and said to have been caused by Minerva, their 
implacable enemy. 2 

The third sort of internal omens were the HaXpot, or ^xX/xixx oimlc- 
fj,%ra, so called u'ro roZ <rdx\uv. from palpitating. Such were the pal- 
pitations of the heart, the eye, or any of the muscles, called in Latin 
salissationcs, and Bou(ho:, or a ringing in the ears; which in the right ear 
was a lucky omen : so also was the palpitation of the right eye. 3 Niphus 4 
has enumerated all the pails of the body, with all the omens to be 



Lib. iii. 9. 



2 Odvss. t-', 345. 3 Theocrit. Idyll. 

2 D 3 



4 De Augur, i. 9. 



313 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

fathered from the palpitations of each of them ; whom you may consult at 
leisure. Melampus, the famous fortune-teller, dedicated a book upon this 
subject to Ptolemy Philadelphus ; another to the same purpose was com- 
posed by Posidonius: the title of which was TlnlfMxh olwvurpx. 

The fourth sort of internal omens were the Urcctpoi, or sneezings, which 
were so superstitiousiy observed, that divine worship was thought due to 
them: though some say this adoration was only an expiation of the omen; 
others are of opinion, 1 - that sneezing was a disease, or at least a symptom 
of some infirmity ; and therefore, when any man sneezed, it was usual to 
say, Zn§i t may you live ; or Ziu <rco<rov, God bless you. To this custom 
Ammian alludes, in an epigram upon one who had a long nose, which, he 
says, was at so great a distance from his ears, that he could not hear him- 
self sneeze : 

Olfi \iyei, Zsv aoiaov, orav vrapl; oi yap A/tovei His long-beak'd snout at such a distance lies 

TJjf /ivl S > ™\i yap rv S a«o^ S a*/*"- ¥v0m hU duU earS ' that he ne ' ei ' heHFS U SIieeZ6 » 

And therefore never does he say, God Lless. 

Where you may observe, that it was not only usual for persons that stood by 
to cry Ziu (xuffov, but also for men when themselves sneezed. However it 
be, it is certain that sneezing was accounted sacred, as appears from 
Athenceus, 2 who proves that the head was esteemed holy, because it was 
customary to swear by it, and adore as holy the sneezes that proceeded 
from it ; and Aristotle tells us in express terms, 3 that sneezing was 
accounted a deity, Toy Ilrx^ov Szov hyov^Ja. Casaubon also has proved 
the same out of Xenophon, 4 who reports, that the soldiers with one accord 
worshipped it as a god. But it is scarce to be supposed they could be so 
ignorant as to think every act of sneezing a deity; nor do Aristotle's 
words .necessarily imply they did ; for no more need be understood by 
them, than that there was a god of sneezing, called Ura^o;- and Xeno- 
phon may be expounded the same way ; namely, that when the soldiers 
heard a sneeze, they worshipped the god, i. e. the god of sneezing ; or it 
may be, no more is meant than that they worshipped God, perhaps in the 
usual form of Ztu eairov' or by casting up some other short ejaculation to 
any of the gods to avert the omen. 

However, it is certain that great regard was given to sneezing, inso- 
much, that if a man sneezed at certain times, or on any certain side, it 
was enough to persuade them to, or discourage them from, any business 
of the greatest moment. When Themistocles was offering sacrifice, it 
happened that three beautiful captives were brought to him, and at the 
same time the fire burned clear and bright, and a sneeze happened on the 
right hand ; whereupon Euphrantides, the soothsayer, embracing him, 
predicted the memorable victory which was afterwards obtained by him. 6 
Such a sneeze, happening whilst Xenophon was making a speech, was 
thought a sufficient reason to constitute him general. And Socrates him- 



1 CasSnboti hi Athena;, ii. 2j. 3 Problem, sect, xxxhi. 

2 Loc. citat 4 Da Kxpcdit. Cyri, iii. 



Plut. Theraist. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



319 



self, though a great despiser of heathen superstitions, judged it not unrea- 
sonable to make a sneeze serve as an admonition from the demon which 
always tended him. And that the observation of sneezing was very ancient, 
appears from the virgins in Theocritus, 1 who thus congratulate Menelaus 
upon his marriage with Helena: 

*0\8ia yd^jSp', &ya96$ T ij ineTTTapev epxo/j.ivcp cot. To bless her bed, from all the princely crowd 

'JEj ~Zita.fTa.v. Fair Helen chose you — Cupid sneez'd aloud. 

KAWKKS. 

There is also mention of this custom in Homer, who has introduced 
Penelope rejoicing at a sneeze of her son Telemachus. 2 

Sneezing was not always a lucky omen, but varied according to the 
alteration of circumstances: tuv ^ra^uv oi utriv wQiXipoi, o) 3s /3X«/3s- 
some sneezes are profitable, others prejudicial, according to the scho- 
liast upon the following passage of Theocritus, where he makes the 
sneezing of the Cupids to have been an unfortunate omen to a certain 
lover :'<* 

[AZV loCiiTH IfTZTTTOtoOV. - 

When Xenophon was persuading his soldiers to encounter the enemy, 
a sneeze was accounted so dangerous an omen, that they were forced to 
appoint public prayers to expiate it. If any person sneezed, avro p'to-cov 
wxruv u,-£H ft&Mig hp-i(>as, between midnight and the following noontide, it 
was fortunate: but octto p'urns hp't^as k^pi yAcruv vvxruv, from noontide till 
midnight, it was unfortunate ; the reasons of which difference Aristotle has 
endeavoured to account for. 4 If a man sneezed at the table while they 
were taking away, or if another happened to sneeze upon his left hand, it 
was unlucky; if on the right hand, fortunate. If in the undertaking any 
business, two, or four sneezes happened, it was a lucky omen, and gave 
encouragement to proceed ; if more than four, the omen was neither good 
nor bad ; if one, or three, it was unlucky, and dissuaded them from pro- 
ceeding in what they had designed. If two men were deliberating about 
any business, and both of them chanced to sneeze together, it was a pros- 
perous omen. 5 

I come, in the next place, to speak something concerning the omens 
which appeared to men, but were not contained in their own bodies, of 
which there were several sorts: as first, the beginnings of things were 
looked upon to contain something ominous. 6 

A sudden and unusual splendour in any house, or other place, was a 
very fortunate presage ; as, on the contraiy, darkness was an omen of in- 
felicity ; the former being thought to accompany the celestial gods, whereas 
darkness intimated the presence of some of the infernal deities, which was 
thought to be commonly pernicious. Thus Telemachus, in Homer, 
describes a prodigy appearing before the victory which Ulysses obtained 
against the courtiers of his wife Penelope : 7 



1 Idyll, xviii. 10. 

2 Oflyss. viii. 

3 Idyll, vii. 96. 



4Prob. sect, xxxiii. 11. 
5 Niph. de Auguriis, viii. 



6 Ovid. Fastor. i. 176. 

7 Odyss. r', 36. 



o20 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Distinct in ro-.vs the radiant columns rise. 

The walls, where'er my wand'ring feet I turn, 

And roofs, amidst a blaze of glory, burn! 

Some visitant of pure ethereal race, 

With his bright presence deigns the dome to grncs. 



Ep-rijs fj.01 toIxoi jJ-eydpw, itaXal rts f jLf,o6& f j.a, 
H ^dXa rts 5«i S JsvSov, o2 oipavhv evpvv t X ovt 

What miracle thus dazzles with surprise 1 



It was thought a direful presage, when any thing unusual befell the 
temples, altars, or statues of their gods. Such a one was that which 
Pausanias relates concerning the brazen statue of Diana, 1 which vraonKi 
rw ourfficc, let the shield fall out of her hand. Before the Lacedaemonians 
were vanquished at Leuctra, the two golden stars consecrated by them at 
Delphi to Castor and Pollux, fell down, and could never be found again. 12 
Hither must also be reduced the sweating, or falling down, of images, the 
doors of temples opening of themselves, and other accidents, whereof no 
account could be assigned. 

To this place likewise belong all monstrous and frightful births, sudden 
and unusual deluges, the unexpected withering and decaying, or flourish- 
ing, of trees or fruits, the noise of beasts, or any thing happening to men 
or other creatures, contrary to the common course of nature ; the inversion 
of which was thought a certain argument of the divine displeasure. 3 

Hither also are to be referred 'Evohx <rvp$o\a,, omens offering them- 
selves in the ivay, of which Polis and Hippocrates (not the physician) are 
said to have written books. 

Such were, the meeting of a eunuch, a black, an ape, a bitch with 
whelps, a vixen with cubs, a snake lying so in the way as to part the com- 
pany, a hare crossing the road ; a woman working at her spindle, or carry- 
ing it uncovered, was thought to be very prejudicial to any design, and to 
blast whatever hopes they had conceived, especially about the fruits of the 
earth. A weasel crossing the way was a sufficient reason for deferring a 
public assembly for that day; it was called yctXn, and Artemidorus gives 
the reason why its running by was so much taken notice of, viz. because 
it is IfftyfiQos ^Ifcyj; that is, the letters in each word signify the same 
number, viz. 42. All these were ^uffavr^ra, ^uirotavicrra, and Atfor^otfaia 
Siapotroc, unlucky and abominable sights. 

Another sort of external omens were those that happened at home, and 
the divination that observed them was called To oixorxovriKovj concerning 
which Xenocrates is said to have writen a treatise. Such as these were 
the coming in of a black dog, a mouse eating a bag of salt, the appearing 
of a snake or weasel upon the house top. This sort of divining by beasts 
is reported by Suidas to have been invented by Telegonus. Such also 
were the throwing down of salt, the spilling of water, honey, or wine, 
talcing the wine away while any person was drinking, a sudden silence, 
and ten thousand other accidents. In putting on their clothes, the right 
side was served first ; and therefore, if a servant gave his master the left 
shoe first, it was no small fault. This omen was particularly observed by 

1 Messeniacis. 2 Cicero de Divinat. i. 3 Georgic i. 4&d. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



321 



Augustus Caesar, as we are told by Suetonius ;* aad Pliny reports, 2 that 
on a certain day, wherein that emperor had like to have been destroyed 
in a mutiny of some of his soldiers, his left shoe was put on before his 
right. It was a direful omen when the crown fell from any man's head. 
On which account it is mentioned, among other unfortunate presages, 
in Seneca's Thyestes. 

■ ■ Regium capiti decus 

Bis terque lapmxm est. 

Hither also may be referred the various actions which were thought to 
contain good or bad fortune. For instance, at feasts, it was accounted 
lucky to crown the cup with a garland. 3 

This practice was taken from Homer's heroes, who used to drink out of 
cups that were itftrnipUs olvoto' the reason of which, says Eustathius, out 
of Athenseus, was this, viz. because a garland represents a circle, which is 
the most capacious and complete of all figures. It was usual also to carry 
home the fragments left at sacrifices, for good luck's sake, as hath been 
observed in another place ; and these were called vyhioii, as contributing 
to the preservation of health* &c. 

In the last place, I come to ominous words, which, as they were good 
or bad, were believed to presage accordingly. Such words were called 
orraiy xXy^ov&s, or qmpui, ufo rov Q&voti, as the Latin omen is so called, q. 
oremen, quia Jit ab ore; i. e. because it proceeds from the mouth, says 
Festus: they may be interpreted voices, for Tully hath called them by the 
name of voces. 5 1 The Pythagoreans, ' says he, * used to observe the voices 
of men as well as of the gods.' Hence, as the same author there observes, 
the old Romans, before the beginning of any action, used this preface, 
quod bonum,, faustum, felLv, fortunatumque sit; wishing that their enter- 
prise might succeed well, happily, prosperously, and fortunately. In 
divine service, he adds, that proclamation was made, ut faverent Unguis, 
that all there present < might govern their tongues.' In bidding to festivals 
and holidays, the people were commanded, Utibus et jurgiis abstincre, 6 to 
beware of brawls and quarrels.' At public lustrations, the persons who 
brought the victims were required to have bona nomina, f fortunate names/ 
The same, he there tells us, was also observed by the consuls in the choice 
of the first soldier. This sort of divination was most in use at Smyrna, 
where they had xxfioveov Uoov, a temple, in which answers were returned 
this way; and Apollo Spodius gave oracles in Thebes after the same 
manner; but the first invention of it is attributed to Ceres. 6 Serapion 
relates, 7 that the Delphian sibyl was endued with a power of divining after 
her death, and that the gross parts of her body being converted first into 
earth, and then changed into herbs, communicated the same faculty to the 
entrails of beasts which fed on them ; whence proceeded the way of divin- 
ing by entrails ; but that the finer parts, mixing with the air, presaged 



1 Angusto, 99. 4 Hesychius. 7 Clem. Ales;. Strom, i. paga 

2 Nat. Hist. vii. 7. 5 Lib. i. <le Divinat. 301. 

3 Virg. JEn. iii. 525; i. 723. 6 Hesychius. 



322 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



future events by these nXrfimes, ominous voices, concerning which we are 
now treating. 

Words that boded ill were called xxxtt) orrat, or ovtr$v,u'istt' and he that 
spoke them was said {hXao-QnphTv, (pSiyytffGui fiXxo-Qriu'iczv, as Euripides 
terras it, where he speaks of certain ominous words let fail by a servant at 
a feast, as one of the company was going to drink : 

7&\cn<pr 1 u,'a.v t»? clveriv c p9iyX^ro. Unlucky words one of the sen-ants spoke. 

Plautus called it obscoenare, or, as some read, obsccevare: for scava 
signifies luck, either good or bad; and the words Horace calls male orain- 
aid verba. 

Such words as these they were always careful to avoid : insomuch that 
instead of ^m-fiurmiov, a prison, they put often o'lxnpa, a house, pciXt 
instead of o^o;, yXvxila instead of Xfi^y orgBros for (ioaQooos, xaXXtu; 
for tfl@r,x.os, QiXccrhs for xXitfrn;, clyo; for (tvco;, xoivo; for o/if&io}, 1-u,v:n 
or Ftufttvfix for 'Eoivvus;. Which way of speaking chiefly obtained at 
Athens. 1 In time of divine worship, nothing was more strictly com- 
manded, than that they should gv(pr t ui7v, or avoid all ominous expressions: 
which, if spoken by a friend or near relation, they accounted so much the 
worse. Mr Dryden hath excellently expressed this custom in his (Edipus, 
where after that hero has been thundering most dreadful imprecations 
upon the murderers of Laius, Jocasta is introduced speaking thus: 

Jocasta. At your devotions? Heaven succeed For all thou say'st is ominous ; we wera 
jour wishes, cursing; 

Aud bring the effect of these your pious And that dire imprecation hast thou 

prayers fasten'd 

On you, on me, on all. On Thebes, on fhee, and me, and oil of us. 
Priest. Avert this omen, Heaven! Jocasta. Are then my blessings tum'd into a 
(Edipm. O fatal sound! unfortunate Jocasta! curse? 

What hast thou said? An ill hour hast Ounkind (Edipus! my former lord 

thou chosen Thought me his blessing! be thou like 
For these foreboding words; why, we my Laius. 

were cursing. (Edipus. What, yet again? the third lime hast 

Jocasta. Then may that curse fall only where you thou curs'd me : 

laid i». This imprecation was for Laius* death, 

(Edipus. Speak no morel And thou hast wish'd me like him. 

Which verses I have here transcribed, because they fully represent the 
ancient custom of catching ominous expressions. There are other re- 
markable examples in Cicero. 2 

Some words and proper names imported success, answerable to their 
natural signification; Leotychides being desired by a Samian to wage war 
against the Persians, inquired his name ; the Samian replied, that it was 
'Uyy]<riTr^a,7o;, the leader of an army. Then Leotychides answered, 
'Hyno-io-rgu-ou Vi^o^va rov oicavov, I embrace the omen of Hegisistratusf 
lil^ir&ai tiuvit, amongst the Greeks, importing the same with arripere 
omen amongst the Latins, which signifies the accepting of an omen, 
and applying it to the business in hand: for it was thought to lie very 
much in the power of the hearer whether he would receive the omen 

1 Pint Solone, Helladias apud Photium Bibiio- 2 Lib. i. de Dirinat, 
tiiec. iji^'. 71. 3 Herodotus Euterpe, cap. CO. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



323 



or not. Ostentorum vires in eorum erant pote state quibus ostendebantur , 
says Pliny: 4 the force and efficacy of omens depended upon the persons to 
whom they appeared.' For if the omen was immediately taken by the 
hearer, or struck upon his imagination, it was efficacious; but if neglected, 
or not taken notice of, it was of no force. Hence it is observed, that Julius 
Caesar, who paid no deference to those predictions, was never deterred by 
them from any undertaking, whereas Augustus frequently desisted from 
his designs on this account. 1 Virgil introduces iEneas catching Ascanius' 
words from his mouth; for the Harpies, and Anchises also, having fore- 
told that the Trojans should be forced to gnaw their very tables for want 
of other provisions, 2 

Sed non ante datam cinqetis mcenibus urlem But never shall you raise your city there. 

Q-iam dob dira fames, nostrceqne injuria ccvdis. Till, in due vengeance for the wrongs we bear, 

Ambesas subigat audis aisumere mensas. Imperious hunger urge you to devour 

Those very tables whence you fed before. 

After this they landed in Italy ; and happening to dine upon the grass, 
instead of tables, or trenchers, which their present circumstances did not 
afford, they laid their meat upon pieces of bread, winch afterwards they 
ate up ; whereupon, 3 

Htus! etiam mensas consumimus, inquit lulus. A-scanius this observ'd, and smiling said, 

See, we devour the tables whence we fed. 

jEneas presently caught the omen, as the poet subjoins. 

ea vox audita l-.borum The lucky sound no sooner reach'd their ears, 

Prima tulit Jinem : primamque loquentis ab ore But straight they quite dismiss'd their former car eg; 

Eripuit pater^ ac siupe/actus numine pressii. Th' auspicious words his sire in rapture took, 

Revolving what the oracle had spoke. 

This custom of catching omens was very ancient, and derived from the 
eastern countries: that it was practised by the Jews, is by some inferred 
from the story of Jonathan the son of king Saul, who going to encounter a 
Philistine garrison, thus spoke to his armour-bearer : 4 'If they say unto 
us. Tarry until we come unto you, then we will stand still in our place, 
and will not go up unto them. But if they say thus, Come up unto us, 
then we will go up; for the Lord hath delivered them into cur hand; and 
tins shall be a sign unto us.' 

For good hick's sake, whenever they applied themselves to any serious 
business, they began with such a preface as this, ©so?, ®io;, or Ev -xuQoi- 
/u.~v } or"E<rnzi (xvi iv, or "Etrrsci fAv a.ya.$n tv^-si, like to Persius' Hoc bene 
sit; and that saying of the Romans, Quod bonum, felix, fortunatumque 
sit. And all their works and speeches were begun in the name of some 
god ; whence Aratus, 

'E* A»oj ap^i^gff^a Let us with Jove begin 

which Theocritus has borrowed from him in his seventeenth eclogue, and 
Virgil in his third. Xenophon gives the reason of this practice, 5 viz. that 
tilings undertaken in the name of the gods were likely to have the most 
prosperous events. 



1 C >nf. Sarsb""! iensis, ii. 1. 

2 Aueid. Hi. 255. 



.Eneid. vii. 116. 
i Sam. xiv. 0, li). 



5 Lib. de Rat'on, reudlt- 



C24 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Certain times also were ominous; some days being accounted fortunate, 
and causes of success ; others unfortunate, and causes of the miscarriage 
of things undertaken upon them. 1 Some days were proper for one business, 
others for another, and some for none at all, as that author relates in the 
forementicned poem ; where he runs through all the days of the month , 
declaring the virtue and efficacy of them. Thus, to observe days was 
termed attrtovtrgai tk$ h^otg. This practice was common in other 
nations, and particularly at Rome. Augustus Ccesar never went abroad 
upon the day following the Nundinae, nor began any serious undertaking 
on the nonce ; and this he did on no other account, as he affirmed in one 
of his letters to Tiberius, than to avoid Wp^/av ominis, the unlucky 
omen which attended things begun in those days. 2 And it was a general 
opinion among the Romans, that the next days after the nonce, ides, or 
kalendce, were unfortunate, as appears both from the ancient grammarians, 
and from Livy, Ovid, and Plutarch. The like observation of days was 
practised by many Christians, when they had lately been converted from 
heathenism, as hath been remarked by St Ambrose, in his comment on 
that passage of St Paul, where he reproves the Galatians for observing 
days, and months, and times, and years. 3 

The way to avert an omen was either to throw a stone at the thing, or 
kill it outright, if it was an ominous animal, that so the evil portended by 
it might fall upon its own head ; and if it was an unlucky speech, to retort 
it upon the speaker with an u$ nstpakm <rof Tibi in caput redeat, 'let 
it fall upon thine own head:' which perhaps is an expression borrowed 
from the 'ligoo-zowoi, who, when they espied any thing in the victim that 
seemed to portend any misfortune to themselves or their country, used to 
pray that it might us xz<pa,\hv tccutviv rrgzcrzo-dxi, be turned upon the vic- 
tim's head. The like expressions are sometimes made use of in holy 
scripture, as in the fifteenth verse of Obadiah's prophecy, To uvTccTooopoi 
cov oc.vra.vohoSno-irc&i u; xapaXrtv (rot: or, as our English translators have 
rendered it, thy reward shall return upon thine own head. And again, 
in Kings, chap. 3, Ka) uvroi'z'icitvzi ~Kv^ios T'/jv xuxiuv cov us x,i$ex,\viv trou* 
in English thus: and the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thine 
own head. Herodotus reports, that it was an Egyptian custom, from 
which it is probable the Grecians derived theirs. 5 6 They curse/ says 
he, ' the head of the victim in this manner, that if any misfortune im- 
pended over themselves, or the country of Egypt, it might be turned 
upon that head. Instead of these imprecations, sometimes they used to 
say, Els ayu.6ov pot, or, Mvt yivoiro, Dii meliora, God forbid. It was 
customary to spit three times into their bosoms at the sight of a mad- 
man, or one troubled with the epilepsy. 6 This they did in defiance as it 
were of the omen; spitting being a sign of the greatest contempt and 



1 Hesiod Op. et Di. ver. 825. 3 Galat. iv. in. 

2 Sueton. Angusti, cap. 92. 4 Lib. iii. 44. 



5 Euterpe, cap. 30. 

6 Theocr. Idyll, iau 31. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



355 



aversion; whence vrrvuv, to spit, is put for xarcttp^ovzlv, h ovbiv) Xoyi^iiv, 
to contemn. 1 

Sometimes they prayed that the ominous thing might in ultimas terras 
deportari, i be carried away to the farthest part of the world ;' or in mare 
deferri, ' be cast into the sea/ This last was done to certain monstroas 
births, particularly to hermaphrodites, which were accounted prodigia. 2 
Sometimes the thing was burned with ligna infelicia, that is, such sort of 
wood as was in tutela inferum deorum, avertentiumque, ' sacred to the 
gods of hell, and those which averted evil omens/' 3 being chiefly thorns, 
and such other trees, which were fit for no other use than to be burned. 
Sometimes the prodigy, when burned, was cast into the water, and parti- 
cularly into the sea, if it was not too far distant.* 

Lastly, upon the meeting an unlucky omen, they often desisted from 
what they were doing, and began it afresh. 5 



CHAP. XVIII. 

OF MAGIC AND INCANTATIONS. 

Besides the methods of foretelling future events already mentioned, and 
that divination which is commonly called physical, because it makes pre- 
dictions without any supernatural assistance, by the mere knowledge of 
physical, or natural causes, there are several others, most of which are 
comprehended under the names of Mxyucc and '"Et&^sj/, magic and 
incantations; between which though some make a nice distinction, yet 
they bear a near relation to each other; and therefore I shall treat of them 
conjunctly in this place. And though some of the species of these divina- 
tions might be invented in later ages, and never practised in old Greece, 
whose customs alone it is my chief design to describe, not meddling with 
those innovations that were introduced in later times, after the Greeks 
were subjected to the Roman empire; yet since it is very difficult to 
determine exactly of all, which were truly ancient, and which were truly 
modern ; since, also, there is frequent mention of them in writers of the 
middle ages, especially those that lived towards the declination of the 
Roman greatness, i shall beg the reader's leave to give a brief account of 
the most remarkable of them: for to enumerate all would be an endless, 
as well as an unreasonable undertaking ; and a great many of them, such 
as those wherein the Incubi and Succubi were concerned, contain in them 
too much of profaneness and horror to be endured by any civilized ear. 

Magical arts are said by the Grecians to have been invented in Persia, 
where, at the first, they were had in great honour and reputation ; for the 



1 Schol. in Sophocl. Anticj. 2 Tibull. 4 Theocr. Idyll, xxiv. 86. 

ver. CG4. 3 Macrob. Salur. iii. 20. 5 Euripid. Ion. ver. 1192. 

2 E 



326 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



May*/ were those that applied themselves to the study of philosophy, and 
the strict search after the most curious works and mysteries of nature. 
They were usually chosen to superintend the divine worship, and all reli- 
gious rites and ceremonies ; they continually attended upon the kings, to 
advise them in all affairs of moment, and were preferred to the highest 
honours, and places of the greatest trust. But afterwards the case was 
altered ; for when they left off the contemplation of nature, and betook 
themselves to the invocation of demons, and other mean arts, their former 
credit and esteem very much diminished. 

This art is said to have been introduced among the Greeks by 
(Ethanes, who came into Greece with Xerxes, and dispersed the rudi- 
ments of it wherever he had an opportunity. It was afterwards much 
improved, and brought to some perfection by Democritus, who is said to 
have learned it out of the writings of certain Phoenicians. 

First, then, Ng*^a^a»r6/a was a divination in which answers were given 
by deceased persons. It was sometimes performed by the magical use of 
a bone, or vein of a dead body, especially by the Thessalians; or by pour- 
ing warm blood into a carcass, as it were to renew life in it, as Erichtho 
doth in Lucan ; x or by some other enchantments to restore dead men to 
life. 

Sometimes they used to raise the ghosts of deceased persons, by various 
invocations and ceremonies. Ulysses, in the ninth book of Homer's 
Odysseis, liaving sacrificed black sheep in a ditch, and poured forth cer- 
tain libations, invites the ghosts, particularly that of Tiresias, to drink of 
the blood, after which they become willing to answer his questions. The 
same is done by Tiresias in Statius, by iEson in Valerius Flaccus, by 
Nero in Pliny. Gregory Nazianzen speaks also of ruv avxripvo/ulvuv 
vrxetiivivv ts jccti <7rtx,ilu>v zv) -^/u^otyuyia,, virgins and boys slaughtered at 
the evocation of ghosts. The most usual ceremonies used on these occa- 
sions are thus described by Seneca, who has introduced Tiresias consulting 
the ghosts in a dark and gloomy grove: 2 

Hinc ut sacerdos in'ulit senior gradum, V'>cat inde manes, teque qui manes reo is, 

Maud est moratus : prcpstitit noctem locus, Et obsidentem claustra lethnlis lacus : 

Tunc fossa tellus, et super rapti root's Carmenque magicum volvit, et rapido minax 

Jaciuntur igne.s. Ipse funeslo integit Decantat ore quicquid nut placat leves, 

Vatet amictu corpus, et frondem quatit : Ant cogit, umbras. Irrigat sanguis focos, 

Lugubris imos palla perfundit pedes : Solidasque pecudes urit, et multo secum 

Squalente cu'-tu mcestus ingreditur senex : Sa/umt cruore ; libat et niveum insuper 

Mortilera canam taxus adstringit comam. Lactis liquorem, fundit et Bncchum manu 

Nigro bidentes vellere, atque atrw boves Lceva, canitque rursus, et terram intueus 

Retro trahuntnr; Jlamma prcedatur daprs, Graviore manes voce, et attonita ciet. 

Vinumque; trcpidat igne jerali pecus. Latravit Hecates turba, &c. 

Some other ceremonies also were practised, which differed not much 
from those used in parentations, of which I shall give a more particular 
account in the following books. 

This divination, if the dead appeared only in airy forms, like shades, 
was called ^Kto/u-avrua, and Wv^n^vrucc. It might, I suppose, be per- 

1 Lib. vi. 750. 2 (Kdip. ver. 547. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



327 



formed in any place ; but some places were appropriated to this use, and 
called 'Nizuofie.a.vnict, several of which are mentioned by the antient poets, 
but two of them were most remarkable ; the first in Thesprotia, where 
Orpheus is said to have restored to life his wife Eurydice, and Periander, 
the tyrant of Corinth, was affrighted by the apparition of his wife Melissa, 
whom he had murdered j 1 the other in Campania, at the lake Avernus, 
celebrated by Homer and Virgil, in their stories of Ulysses and iEneas. 

'T^oopavr-ici, or divination by water, sometimes called Unyopotvrux, 
when it was done by fountain water: in this they observed the various 
impressions, changes, fluxes, refluxes, swellings, diminutions, colours, 
images, &c. in the water. Sometimes they dipped a looking-glass into the 
water, when they desired to know what would become of a sick person ; 
for as he looked well or ill in the glass, accordingly they presumed of his 
future condition. Sometimes they filled a bowl with water, and let down 
into it a ring, equally poised on each side, and hanging by a thread tied 
to one of their fingers ; then, in a form of prayer, requested of the gods to 
declare or confirm the question in dispute ; whereupon, if the thing pro- 
posed was true, the ring, of its own accord, would strike against the side 
of the bowl a set number of times'. Sometimes they threw three stones 
into the water, and observed the turns they made in sinking. Instead of 
water, sometimes they made use of oil and wine, and then the liquor was 
called xvtXci' and instead of stones, they sometimes used wedges of gold 
or silver. This divination was sometimes performed in a basin, and thence 
called 

Azxccvoftuvrue/,' which also was sometimes practised in a different man- 
ner, thus: they distinguished the stones, or wedges, with certain charac- 
ters, and then, having invoked the demon in a set form, proposed the 
question they had a mind to be satisfied about, to which an answer was 
returned in a small voice, not unlike a hiss, proceeding out of the water. 
The scholiast upon Lycophron is of opinion, that this method of divination 
was as ancient as the Trojan war, and practised by Ulysses ; which he 
thinks gave occasion for all the poetical fictions of his descent into the 
infernal regions to consult Tiresias' ghost. 2 Sometimes divination by 
water was performed with a looking-glass, and called 

KaTDTT^^avTs/a. Sometimes also glasses were used, and the images 
of what should happen represented without water. Sometimes it was per- 
formed in a vessel of water, the middle part of which was called yu<r^*i, 
and then the divination was termed 

Ya.T^^ofjLrx.))TU'jc, the manner of which was thus: they filled certain round 
glasses with fair water, about which they placed lighted torches: then 
invoked a demon, praying in a low murmuring voice, and proposed the 
question to be solved. A chaste and unpolluted boy, or a woman big with 
child, was appointed to observe with the greatest care and exactness all the 
alterations in the glasses: at the same time desiring, beseeching, and also 

1 Herodotus Terpsichore. 2 Cassandra, ver. 813^ pag. 84, Edit, nostrae. 

2e2 



328 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



commanding an answer, which at length the demon used to return by 
images in the glasses, which by reflection from the water represented 
what should come to pass. 

K^uffrakXofAuvrsi» was performed by polished and enchanted crystals, in 
which future events were signified by certain marks and figures. 

AazrvXoptzvrux was a divination by rings, enchanted, or made accord- 
ing to some position of the celestial bodies. Gyges, the king of Lydia, 
had a ring of this sort, which when he turned to the palm of his hand, he 
became invisible to others, but could see every body ; and by the help of 
this he enjoyed his mistress the queen, and slew his master Candaules, 
whom he afterwards succeeded. Some ascribe the invention of this divi- 
nation to Helena, the wife of Menelaus, who in Photius' Bibliotheca is 
said to have found out <rov %x ^ajcrvkeuv kXti^ov, the lots which consisted of 
rings, and with these to have conquered Alexander. But this is rather 
to be understood concerning the game of , lots, than any sort of divination. 

'OvuxopsivriU was performed by the nails of an unpolluted boy, covered 
with oil and soot, which they turned to the sun, the reflection of whose 
rays was believed to represent, by certain images, the things they had a 
mind to be satisfied about. 

1 ' Ai^ofze&vTitcx,, foretold future events from certain spectres, or other 
appearances in the air ; and sometimes thus : They folded their heads in a 
napkin, and having placed a bowl full of water in the open air, proposed 
their question in a small whispering voice ; at which time, if the water 
boiled or fermented, they thought what they had spoken was approved of 
and confirmed. 

Arfopccvrsicc was sometimes performed by a precious stone called siderites, 
which they washed in spring water in the night by candle-light: the per- 
son that consulted it was to be purified from all manner of pollution, and 
to have his face covered : this done, he repeated divers prayers, and placed 
certain characters in an appointed order ; and then the stone moved itself, 
and in a soft gentle murmur, or, as some say, in a voice like that of a 
child, returned an answer. By a stone of this nature, Helenus is reported 
to have foretold the destruction of Troy. 

Theocritus 1 has given us an account of two sorts of divination practised 
by a country swain, to try what share he had in his mistress' affections. 
Where the shepherd complains he had found his suit was rejected these 
two ways : first, by the herb telephilum, which, being crushed in his hand, 
or upon his arm, returned no sound ; for it was usual to strike that, or some 
other herb, against their arms, and if they crackled in breaking, good ; if 
not, it was an unlucky omen. Not much unlike this was the divination 
by laurel leaves, which they threw into the fire, and observed how they 
crackled in burning; from which noise, some say, laurel was called SocQm, 
q. 2« (pwvri. The other way of divining, mentioned by Theocritus, was by 
a sieve, which an old gipsy used in telling silly people their fortunes. 

] Idyll, iii. 28. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



329 



This they called Kotrxivouxvnlx; it was generally practised to discover 
thieves, or others suspected of any crime, in this manner: they tied a 
thread to the sieve, by which it was upheld, or else placed a pair of sheers, 
which they held up by two fingers ; then prayed to the gods to direct and 
assist them ; after that, they repeated the names of the persons under sus- 
picion, and he at whose name the sieve whirled round, or moved, was 
thought to have committed the fact. Another sort of divination was com- 
monly practised upon the same account, which was called 

'Altvopc&vrua, from A?<vv, an axe, or hatchet, which they fixed so 
exactly upon a round stake, that neither end might outpoise or weigh down 
the other: then they prayed, and repeated the names of those they sus- 
pected ; and the person at whose name the hatchet made any the least 
motion, was found guilty. 

Ki(paXovo/u,oivritee. was by the head of an ass, as the name imports, which 
they broiled on coals; and after having muttered a few prayers, they 
repeated the persons' names as before ; or the crime, in case one was only 
suspected ; at which, if the jaws made any motion, and the teeth chattered 
against one another, they thought the villain sufficiently discovered. 

' AXiKT^uofjLotvTi'iet. was a very mysterious divination, in which they made 
use of a cock in discovering secret and unknown transactions, or future 
events. It was effected after this manner: having wrote in the dust the 
twenty-four letters of the alphabet, and laid a grain of wheat or barley 
upon every one of them, a cock, magically prepared, was let loose amongst 
them, and those letters, out of which he picked the corns, being joined 
together, were thought to declare whatever they were desirous to be cer- 
tified of. This divination the famous magician Jamblichus, Proems' 
master, is said to have made use of, with a design to find out the person 
who was to succeed Valens Caesar in the empire ; but the cock picking up 
only four of the grains, namely, those that lay upon the letters s, o, 
left uncertain, whether Theodosius, Theodotus, Theodorus, or Theodectes, 
was the person designed by the fates to be emperor. However, Valens 
being informed of the matter, was enraged at it, and put to death several per- 
sons, for no other reason than that their names began with those letters ; 
and made a diligent search after the magicians themselves ; whereupon 
Jamblichus, to prevent the emperor's cruelty, ended his life by a draught 
of poison. 

S/^^^avTs/a was performed by red-hot iron, upon which they laid an 
odd number cf straws, and observed what figures, bendings, sparklings, 
&c, they made in burning. 

Mokvf&oftetvruei was by observing the motions, figures, &c. of melted 
lead. The three following methods of divination are by some reckoned 
amongst the various sorts of incantations. 

Ticpgopoivruoc, or divination by ashes ; which was performed in this 
manner: they wrote the things they had a mind to be resolved about, in 
ashes upon a plank, or any such thing; this thcv exnosed to the open air,. 
S> e 3 



320 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



where it was to continue for some time ; and those letters that remained 
whole and nowise defaced by the winds, or other accidents, were thought 
to contain in them a solution of the question. 

Boratvof&uvTiiu, or divination by herbs, especially IXsXtffQctxes, or salvia; 
or by fig-leaves, and thence called Suzoftscvnix, was practised thus: the 
persons that consulted, wrote their own names, and their questions, upon 
leaves, which they exposed to the wind : and as many of the letters as 
remained in their own places, were taken up, and being joined together, 
contained an answer to the question. 

KyigopoLvri'ix, or divination by wax, which they melted over a vessel of 
water, letting it drop within three definite spaces, and observed the figure, 
situation, distance, and concretion, of the drops. Besides these, there 
were infinite other sorts of divination: as Xs/^^avrs/a, <bu<rioyvu>[ji.iu. i which 
was practised in Socrates' time, 'Ovo{Auroy.xvrtx, 'AoiCpopocvrgiu, Yiu)ya.v- 
<rua, Av%vopuvTuu, mentioned with several others, by Aratus in his 
Prognostics, and Pliny in his Natural History; but these T shall pass by, 
and only trouble you with one more, which is so remarkable, that it must 
not be omitted, namely, 

Qapptaxua., which was usually performed by certain medicated and en- 
chanted compositions of herbs, minerals, &c, which they called <p tip pax. a.- 
By these, strange and wonderful things were effected ; some of them taicen 
inwardly, caused blindness, madness, love, &c, such were the medicaments 
by which Circe transformed Ulysses' soldiers. Others infected by a touch ; 
such was the garment which Medea sent to Creusa. Others spread their 
venom far ofT, and operated upon persons at a great distance. There were 
also (pa.ppa.xct, ffwrvota,, which were amulets against the former ; such were 
the herb moly, which preserved Ulysses from Circe's enchantments ; the 
laurel, the sallow-tree, the rhamn, or Christ-thorn, fieabane, the jasper- 
stone, and innumerable others mentioned by Albertus Magnus, and Or- 
pheus in his bookDe Lapillis; likewise certain rings, which Aristophanes, 
in his Plutus, calls ^azrvXlou; (paopaxirus* For this art the Thessalians 
were most famous of all the Greeks: Democritus and Pythagoras are 
also said to have been skilled in it. Every story is full of the prodigious 
operations wrought by it, some of which I shall give you from the enchan- 
tress' own mouth in Ovid •} 



Cum volui y ripis mirantibus, omnet 

Tn fontet rediere suos, concussaque sisto, 
S" 't ant ia conditio cantu freta ; nubila pello 
.\ubilaque induco ; tentos abigoque vocoque ; 
Vipcreas rumpo verbis et carmine fauces ; 
Vivaque saxa, sua convulsaque robora terra, 
Et tylvas moveo , jubeoque ircmiscere montes ; 
Te quoque, Luna-, traho. 
Oft by your aid swift currents I have led 
Through wond ring hanks, back to their fountain- 
head ; 

Transform 'd the prospect of the briny deep ; 



Made sleeping billows rave, and raving billows 

sleep; 

Made clouds or sunshine, tempests rise or fall, 
And stubborn lawless winds obey my call; 
With mutter'd words disarm'd the viper's jaw, 
Up by the roots vast oaks, and rocks, could draw; 
Make forests dance, and trembling mountains come 
Like malefactors to receive their doom. 
Earth groan, and frighted ghosts forsake their tomb. 
Thee, Cynthia, my resistless rhymes drew down, 
Whence tinkling cymbals strove my voice to drown. 

GARTH. 



1 Met. vii. fab. 2. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



331 



Where you may observe the last verse, wherein she boasts that she was 
able to draw the moon from her orb; for the ancients really believed, that 
incantations had power to charm the moon from heaven ; x and whenever 
the moon was eclipsed they thought it was done by the power of magic ; 
for which reason it was usual to beat drums and kettles, to sound trumpets 
and hautboys, to drown, if it was possible, the voices of the magicians, 
that their charms might not reach her. The moon also was thought to 
preside over this art, and therefore was invoked, together with Hecate, to 
whom the invention of it was ascribed ; whence Medea, in Euripides said, 
that of all the gods, she paid the greatest veneration to Hecate. 2 

Some of the rites used at the invocation of tins goddess are given us by 
ApolJonius. 3 

To this sort of divination are to be referred charms and amulets against 
poison, venom, and diseases. Suidas reports, that the curing of distem- 
pers by sacrifices, and the repetition of certain words, was practised ever 
since the time of Minos king of Crete ; and Homer reiates,4 how Autoly- 
cus' sons stanched Ulysses' blood, flowing from a wound he received in 
hunting a wild boar, by a charm. 

The same is observed by Pliny, 5 who adds, farther, that sic Theophras- 
tus ischidiacos sanari, Cato prodidit luxatis mcmbris carmen auxiliari, 
Marcus Varro podagris : ' it was reported by Theophr astus, that the hip- 
gout was cured in the same manner; by Cato, that a charm would relieve 
any member out of joint ; and by Marcus Varro, that it would cure the 
gout in the feet.' Chiron is said to have used the same remedy in some 
distempers, but not in all. 6 And it is probable that the use of these 
incantations gave rise to the fable in which Orpheus is said to have 
recovered his wife Eurydice from the dead, by the force of his music; for 
we are told, 7 that Orpheus was skilled in the art of music ; and 8 that he 
published a book concerning the remedies of distempers. 

To tins head are also to be reduced enchanted girdles, and other things 
worn about men's bodies, to excite love, or any other passion, in those with 
whom they conversed: such was the Kr,<r<ros in Homer's Iliad, given by 
Venus to Juno, for the allurement of Jupiter to her love, as Eustathius 
observes, upon the aforementioned verses in the Odysseis. But concern- 
ing these practices I shall have occasion to add something more, when I 
come to treat of lovp affairs. 9 

Lastly, to this place also belongs Bxtrae&via, fascination, so called, as 
grammarians inform us, ntipu. <ro <£«S£Ti xot'tvuv, from killing with the eyes, 
whence also the Latin word fascinus is said to have been derived. For 
it was believed that some malignant influence, darted from the eyes of 
envious and angry persons, infected the ambient air, and by that means 
penetrated and corrupted the bodies of animals and other things. 10 The 



1 Virg. Eclo^. viii. 

2 Euripidis Medea, ver. 395. 

3 Argon, iii. 1028. 

4 Odyss. 456 



5 Nat. Kist. xxxviii. 2. 

6 Pind. Pyth. Od. i.i. 89. 

7 Pausan. Eliac. ii. pp.g. 383, 
edit, Haaiov. 



8 Eurip. Alcest. ver. 965. 

9 Archaeologiae, iv. 10. 
10 Heliocior, /Etlriop. iii. 



332 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



younger animals, as being most tender, were thought most easily to receive 
this sort of impressions. 1 

Plutarch 2 mentions certain men, whose eyes were destructive to infants 
and children, by reason of the weak and tender constitution of their bodies, 
but had not so much power over men, whose bodies were confirmed and 
compacted by age. Yet he adds in the same place, that the Thebans 
about Pontus could not only destroy infants, but men of ripe age. Pliny 
affirms the same concerning the Triballi and Iliyrians, whose eyes had 
commonly two pupillae, which were thought extremely conducive to 
fascination; whence the same author observes farther from Cicero, 
f anurias omnes ubique nocere, quce duplices pupillas habent, ' that in all 
places, all the women who had double eyeballs had power to hurt others 
on whom they would fix their eyes.' 3 These influences were thought 
chiefly to proceed from those whose spirits were moved by the passions of 
anger and envy. Hence the forementioned Triballi and Iliyrians are 
reported to have injured those whom they looked upon iratis oculis, 1 with 
angry eyes.' 4 And such men as were blessed with any singular and 
uncommon happiness were chiefly liable to fascination; hence the follow- 
ing saying of Horace concerning his country seat: 5 

Non isthic obliquo oculo mihi commoda quisquam 
Limat. 

For the same reason, they who had been extravagantly commended by 
others, and more especially by themselves, were in danger of having their 
prosperity blasted. And the goddess Nemesis was thought to have some 
concern in this matter. 6 Pliny speaks of whole families in Africa, 
quarum laudatione inter eant probata, arescant arbores, emoriantur in- 
fantes y ' whose praises were destructive to things which they commended, 
dried up trees and killed infants.' Hence, when the Romans praised any 
thing or person, they used to add prcBjiscini or prccfiscine dixerim, to avert 
any fascination which might ensue ; or to intimate that their commenda- 
tions were sincerely spoken, and not with any malicious design to preju- 
dice what they commended. Plautus represents the same custom at 
Athens : 7 

Prtpfiscini hoc nunc dixerim: nemo etiam me accusnvii 
Merito meo : neque me Athenis est alter hodic quisquam, 
Cui aedi recte csque putent. 

Some crowned those whom they thought to be in danger with garlands 
of the herb baccharis, which had a sovereign power against fascinations. 8 

Some made use of certain bracelets or necklaces, composed of shells, 
corals, and precious stones; and others applied certain herbs prepared 
with incantations and magical rites, to this use: these also being esteemed 
excellent remedies, according to Gratius: 

Nam sic affcctus oculique venena maligni 
V icit tutela pax impetrata deorum. 



1 Virg. Eclog. ill- 1('3. 4 Idem, loc. cit. Veland. 

2 Sympn-.. lib. v. ^jua-st. 7. 5 Lib. i. Ep. 14. 7 Asin. act 5. sc. iv. ver. 84. 

3 Plin. Nat. Hist vii. 2. (i Tertullian. librc tie Virgin. 8 Virg. Eclog. vii V. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



333 



Sometimes the figure of a man's privities was hung about the necks of 
children,! which was also thought a very powerful amulet against fascina- 
tions, and for that reason was called fascinum. These or the like repre- 
sentations were thought to avert the eyes of malicious persons, hoc tnv 
a.ro<7r'ia.v <rr,$ o^piatg, by the oddness of the sight, from fixing too steadfastly 
on the person or thing to which they were affixed. 2 Hence they were 
sometimes hung upon the doors of houses and gardens; 3 and 4 smiths 
commonly placed them before their forges. Their name was (ZaurKeiviet ; 
they are called by Plutarch 5 trgoffieterxdviK ; in the old glossary, ^^oa-jZoca-- 
jckvioc answers to the Latin word mutinum. But we are informed by 
Phavorinus, that fiatrzavtov Xiyovtrw ol ag%a,7oi' the ancients used the word 
fiuirzacviov, the moderns ^otrfixa-xdiviov. It may farther be observed, that 
these figures were images of Priapus, who was believed to punish such 
persons as did fixcrzu'ivuv rt t^v xuXmv, prejudice good things by fascina- 
tion. 6 The Romans had several other deities who averted fascinations. 
The god Fascinus is mentioned as one of these; 7 and Cunina is said by 
Lactantius, 8 to be worshipped, because she did infantes in cunis tueri, et 
fascinum suhmovere, 'protect children in their cradles, and avert fascina- 
tions.' It was before observed, that some omens were averted by spitting 
at them, which is an action of detestation and abhorrence. Hence some, 
chiefly old women, averted fascinations by spitting into their bosoms. 
Hence the following verse of Callimachus, which is cited by the scholiast 
upon Theocritus, who farther affirms that the same custom was practised 
in his time: 

Aai/xov, to; z&Xtoi&iv iftmruovert yvvottxtg. 

It may be farther observed, that this was done thrice, three being a sacred, 
number, as has been elsewhere shown. Hence Damoetas, who is intro- 
duced by Theocritus representing the behaviour of Polyphemus, having 
praised himself, adds, that by the advice of old Cotyttaris he had thrice 
spit into his bosom, to prevent fascination: 9 

'flj fj.7] paoKavQu) &s rpU sly efioy Uvrwa k6\ttov' I three times dropt my spittle on my breast; 

Tavra yap a, ypala fie Korvrrapts e%e.6l6a%ej>. This charm I learnt from an old sorceress' tongue, 

And lest enchantment should my limbs infest Who harvest-home at Hypocoon's sung. — FAWKES 

Hence it was usual to reprove arrogant persons, when they assumed more 
than their due, bidding them u\ ko^tou; tfruuv, spit into their bosoms.™ 
Another method of averting fascinations from infants was this: they tied 
a thread of divers colours about the neck of the infant, then spit upon the 
ground, and taking up the spittle, mixed with dirt, upon their finger, put 
it 'upon the infant's forehead and lips. 11 



1 Varro, lib. vi. 

2 Plutarchus Sympos. lib. v. 
quaest. 7. 

3 Plin. Nat. Hist. xix. 4. 

4 Poll. Onomast. vii. 24. 



5 Loco citato. 

6 Diodor. Sic. lib. iv. 

7 Piin. Nat. Hist. xxiv. 4. 

8 Lib. i. 10. 



9 Theocr. Idyll, vi. 39. 

10 Lucian, RXo'iay, £; Ev^als. 

11 Pers. Sat. ii'. ver. bl, ubi 
conf. interpretes. 



334 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XIX. 

OF THE GRECIAN FESTIVALS IN GENERAL. 

1 Festivals were instituted upon four accounts: first, in honour of the 
gods, to whom, besides the worship every day paid them, some more 
solemn times were set apart; especially if they had conferred any signal 
favour upon the public, or upon private persons; had assisted them in 
defending their country ; had given them victory over their enemies; had 
delivered them out of any apparent danger, or blessed them with success 
in any undertaking; it was thought but reasonable to set apart some time 
frr offering sacrifices and praises to them, as grateful acknowledgments 
ior the benefits received at their hands. 

Secondly, in order to procure some special favour of the gods ; for, as 
you may learn from the following chapters, several of the festivals were 
instituted with a design to render the gods propitious, and willing to 
grant some particular blessings, as health, children, and such like. And 
in times of famine, pestilence, or other public calamities, the oracles 
usually advised their consultants to institute solemn festivals, as the best 
method to appease the angry gods, and obtain of them deliverance from 
the evils they laboured under. 



1 The Greeks had scarcely 
any public festivals that were not 
religious. They were celebrated 
i;i honour of some god or hero; 
above all in honour of the tutelar 
deities of the place. By this 
means, many things which we 
;;re accustomed to regard as ob- 
jects of amusement, received a 
much more elevated character. 
They became duties enjoined by 
religion-, which could not be 
neglected without injury to the 
honour and reputation, and even 
to the welfare'of the city. The 
gods would have been incensed; 
and the accidental evils which 
might have fallen on the city, 
would infallibly have been re- 
garded as punishments inflicted 
by the gods. We need not, there- 
fore, be astonished when we hear 
ihata city could be very seriously 
embarrassed by the want of suf- 
ficient means to celebrate its fes- 
tivals with due solemnity. 

Thus afield, almost boundless, 
was opened for public expenses, 
and these too of a kind hardly 
known to modern states. Even 
in cases where a government 
may think it necessary to expend 
something on public festivals, 
little is done except in ihe capi- 
tal; and this expense has never, 
to my knowledge, made an arti- 
cle in a budget. J t would have 
made the very first in Grecian 
cities, at least in times of peace. 
And he who can form a clear 
idea of their political condition, 



will easily perceive how many 
things must have combined to in- 
crease these expenses. They 
wer? prompted not by a mere 
regard for the honour of the 
state; jealousy and envy of the 
other cities had also their influ- 
ence. And still more is to be at- 
tributed to the emulation and the 
vanity of those who were ap- 
pointed to manage the money 
devoted to this purpose. One 
desired to surpass another. This 
was the most reputable manner 
of displaying wealth. And al- 
though, as far as wekrow. public 
shows were not in the Grecian 
cities so indispensable for gain- 
ing the favour of the people as at 
Rome (probably because what in 
Rome was originally voluntary, 
had ever been considered in 
Greece as one of the duties and 
burdens of a citizen, which did 
not deserve the thanks of his fel- 
low-citizens); political ends of- 
ten perhaps, exercised a consid- 
erable influence on particular in- 
dividuals. 

The Grecian temples had, for 
the most part, possessions of 
their own, which served to defray 
the expenses incurred in the ser- 
vice of the god. These posses- 
sions consisted partly in votive 
presents which had been conse- 
crated, especially where the di- 
vinities of health and prophecy 
were adored, by the hopes or the 
gratitude of the suppliants for 
advice and counsel. We know 



from several examples, especially 
from that of the temple of Del- 
phi, that treasures were there 
accumulated, of more value, pro- 
bably, than those of Loretto, or 
any other shrine in Eui ope. But 
as they were sacred to the gods, 
and did not come into circula- 
tion, they were for the most part 
unproductive treasures, possess- 
ing no other value than that 
which they received from the 
artist We could desire more 
accurate information respecting 
the administration of the trea- 
sures of the temples ; for it seems 
hardly credible, that the great 
stores of unwrought gold and sil- 
ver should have been left entirely 
unemployed. But besides these 
treasures, the temples drew a 
large part of their revenue from 
lands; which were not unfre- 
quently consecrated 10 their ser- 
vice. When a new colony was 
founded, it was usual to devote at 
once a part of its territory to the 
gods. But although these re- 
sources were sufficient for the 
support of the temple, the priests, 
the various persons employed in 
the service of the temples, and 
perhaps the daily sacrifices; y. t 
the incense and other expenses, 
the celebration of the festivals 
with ail the costs connecied with 
thpm, still continued a burden 10 
the public— Heeren's Greece, pp. 
169-172, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



335 



Thirdly, in memory of deceased friends, of those that had done any 
remarkable service for their country, or died valiantly in the defence of it. 
This was no small encouragement to men of generous and noble disposi- 
tions to enter upon honourable designs, when they saw that the brave 
actions of the virtuous did not perish with them, but their memories were 
fiver held sacred by succeeding generations. 

; Fourthly, festivals were instituted as times of ease and rest to labourers ; 
that amidst all their toil and sorrow, and as it were a recompense thereof, 
some days of refreshment might be allowed them. For some one or more 
of these ends, most festivals seem to have been first instituted. 

1 Amongst the ancients they had few or no festivals, besides those after 
harvest or vintage ; for then they used to meet and make merry with the 
fruits they had gathered, eating and drinking plentifully; which they 
esteemed a sort of offering their first fruits to the gods, whom they thought 
honoured by so doing; and therefore feasts were called ®oUa.t, q. S'totveu, 
cti tia, <rov; Szovs oUova'Sa.i ttlv vrgkctjufiozvov, because they thought they were 
obliged, in duty to the gods, to be drunk. And Seleucus tells us, that the 
words SaX/a, and pifa, were derived from the same original, Tov <rs olvov 
ion vrX&Tov kou rhv ocXXvv v^vyfahtocv S-s&Jv ivixcx. vr^ocrtpigitrOoii, ^10 xoc) So'ivu; 
xoc) kou p,ya.y uvopuo'tfwvcu, banquets were called Solvctt, S-xXicu, and 

(Ai6a.i, from @io$, or God ; because it was usual at those times to consume 
great quantities of wine, and other provisions, in honour of the gods. 

In latter ages, when the gods were increased almost to the number of 
men, and the old frugal way of living was laid aside, the number of festi- 
vals was enlarged, and the manner of them quite altered : for, whereas 
formerly the solemnities consisted in little or nothing besides offering a 
sacrifice to the gods, and after that making merry themselves; now a 
great many games, processions, and innumerable ceremonies, in imitation 
of the fabulous actions of the gods, were introduced and practised, to the 
vast charge of the public. 

The Athenians, as they exceeded all other people in the number of 
their gods, so they outdid them in the number of their festivals ; which 2 
were twice as many as any other city observed: nor did the number and 
frequency of them abate any thing of the solemnity, splendour, and 
charges, at their observation. The shops, and courts of judicature, were 
shut up on most of those days ; the labourers rested from their works, the 
tradesmen from their employments, the mourners intermitted their sor- 
rows; and nothing but ease and pleasure, mirth and jollity, were to be 
found amongst them. Indeed, xotvov tovtq kcc) t&Jv '~EkXmay xai <rZy ficcg- 
ficcgav 'urn, this was common both to Greeks and barbarians, as we are in- 
formed by Strabo, to celebrate their religious solemnities with mirth and 
remission of their labours. 

Most of them were celebrated at the public charge ; and lest their 
tr< asury should be exhausted by so frequent evacuations, several means 



1 Aristot. Ethic, ad Nicomaeh, Tiii. 9. 



2 Xenoph. de Repub. Atheniens. 



336 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



were contrived to supply and replenish them. For instance, after Tfara- 
sybulus had deposed the tyrants, their estates were confiscated for this 
use: and when the state was reduced to its old democracy, if any of the 
citizens, through too much wealth, became formidable to the poorer sort, 
and objects of their envy, it was customary to compel them to contribute 
towards the defraying the expenses at public festivals; and so, by con- 
ferring upon them a great (though charitable and dear-bought) honour, at 
once sweeten the imposition, if not also oblige those on whom it was 
imposed, and rid themselves of those fears and jealousies which the im- 
moderate opulency of private persons might reasonably give to a popular 
state. 

Thus much of festivals in general: as to the particulars, I have omitted 
very little that is material in the tracts of Meursius and Castellanus upon 
this subject; and some things not taken notice of by either of them, and 
perhaps not unworthy of observation, I have added. Yet I do not pre- 
tend that this is a complete or entire collection of the Grecian festivals; 
for that would be endless, seeing almost every man of repute, and who 
had done any notable service for the public, had his anniversary day, and 
impossible, since hundreds of them, especially those that were observed by 
the less considerable cities, are not so much as mentioned in any author 
at tins day extant ; or but barely mentioned, without any account of the 
persons to whom they belonged, or the ceremonies used at their celebra- 
tion: however, the following chapters will furnish as much as is necessary 
to the understanding of the ancient Greek writers. 



CHAP. XX. 

GRECIAN FESTIVALS. 

A. 

ATHTOPEION and ATHTOPIA, mentioned by Hesychius, without any 
notice of the deity, in whose honour they were observed. It is not impro- 
bable they might belong to Apollo, and be, at least the latter of them, the 
same with the Lacedaemonian K«m7«. This conjecture is grounded upon 
the words of Hesychius, who tells us, that 'Ayrim; was the name of the 
person consecrated to the god at the Kagvsfa* and that the festival itseli 
was termed ; Ay>j rcg/a, which name seems to have been derived from ccycuv 
that festival being observed in imitation of ffT^nurr/M otywyVi or the 
military vmy of living } It is not unlikely the former might belong to 
Venus, whose priest was called 'Ay;k^, in Cyprus. 



1 Athenae, lib. iv. Eustath, in Horn. Iliad, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



337 



Aycuvix, was celebrated at Argos, 1 in memory of one of Proetus'' 
daughters ; being, in all probability, the same with 

Ay?i(Zv.x, which was observed at Argos, in memory of a deceased per- 
son. It was also celebrated at Thebes with solemn sports. 

AypavXix at Athens, in honour of Agrauius, or Aglaurus, the daughter 
of Ceerops, and the nymph Aglauris, and priestess of Minerva, to whom 
she gave the surname of Aglaurus, and was worshipped in a temple dedi- 
cated to her. The Cyprians also 2 honoured her by the celebration of an 
annual festival in the month Aphrodisius, at which they offered human 
victims ; and this custom is said to have continued till the time of Dio- 
medes. 

Ayeiuvta, in honour of JBacchus, suraamed for his cruelty; 3 

or because he conversed with and was attended by lions, tigers, and other 
savage animals, 4 which procured him the other name of ' 'Cluwrvis , which 
properly denotes an eater of raw flesh. This solemnity was observed in 
the night, after this manner: The women being assembled, 5 made a strict 
search after Bacchus, as if he had fled from them : but after some time, 
finding their labour to be in vain, said, that he had retired to the Muses, 
and concealed himself amongst them. This being done, and the cere- 
mony ended, they regaled themselves with an entertainment; after which, 
the time was passed away in proposing riddles and cramp questions. 
Large quantities of ivy were used at this time, 6 because that plant was 
sacred to Bacchus; and such excesses were sometimes committed, that 
on one occasion the daughter of Minya, in a furious ecstasy of devotion, 
slaughtered Hippasus, the son of Leucippe, and served him up to the 
table: in memory of which murder, their whole family was ever after 
excluded from this festival, upon pain of death; which 7 was inflicted upon 
one of them that surreptitiously conveyed herself in amongst the rest of 
the worshippers, by Zoilus, a Chreronean priest. 

AyooTioa.-, Su<ria, s an anniversary sacrifice of five hundred goats, offered 
at Athens to Minerva, surnamed ' Ayoo-iocc^ from Agree in Attica. The 
occasion of it was this: when Darius, the emperor of Persia, invaded 
Attica, Callimachus, the polemarch, made a solemn vow to Minerva, that if 
she would grant them victory over their enemies, they would sacrifice to 



\ Hesychius. 

2 Porph. de. Abstinen. lib. ii. 

3 Plata- ch Antonio. 

4 The appellation should ra- 
ther b* viewed as referring back 
to an ear.y period when humin 
sacrifices were offered to Bac- 
chus. Hence the terms 'O/hjo-t^j 
and 'A-yp*a>Mo$ app ied to tiiis 
deity. (Creuzer's Simtbn'ik, vol. 
iii. p. 334. 1 Plutarch {ViL The- 
jnuf. 13.) even spe; ks of a hu- 
man >acrirlce to this god as .ate 
as the u;.ys of Themistocles, 
when the three Persian prisoners 
•were offered uo by him to Bac- 
rhus, at the instigation of the 
diviner Eurantides. Tae same 



writer, elsewhere, (Vit. Ant. 
24.) uses bo:h L^^Ths and a-yptir- 
viot. in sneaking of Bacchus ; 
where Reiske, without any ne- 
ce sity, proposes iy P iii\io^ (from 
BAAv/m) as an emendation. — In 
celebrating this festival the Gre- 
cian women, being assembled, 
sought eagerly for Bacchus, who, 
they pretended, had tied trom 
them ; but finding their labour 
ineffectual, they said that he had 
retired to the Moses and con- 
cealed himself anting them. The 
ceremony being thus endea, they 
regaled themselves with an en- 
tertainment. {Pad. Symyros. viii. 
1.) Has this a figurative re.er- 
2 F 



ence to the suspension of human 
sacrifices, and the consequent in- 
troduction of a mi der form of 
worship?— G :s T el lan us, however 
{Si/nt.^m. de Festis Grtecor, s. v 
Agri-mid), m kes the festival in 
question to have been a general 
symbol of the progress ot civili- 
zation and refinement. (Com- 
pare Rolle, Rccherchps sur le 
Ctdtede Bacchus vol- iii. p. 251.) 
— Anthonys Lempriere, vol. i. p. 
114. 

5 Piutarchus. Symp. lib. viii. 
q ffi-r. i. 

6 Idem, Oiliest. Roman. 

7 Plut. Ouaest. Grace. 

8 Xenoph. Exped. Gjih* 



33S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



her as many he-goats as should equal the number of the slain on their 
enemy's side: Minerva granted his request; but the number of the Per- 
sians that fell in the battle being so great, that all the he-goats they could 
procure did not come near it, they offered instead of them all the she- 
goats they could find ; and these also falling infinitely short of the number, 
they made a decree, that five hundred goats should be offered every year 
till it should be completed. 1 

Aypvvrvts, a nocturnal festival, 2 celebrated in honour of Bacchus, at 
Arbela, a place in Sicily; and so called because the worshippers did 
ayouTTvuv, iratch all night. 

A^uivia, or A^cdvua, was celebrated in most of the cities of Greece, in 
honour of Venus, and in memoiy of her beloved Adonis. 3 The solemnity 
continued two days : upon the first of which certain images or pictures of 
Adonis and Venus were brought forth with all the pomp and ceremonies 
practised at funerals ; the women tore their hair, beat their breasts, and 
counterfeited all other postures and actions usual in lamenting the dead. 
This lamentation was termed ahmioarfjco:^ or aaMvla' whence ahc»v'ta.v ccyuv 
is interpreted by Suidas, "A^ooviv zXaiuv, to weep for Adonis. The songs 
on this occasion were called atSavfiia. 5 There were also carried along with 
them, shells filled with earth, in which grew several sorts of herbs, espe- 
cially lettuces ; in memory that Adonis was laid out by Venus upon a bed 
of lettuces. These were called Kw-w, gardens; whence 'A'Sa.^o; xyrot 
are proverbially applied to things unfruitful, or fading ; because those herbs 
were only sown so long before the festival as to sprout forth and be green 
at that time, and then were presently cast out into the water. The flutes 
used upon this day were called Ttyyalxt, from Tlyyons, the Phoenician 
name of Adonis. Hence, to play on this instrument, was termed yiyyoS,v, 
or ytyy^oiiviiv, the music yiyyoourpos, and the songs yiyyoavra,. The 
sacrifice was termed K«^«, because the days of mourning used to be 



1 The name Agrotera ('Aypo- 
repv) is also sometimes applied to 
Di;ma herself. In this usage it 
is equivalent to KwrjyepTtKt], 8 V - 
p&vriicr), "the huntress." Its 
primitive meaning, however, is 
the same as 4] Speta, "she that 
frequents the mountains " (Com- 
pare Heyne, ad Horn. II. 21. 471.) 
— yjnthun's Lempriere. vol. i. p. 
113. 

2 Hesychius. 

3 " These feasts were first ce- 
lebrated at Byblos, in Phoenicia. 
They were observed with great 
solemnity by most nations; 
Greeks, Lycians, Syrians, Egyp- 
tians, &c; and from Syria they 
are supposed to have passed into 
India." — Encyc. Metrop. 

Lucian ha; left us an account 
of the manner in which it was 
held at Byblus. According to 
this writer it lasted during two 
days, on the first of which every 
thing wore an appearance of sor- 
row, and the death of the favour- 



ite of Venus was indicated by 
public mourning. On the follow- 
ing day, however, the aspect of 
things underwent a complete 
change, and the greatest joy pre- 
vailed on account of the fabled 
resurrection of Adonis from the 
dead. During this festival the 
priests of Byblus shaved their 
heads in imitation of the priests 
of Isis in Egypt. The analogy 
indeed between these Phoenician 
rites and the Egyptian celebra- 
tion of Isis and Osiris will easily 
appear from the statements both 
of Lucian and other ancient 
writers. The former relates, 
that every ye.ir, ;it the period of 
the festival of Adonis, a head 
made of papyrus, and symbolical 
of that of Osiris, was said to float 
of its own accord from Egypt to 
Byblus. Seven days were con. 
sumed in this sacred voyage, ar.d 
on the eighth the head nevr 
failed to arrive at the city of By- 
blus, ajinou'ic'ng by its appe.u> 



rnce the resurrection of Adonis. 
Cyrill, however, and Procopius 
of Gaza inform us. that it was 
not a head, but a pot or jar 
{/cspa/Mos.) Into this the Alexan- 
drians put a letter directe d to the 
females of Byblus, informing 
them that Adonis was found. The 
]ar was then sealed up. and, after 
certain religious ceremonies, 
was committed to the waves. 
When it readied Byb us, which 
it always did on the eighth day, 
and the letter was read, the 
la mentations instantly ceased, 
and the greatest joy ensued. 
From this account of Oyrili's, it 
would seem, that the festival in 
question was celebrated even as 
late as bis own era, the begin- 
ning of the 5th century. — An- 
thonys Lempriere, vol. i. pp. 26, 
27. 

4 Etvmologici Auctor. 

5 Pr'oclus in Chrestomathh. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



339 



called by that name. The following day was spent in all possible expres- 
sions of mirth and joy; in memory that, by the favour of Proserpine, 
V r enus obtained that Adonis should return to life, and dwell with her one 
half of every year. 1 All this vain pomp and serious folly, served only to 
expose the heathenish superstition, and gave birth to the proverb, Ou$h 
li^ov, by which seem to be meant things that bear a show of something 
great or sacred, but are in reality nothing but sorry and ridiculous trifles. 2 

A6r,vaua, two festivals observed at Athens, in honour of Minerva; but 
one of them was called llotvufavcttoi, the other "KaXxgtu. 

Alaxux, sports at iEgina, in honour of iEacus, who had a ttmple in that 
island ; wherein, after the end of the solemnity, the victors used to pre- 
sent a garland of flowers. 3 

Aldv-rticc, to Ajax, in the isle of Salamis. 4 Also in Attica, where, in 
memory of the value of that hero, a bier, upon set days, was adorned with 
a complete suit of armour; and such a pious care the Athenians took of 
his memoiy, that his name was continued to posterity in that of one of 
their tribes, which was from him called AtetvTts. 

Alyt^rojv 'Eoorv, was a festival at iEgina, observed in honour of Nep- 
tune, during sixteen successive days; all of which were employed in 
mirth and jollity, and in offering sacrifices to the gods. And this was 
done without the assistance of servants, only by free denizens of that 
island, who were for that reason called Movoipayot, persons that eat by 
themselves. After all, the solemnity was ended with offering a sacrifice 
to Venus. The occasion and origin of these observances are accounted for 
by Plutarch in his Greek Questions. 

Ajftocxovgia, a Peloponnesian festival, wherein, xovooi, boys were whipped 
at the sepulchre of Pelops, till, cupa, blood was drawn, whence this so- 
lemnity derived its name. 

A^«, E^a, Et^giVva?, or A7j t rtc, a festival 5 and solemn sacrifice, 
celebrated by the Athenians with vocal music, in honour of Erigone, 



1 "Adonis, or Adonai," ob- 
serves R. P. Knight, " was an 
Oriental title of the sun, signify- 
ing: r,ord; and the boar, supposed 
to have killed him, was the em- 
blem of winter; during which 
the productive powers of nature 
heing suspended, Venus was 
said to lament the loss of Adonis 
until he was again restored to 
life : whence boih the Syrian 
und Argive women annually 
mourned his death, and celebra- 
ted his renovation', and the 
mysteries of Venus and Adonis 
at Byblus in Syria were held in 
similar estimation with those of 
Qeres and Bacchus at Eleusis, 
and Isis and Osiris in Egypt. 
Adonis was said to pass six 
months with Proserpine, and six 
with Venus ; whence some 
learned persons have conjectured 
tiiat the allegory was inven'ed 
near ths pole, where the sun 



disappears during so long a time ; 
but it may signify merely the 
decrease and increase of the 
productive powers of nature as 
the sun retires and advances. 
The Vistnoo or the Jaggernaut 
of the Hindoos is equally said to 
lie in a dormant stale during the 
four rainy months of that cli- 
mate : and the Osiris of the 
Egyptians was supposed to be 
dead or absent forty days in each 
year, during which the people 
lamented his loss, as the Syri- 
ans did that of Adonis, and "the 
Scandinavians that of Frey ; 
though at Upsal, the great me- 
tropolis of their worship, the sun 
never continues any one day en- 
tirely beiow their horizon." An 
Enquiry i>do 1!l<>. Symbolical Lan- 
guage of Ancient Art and My- 
thology. {Class. Journal, vol. 
xxv. p. 21.)—Anthon's Lem^rierc y 
vol. i. pp. 27, 28. 

2 F 2 



2 The time of the celebration 
of these feasts was accounted 
extremely unlucky. — Enc Met. 

Plutarch relates, in his life 
of Nicias, that the expedition 
against Syracuse set sail from 
the harbours of Athens at the 
very time when the women of 
that city were celebrating the 
mournful part of the festival of 
Adonis, during which there were 
to be seen in every quarter of the 
city imjges of the dead and fune- 
ral processions, the women ac- 
companying them with dismal 
lamentations. Hence an unfa- 
vourable omen was drawn of the 
result of the expedition, which 
the event but too fatally realized. 
■ — Anthon s Lempriere, i. p. 27. 

3 Pindarus, ejusque Scholias- 
ts Nem. Od. vi. 

4 Hesychius. 

5 Hyginus Astronom. lib. ii. 



340 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



sometimes called Aletis, the daughter of Icarius ; who, out of an excess of 
grief for the misfortunes of her father, hanged herself: whence th© 
solemnity had the name of Aiagx. At her death she requested the gods, 
that if the Athenians did not revenge the murder of Icarius, their virgins 
might end their lives in the same manner that she did. Her petition was 
granted, and a great many of them, without any apparent cause of dis- 
content, became their own executioners ; whereupon to appease Erigone, 
they instituted this festival, by the advice of Apollo. Others report,i that 
it was observed in honour of king Temaleus, or of iEgisthus and Clytem- 
nestra. And some are of opinion, 2 that it was first observed, by command 
of an oracle, in memory of the daughter of iEgisthus and Clytemnestra, 
who, in company of her grandfather Tyridams, took a journey to Athens, 
where she prosecuted Orestes in the court of Areopagus ; and losing her 
cause, hanged herself for grief. 

"AxrtK, a triennial festival, solemnized at Actium in Epirus, with 
wrestling, horse-racing, and a fight or race of ships, in honour of Apollo, 
who had the surname of Actius, from that place. 3 

"AXa/a, or"AA.s/a, to Minerva, surnamed Alea, at Tegea in Arcadia, 
where that goddess was honoured with a temple of great antiquity. 4 

AXzzrgvovav Ayuv, a yearly cock-fight at Athens, in memory of the 
cocks from whose crowing Themistocles received an omen of his success 
against the Persians. 3 

c/ AX/flj, solemn games 6 celebrated at Rhodes upon the twenty-fourth day 
of the month To^xTx, which answers to the Athenian Boyd^opiwv, in 
honour of the Sun, who is called in Greek "H\io; and "AXios, and is said to 
have been born in the island of Rhodes ; the inhabitants of which were 
reputed his posterity, and therefore called Heliades. 7 The combatants in 
these games were not only men, but boys ; and the victors were rewarded 
with a crown of poplar. 

AXjcihiXy at Megara, 8 in memory of Alcathous, the son of Pelops, who, 
lying under a suspicion of having murdered his brother Chrysippus, fled 
to Megara ; where, having overcome a terrible lion that wasted the coun- 
try, and had slain, besides many others, king Megareus' own son, he so 



1 Hesychius. ^gpl oprvyos about a quail : and stimulate their courage. Petit 

2 Jitymol. Magnum. upon this slender foundation the has admitted .'Elian's words into 

3 Stephanus Byzantin. Cle- learned Palmerius h;is founded his Leges Attica. The learned 
mens Protrept. iElian. Hist, his hypothesis that quails at that Author, in the above sentence, 
Anim. xi. 8. time, (550 years before the assigns another reason for this 

4 Pausaii. Arcadic. ; Christian era,) were kept for celebration; namely, that the 

5 We know from ITerodotus fighting, and consequently that crowing of cocks was an omen of 
that Adrastus, the son of Midfis, cocks might be so also. the victory of Salamis ; but he is 
king of Phrygia, fled from his Be this as it may, the institu- not borne out in this statement 
father's court to that of Crcesus, tion of an annual cock-fight, by the present cited passage ia 
in consequence of a quarrel, in AAtwrp^diw l y a> v , at Athens is JElian, to which alone he refers, 
which lie had the misfortune to certainly ascribed by iElian to He probably relied upon A ex- 
kill his brother. Another ver- Themistocles ; who took occasion ander lib Alexandro, who states 
sion of this story is given by from an accidental combat of the occurrence of this ome.i with- 
Ptolerny Hephajstion, a hisloiian these birds, fighting, as he said, out giving his authority. — Ency. 
who flourished in the time of only fo- victory, to point out to Metrop. partxiii. p. 763.— iElian. 
Trajan, and extracts of whose his countrymen, then at the eve ii. 28. 

work Trspl iragaloiov "aT 0pt a S , are of their great contest with the 6 Pin. Schol. Olymp. Od. viii. 

to be found in Photius. H e states Persians, the far nobler and more 7 Strabn, lib. xiv. 

that the two brothers quarrelled powerful motives which ought to 8 Pin. Schol. Olymp. Nem. v. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 341 

far ingratiated himself, that he had in marriage the king's daughter, and 
was declared his successor. 

"Ahwcc, at Athens, in the month Posideon, in honour of Ceres and 
Bacchus, by whose blessing the husbandmen received the recompense of 
their toil and labour; and therefore their oblations consisted of nothing but 
the fruits of the earth. 1 Others say, this festival was instituted as a com- 
memoration of the primitive Greeks, who lived lv rcc.7? clXeotri, in vine- 
yards and cornfields. 2 Hence Ceres was called 'Ax»a?, 'AXcoi;, and 

'AX&I7IU, to Minerva, by the Arcadians, in commemoration of a victory, 
in which they took a great many of the Lacedaemonians prisoners, 
(a\curov$. 4 ) 

A/uotpuvfaa, or Aftaouo-ia, a festival celebrated with games in honour of 
Diana, surnamed Amarynthia, and Amarysia, from a town in Euboea. 
It was observed by the Euboeans, Eretrians, Carystians, and Athmonians, 
who were inhabitants of a borough in Attica. 

Aufigoo-ix, to Bacchus, 5 the god of wine ; in the month of LenEeon, in 
most of the cities of Greece. 

A/xftatM, a festival of which nothing more is recorded, than that it be- 
longed to Jupiter. 6 

App&jv, an Athenian festival. 7 

Ap<pta.gcuct, a festival celebrated at Oropus, in honour of Amphia- 
raus. 8 

AfAtpdgoftioi, a festival observed by private families in Athens, upon 
the fifth day after the birth of every child. It was so called, aoro rov 
aptytb^puv, from running round $ because it was customary to run 
round the fire with the infant in their arms. 

Avayduyia,, solemn sacrifices 9 to Venus at Erix in Sicily, where she 
was honoured with a magnificent temple. The name of this solemnity 
was derived a,<ro rov ava.yi<r@ai, from returning ; because the goddess was 
said to leave Sicily and return to Africa at that time. 

AvclxiIgc, an Athenian festival in honour of the Dioscuri who were 
called 'Avolxis, 10 and honoured with a temple, called ' ' Av&ixuav. 11 The sacri- 



1 Demosth. in Neaeram. 

2 Harpocr. Eustath. Iliad, a'. 

3 All these names (Aloa, Alo- 
as, and Alois,) are derived from 
the Greek aAo>y, " a threshing- 
floor." According to Philocho- 
rus (p. 86. Fragm.) the Aloa was 
a united festival in honour of 
Bacchus, Ceres, and Proserpina. 
(Compare Corsini, Fait. Att. ii. 
p. 302. — Bergler ad Alciphron. i. 
33. and ii. 3 )— AnthorVs Lem- 
priere, vol. i. p. 136. 

4 Paus>m. Areadicis. 

5 Hesiocli Scholiast. Oper. et 
Dier. lib. ii. 

6 Hesychius. 

7 Idem. 

8 Pindari Schol. Olym. vii. 
(J .'Elian. Var. Hist. i. 15. 



10 The Athenians applied the 
term Anaces ("Avaxes) in a ge- 
neral sense to all those deities 
who were believed to watch over 
the interests, as well public os 
private, of the city of Athens : 
in a special sense, however, the 
appellation was given to the Di- 
oscuri, on account of the peculiar 
advantages which the capital of 
Attica had derived from them. 
(Compare Tzetz. ad II. p. 69.) 
^panheim {ad Callim. Hymn, in 
Jov. 79 ) and Schelling {Sumothr. 
Gottheit. p. 95.) derive the form 
"AvaKEf from the Hebrew Ena- 
kim. {Dmteron. i. 28.) The 
G reek grammarians, on the other 
hand, have sought for an etymo- 
logy in their own language, and 

2 f 3 



make the term in question come 
from 'av<o "above," as expressive 
of the idea of superiority and do- 
minion. They attach to this 
name the tiiple sense of 0eo'y, /3a- 
atXrvt;, and cl«o6e(nr6TT}s. Hence 
also the adverb iva K a s (Hendot. 
i. 24. : Thucyd. viii. 102 ), which 
the scholiasts explain by irpovo?)- 
rtxwf ko.1 <pv>aKTiKw%. {Compare 
Eustath. ad Od. i. 397. ; Creu- 
zer's Symbolik, par Guigniaut, 
vol. ii. p. 305, in nofis.) — An- 
thon's Lempriere. vol. i. p. 152. 

11 The Anacium stood at the 
font of the Acropolis ; it was a 
building of great antiquity, and 
contained paintings of Po'ygno- 
tus and Micon. — Ed. 



342 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



fices offered at that time were named Zivtarpoi, because those deities were 
or strangers ; J and consisted of three offeringSj 2 which were called 
roirrvui. Plays were also performed in honour of these deities. 3 

AvenxXyirygta, solemnities observed at the «y««X7j<r;/, or proclama- 
tion of kings and princes when they became of age to take the government 
into their own hands. 4 

Av&xrwv Hafiav, a festival at Amphyssa, 5 the capital city of Locris, 
in honour either of the Dioscuri, or Curetes, or Cabiri ; for authors are 
not agreed in this matter. 

Avotfyyo^i'ici. Anaxagoras dying at Lampsacus, the magistrates of 
that city asked, whether he desired any thing to be done in commemora- 
tion of him? ' Yes/ he replied, ' on the anniversary of my death let the 
boys be allowed to play.' This custom was observed in the time of Dio- 
genes Laertius. 6 

Av^goyiuvia, or 'Ayuvz; vvf Evgwyvy, annual games celebrated in the 
Ceramicus at Athens, 7 by the command of Minos, king of Crete, in 
memory of his son Androgeos, otherwise called Eurygyas, who was bar- 
barously murdered by some of the Athenians8 and Megarensians. 9 

Avhtrrwoiot, an Athenian festival observed in honour of Bacchus, 
upon the eleventh, twelfth, arid thirteenth days of the month of February, 
called Anthesterion, whence the name is derived. 

The first day was named Uihiyia, atro tou >zr<§ovs o'/yuv, because they 
then tapped their barrels. The same day was, by the Chaeroneans, called 
'Aycrfov Aa.tfjt.ovos, the day of good genius, because it was customary to 
make merry upon it. 

The second day was called Xos$, from the measure %ox, because every 
man drank out of his own vessel, in memory of an accident that happened 
in the reign of Pandion, or, as others say, of Demophoon, under whom 
Orestes, having slain his mother, fled to Athens before he had undergone 
the customary purification for murder. The Athenians were at that time 
busy in celebrating the festival of Bacchus, surnamed Lenseus, because he 
had the care of wine-presses, which are in Greek called Arivocix. How- 
ever, he was kindly received by Demophoon, who, to prevent the conta • 
mination which might adhere to the company by drinking with a polluted 
person, and that Orestes might not take it unkindly to be forced to drink 
alone, ordered that every man should have a distinct vessel of wine, and 
drink out of his own cup. On the foregoing day, they only opened their 

1 Pindari Schol. Olymp. iii. has an agricultural reference. Eurygyes {~Eipvyvm\ " the far - 

2 Pausanias. Androgeu^ is the man of the plougher," or " the possessor of 

3 Athenae. Deipnos. ii. earth, the cultivator ('Avip6yea>s). wide-extended acres " (elpiij and 

4 Folybii Hist. xvii. et Leg. The Marathonian bull, by whose 71.77), and it is worth noticing, 
Eclog. 68. fire, according to one account that, after having been slain, and 

5 Pausan. Phocicis. {Serv. ad Virg. Mn. vi. 20), he previous to his new appellation, he 

6 Laert. fine Auaxag. Conf. was injured in the conflict, re- was reawakened to life by Ascu- 
Plutarch. de Precept, llaipub. calls to mind the fire-breathing lapius, or the sun. (Compare 
Gerend. p. 280, edit.' Paris. bulls of Colchis, the land of Hesych. vol. i. p. 1332. ed. Al- 

7 Hesychius. iEetes, the first man of the bcrti. and Creuzer's Symbolik, 

8 Piut. Theseo. earth. A newfieid of exertion vol. iv. p. 107.)— Anthon's Lem- 

9 The whole story of Andro- now opens on the son of. Minos, priere, vol. i. p. 15i). 
geus is an allegorical one, and and a new name is given him; 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



343 



vessels, and tasted the wine ; but now it was customary to drink plenti- 
fully; and the longest liver, in token of victory, was rewarded with a 
crown of leaves, or, as some report, 1 a crown of gold and a vessel of wine. 
It was usual also to ride in chariots, out of which they jested upon all that 
passed by. The professors of sophistry feasted at home with their friends 
upon this day, and had presents sent them from all hands ; to which cus- 
tom Eubulides alludes in these verses: 

2o0n?T4cTs *a/a<rrf, xal x»Zv Sty All ! subtle knave, you now the sophist play, 

Twv ^t<j0o3o»(>«ov, koIk Mti-Kvaiv Iv 7pv(py. And wish that bounteous Xcal may approach, 

Whose presents fill your belly and your purse. 

From this day it was that Bacchus had the surname of Xooararyis. 

The third day was called Xvtpoj, from ^y'r^, a pot, which was brought 
forth full of all sorts of seeds, which they accounted sacred to Mercurius 
Xdoms, the Infernal, and therefore abstained from them. Upon this day 
the comedians used to act; and at Sparta, Lycurgus ordered that such of 
them as obtained the victory should be enrolled amongst the free deni- 
zens. 

During these days the slaves were allowed to make merry, 2 drink, and 

1 iElianus Var. Hist. ii. 41. or even looking them,— either in horses, are often masked also, 

2 The following elegant de- the Corso in the morning - , or the and the coachman generally ap- 
scription cf the carnival at Rome Festino (the masked ball) in the pears in the shape of an old wo- 
may serve to illustrate the An- evening. Their oniy aim is to man. 

thesteria of the Greeks, to dress themselves, and " to fool it The Carnival, properly speak - 
which it was much assimi- to the top of their bent," and they ing, begins after Christmas-day, 
luted:— do both to admiration. They as- and ends with the commence- 
The Romans, in throwing off sume rich, picturesque, grotesque, inent of Lent, and during that 
the .shackles of moral restraint, or buffoon costumes, according as period the op^ra and theatres are 
do not seem to have gained much it is their object to excite admi- licensed; but it is only during 
gayety or pleasure by their re- ration, laughter, or love. They the last eight days, allowing for 
lease. Nothing is more striking may assume any disg uise but the intervening Fridays and Sun- 
to a stranger than the sombre air what is connected with religion day, that masking is allowed in 
which marks every countenance, or government. They are nei- the streets. The Corso is the 
from the 1 >west to the highest in ther permitted to be cardinals, scene of this curious revelry: 
Rome. The faces even of the priests, nuns, pilgrims, hermits, the windows and balconies are 
young are rarely lighted up with friars, magistrates, or ministers, hung with rich draperies, and 
smiles; a laugh is seldom heard, In general, the motley multitude filled with gaily-dressed specta- 
and a merry countenance strikes is made up of indescribable mon- tors. The little raised trottoirs 
us with amazement, from its no- sters. But Punch and Harlequin by the side, are set out with 
velty. Rome looks like a city abound. Pantaloon is a prime chairs, which are let, and occu- 
whose inhabitants have passed favourite. The Doctor of Bo- pied by rows of masks. The 
through the cave of Trophonius. logna is a great man; and PagUa- street is, beside, crowded with 
Yet, will it be believed that this taccio, a sort of clown or fool, pedestrians, masked and un- 
serious, this unsmiling people, dressed all in white, even to the masked; and two rows of car- 
| rush into the sports of the Car- mask, is the most popular of all. riages, close behind each other, 
nival with a passionate eager- Turks, Jews, bakers, cooks, and m, ke a continual promenade, 
ness far surpassing all the rest Camcrieri, are common. The Notwithstanding the crowd, the 
of the Italians ? They are madly female costumes of the Italian narrowness of the street, and the 
fond of the Catholic Saturnalia ; peasantry, especially of the vici- multitude of foot passengers in- 
and, by a strange annual meta- nity, imitated in gay spangled termixed with the carriages, no 
morphosis, from the most grave materials, are the favourite accident ever happens; and 
and solemn, suddenly become the dresses of the young women, though a few of the horse-guards 
most wild and extravagant people Some, however, go as Jewesses, are stationed at intervals to pre- 
in the creation. It seems as if because then they may accost serve order, and prevent the 
some sudden delirium had seized whom they please, without any carriages from leaving their 
them. All ranks, classes, ages, breach of decoium. Many, of Hue, I never saw any occasion 
and sexes, under the same in- both sexes, a^e dressed entirely for their interference, 
toxication of spirits, parade the in white, even to the masks, Both the masked and unmasked 
streets. The poor starve, work, with shepherds' hats ; many in carry on the war by pelting each 
pawn, bog, borrow, steal,— do black dominos, their heads co- other with large handfuls of 
any thing to procure a mask and verfd with a black silk hoed, what ought to be comfits ; but 
a dress; and when the bell of which is a complete disguise; these being too costly to be used 
the Capitol, after mid-day, gives and many, perhaps the majority, in such profusion, they are actu- 
license to the reign of folly to wear no mask < t all, but appear ally nothing more than pozzolana 
commence, the most ridiculous in gay dresses. The proportion covered with plaster of Paris, 
figures issue forth, wild for their of masks here, however, is far and manufactured for the pur- 
favourite diversion. Characters greater than at Naples. When pose, under the name of confiili 
they can scarcely be called, since a carriage contains masks, the de' gesso (plaster comfits.) This 
thexe is no attempt at supporting, servants, and sometimes the coating flies off into liine dust, 



344 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



revel; and therefore, at the end of the festival, it was usual to make pro- 
clamation in this manner: ©y^a^s, Kuoz$, qvk eV 'Av^acr^/a, begone, ye 
Carian slaves, the Anthesteria are ended. 1 



and completely whitens the 
figures ot the combatants ; but 
its pungency sometimes does se- 
rious mischief to the eyes. 

It often happens, in the many 
stops of the carriages, that two 
in the opposite lines begin the 
assault, and quantities of ammu- 
nition being poured in, a furious 
pitched battle is carried on, un- 
til the cavalcade being put in 
motion again, separates the com- 
batants. 

The Italians seem to commu- 
nicate with each other less by- 
words than signs. Jt is wonder- 
ful with what rapidity airl faci- 
lity they can carry on this inter- 
course, at any visible distance; 
and they thus converse through 
the medium of the eye, not the 
ear. Whether this custom ori- 
ginated in that ancient jealousy 
which secluded Italian women 
so rigorously from society, or in 
that inquisitorial government 
which still renders freedom of 
speech dangerous, I shall not in- 
quire; but it is certain that it is 
a language as well understood by 
all Italians as their mother 
tongue. The signs they use are 
chiefly made by touching certain 
features, or parts of the face.wi'h 
ihe finders, or the whole hand, 
in a particular manner; and they 
thus express love, flattery, sup- 
plication, admiration, jealousy, 
disdain, aversion, assent, dissent, 
&c. These signs are used by 
all classes, and at all times, 
even at church. At the church 
of SS. Apostoli, for example — . 
which, on Sundays, at the last 
mass, is the fashionable resort of 
all the fine women, and in- 
triguing belles of Rome — a great 
deal of this mute conversation 
may be seen going forward. 
The demeanour of the ladies, in- 
deed, is there generally distin- 
guished by no small appearance 
of coquetry and flirtation, while 
that of the gentlemen is marked 
by strong signs of devotion and 
adoration, wiiich are expressed 
in the language of the eyes, and 
in this still more explicit lan- 
guage of signs, which is to con- 
versation exactly what short hand 
is to writing. This species of 
telegraphic communication be- 
tween the sexes is so rapid, so 
unmeaning in appearance, and 
yet so expressive, that it is 
scarcely possible for the most 
watchful jealousy to prevent, or 
even to detect it, if any care be 
taken to c inceal it. It struck me 
that more of it goes jn duringthe 
carnival than at any other pe- 
riod. 

Every day of the masquerade 
the Gorso becomes more crowded, 
and more animated, till, on the 
last, the number and spirit of the 



masks, the skirmishes of sweet- 
meats and lime-dust, and the 
shouts and ecstasies of all, sur- 
pass description. 

The whole ends by extinguish- 
ing the carnival. Just before 
dark, all the masks appear with a 
lighted taper, labouring to blow 
nut their neighbour's candle and 
keep in their own. I can easily 
believe that you cannot conceive 
the fun of this, unless you were 
in the midst of it ; but, ridiculous 
as it may appear, I assure you 
we laughed ourselves merry at 
this absuid scene, and that great 

philosopher, Mr , nearly 

went into convulsions. I am 
told the masking during the car- 
nival used to be far more splen- 
did in former times than it is now 
— that eastern monarchs, fol- 
lowed by their Ethiopian slaves; 
cars of victory, with laurel- 
crowned heroes; Roman proces- 
sions; and the triumph of Bac- 
chus, surrounded by Silenus, and 
all his crew of drunken Fauns 
and possessed Bacchantes, used 
to parade the Corso. But no- 
thing so classically magnificent 
is now to be seen. On the last 
day, indeed, this year, one large 
car attracted every body's atten- 
tion. It was covered with tapes- 
try, and adorned with immense 
branches of laurel, amongst 
which were seated eight or ten 
black dominos or demons, who, 
sheltered by their own ever- 
greens from the pelting of the 
pitiless storm, dealt their fury 
mercilessly round in showers of 
rattling hail. We afterwards 
found this car contained Prince 
Leopold of Nap.es, with some 
companions. 

Every day of the masquerade, 
there is a race run by small spi- 
rited horses, without riders. 
Iheir impetuosity in the race, 
however, is not so much owing 
to their natural spirit, as to the 
agony of the goads, or balls 
covered with sharp spikes of 
metal, suspended from their 
backs, which at every motion, 
fall heavily upon the same spot, 
making large raw gory circles 
over their bodies, horrible to be- 
hold. Sometimes six or eight of 
these goads are beating their 
heeding sides at once, effld as if 
this were not torment enough, 
fire is likewise applied to them, 
so that the poor animals, furious 
under these tortures, often can- 
not be restrained by the force of 
eight or ten men, from leaping 
the cords which confine them at 
the entrance of the Corso. At 
the discharge of a cannon, this 
barrier is withdrawn, and the 
whole competitors fly oft" at full 
speed. The course, which is 
along the Corso, and consequent- 



ly paved, is about a mile in 
length, and the horses are 
stopped by a piece of cloth which 
is suspended across the street, 
n^ar the Venetian Palace, at the 
Riprpsa de 1 Barberi, so called 
from Barbary horses being the 
original racers. 

A little spirited English horse, 
never meant, however, for a 
racer, won almost all the prizes, 
or pall], this year. They consist 
of a rich piece of velvet, fur- 
nished at the cost of the Jews, 
who were formerly compelled to 
run foot-races themselves, which 
afforded much Christian diver- 
sion to the populace. It often 
happens that some of the horses 
run aside down other streets; 
and once I remember the people 
waited for the race in vain, the 
whole of the steeds having gone 
oft' together toward St Peter's. 
1 was not one of the disappoint- 
ed; having previously witnessed 
the races twice I was ever after- 
wards glad to g-t out of the way. 
To see these poor animals thus 
wantonly tortured and infuriated 
by pain, is any thing but a pleasing 
or humane spectacle, and one I 
most certainly never wish to see 
again. 

Priests are forbidden to join 
in these revels; but who may be 
present under the mask, I sup- 
pose would puzzle even the 
Pope's infallibility to find out. 
Occasionally, however, some 
curious discoveries have been 
made by chance. 

There are only three festini, 
or public masked balls, allowed 
durins the carnival. They are 
held in the Teatro Alberto, a 
large handsome sala, now only 
used for this purpose. The stage 
and pit are open to the masks, 
and dancing of quadrilles, &c. 
goes on with much decorum, 
though I need hardly observe, 
that none above roturier rank 
ever participate in this part of 
the amusement. The price of 
admittance is about one shilling 
and sixpence English, and you 
may guess that the company is 
not very select, when I tell you 
that our Italian servants were 
there. Yet nothing ever appears 
which could offend the most 
fastidious delicacy. The higher 
orders have boxes, and are gener- 
ally unmasked; but in the course 
of the night, they often walk 
about among the people, and mix 
with the motley crew, without 
ever meeting any impertinence, 
or unpleasant adventure. 

There is no attemp' whatever 
at supporting characters, and 
none indeed are assumed. They 
have no idea of those character 
masks, which we consider the 
very essence of a masquerade. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



345 



Avfaa-tpoptiz, a Sicilian festival, 2 so named axo rov (p'tguv u.\@m, from 
tarrying flowers, because it was instituted in honour of Proserpine, whom 
Pluto is said to have stolen as she was gathering flowers. 3 

Another solemnity of this name seems to have been observed at Argbft, 
in honour of Juno, to whom a temple was dedicated in that place under 
the name of 

Avriyovita,, sacrifices in honour of Antigonus. 5 

Avnvoucc, annual sacrifices, and quinquennial games, in memory of 
Antinous the Bithynian ; they were instituted at the command of Adrian, 
the Roman emperor, at Mantinea in Arcadia, 6 where Antinous was hon- 
oured with a temple and diyine worship. (They were celebrated also at 
Argos.) 

A<xa,rov£ix, a festival first instituted at Athens, 7 and from thence 
derived to the rest of the Ionians, except those of Ephesus and Colophon. 
It received its name from acrac*?, deceit, because it was instituted in 
memory of a stratagem by which Melanthius, the Athenian king, over- 
came Xanthus, king of Boeotia. For a controversy happening between 
the Athenians and Boeotians, about a piece of ground situated on the con- 
fines of Attica and Boeotia, Xanthus made a proposal, that himself and 
the Athenian king should end the quarrel by a single combat. Thymoetes 
reigned at that time in Athens, but declining the fight, was deposed. His 



The masks are dressed whimsi- 
cally, grotesquely, laughably, 
and sometimes tastefully; but 
they are mere dresses, and they 
speak in a false squeaking tone, 
to perplex each other — inter- 
change compliments, or banters, 
and chatter abundance of non- 
sense, but not in character. No 
doubt, a great deal of intrigue 
may go on, but nothing of it is 
seen, nor is there much time for 
it, for the Festino begins at 
eight, and at twelve every body 
is turned out, and the lights ex- 
tinguished. 

I must end my account of the 
Carnival with what I ought to 
have commenced it, by telling 
you that its amusements are uni- 
formly ushered in by a public 
execution. If any criminals are 
destined to condign punishment, 
they are reserved for this occa- 
sion ; ami I suppose it never 
happened that some head was 
not laid on the block at this fes- 
tive period. Three were guil- 
lotined this year. It is done with 
a view to restrain the people, by 
the immediate terrors of the ex- 
ample, from the commission of 
crimes, to which the license of 
the season may be supposed to 
lead. A number of penitents 
attended these unhappy criminals 
to the scaffold, as well as the 
pious brotherhood, who mak? 
this their peculiar duty; and 
both before and after the execu- 
tion, they begged alms to say 
masses for their souls, to which 
hundreds, even of the very poor 



est of the people, contributed 
their mite. These processions 
of penitents, even during the 
Carnival, make at times a pious, 
instead of a profane masquerade. 
Dressed in long rob«s of sack- 
clwth, girt with ropes, their 
heads and faces covered with 
hoods, and their eyes alone ap- 
pearing through holes cut tor 
them, they parade the streets, 
and prostrate themselves before 
the altar in prayer that the sins 
committed during this lawless 
season may be forgiven. I am 
told, but cannot vouch for the 
fact, that some of the gayest and 
most licentious masks on the 
Corso make this preparaton for 
the sins they intend to commit, 
and perform subsequent penance 
again during Lent, in expiation 
of the score they have run up. 

The Carnival, in its license, 
its mirth, and its levelling of 
rank — nay, even in its season — 
bears an obvious reiemblance to 
the Roman Saturnalia. But it 
perhaps approaches still more 
closely to the annual feast of 
Cybele, when, according to 
Livy (lib. xxix. cap. 14.), the 
richest draperies were hung 
from the windows, masquerading 
took place in the streets, and 
every one, disguising himself as 
he pleased, walked about the 
city in jest and buffoonery. This 
is precisely a modem Carnival. — 
Rome, mk Cent. vol. iii. pp. 249- 
251. 

1 Rhunken makes the Atheni- 
ans to have celebrated three fes- 



tivals in honour of Bacchus: I. 
Those of the coun ry, in the 
month Posideon-, 2. Those of the 
city, or the greater festivals, in 
the month Elaphebolion and 3. 
The Anthe-steria, or Lenaaa, in 
the month Anthesterion. These 
last were celebrated within a 
large enclosure called Lenaeum, 
and in a quarter of the city 
termed Limnse, or " the pools." 
Meursius had before distinguish- 
ed the Lenaea from the Anthes- 
teria. Bockh also regards the 
Lena?a as a distinct f'e-stival from 
the Anthesteria. {Vom Unter- 
scheide oer Attischen Lena; en, &c 
—Jahig. 1816, 1817, p ; 47, seqq.) 
Both toe latter opinions, how- 
ever, are incorrect. (Compare 
Creuzer Symbolik, vol iii. p. 
319, seqq.) — Anthonys Lempricre, 
vol. i. pp. 165, 166. 

2 Pollux Onora. i. 1. 

3 The Syracusans showed, 
near their city, the spot where 
Proserpine was carried off ; and 
from which a lake had imme- 
diately proceeded. Around Urn 
the festival was celebrated. The 
lake in question is formed by the 
sources of the Cyane, whose 
waters join the A napus. (Com- 
pare Munter, Nachricht von 
Neap, und Sicil. p. 374. — An- 
thon's Lempriere, vol. i. p. 165. 

4 Pausan. Corinth. 

5 Plut. Agid. etCleom. 

6 Pausan. A read. 

7 Aristoph. Schol. Acharn. 
Hesych. Harpocrat. Suid. Ety- 
molog. AucU lidem Auct. ubtq. 
sunt in hoc toto capite uitati. 



3 16 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



successor was Melanthius, a Messenian, son of Neleus and Perielyinene, 
who, having accepted the challenge, met his enemy at the appointed place ; 
where, as they were just going to begin the fight, Melanthius thinking, or 
pretending, that he saw at Xanthus' back a person habited in a black goat- 
skin, cried out that the articles were violated; upon this Xanthus looking 
back, was treacherously slain by Melanthius. In memory of this success, 
Jupiter was surnamed 'A^aT^y^^, Deceiver ; and Bacchus, who was sup- 
posed to be behind Xanthus, MsAava/y/?, clothed in a black goat-skin j and 
was farther honoured with a new temple, and the institution of this festi- 
val. Others are of opinion, that ' AttoltoCoio, are so called q. aTraro^tz.. i. e. 
c port arc^ia., because, upon this festival, children accompanied their fathers, 
to have their names entered into the public register: after the same man- 
ner, cckc%o; is equivalent to o/u.okzx,roc$, and axoiris to o/Acxotros. Others 
will have ' Airarovoia. to be so named, because the children were till that 
time ccTtrxro^ic, without fathers, in a civil sense; for that it was not till 
then publicly recorded whose they were. For a like reason, Melchisedec 
is by some thought to be called ccffdrwo, uu-rirujo, 1 without father, without 
mother ; namely, because his parentage was omitted in the sacred gene- 
alogies. To return: this festival was celebrated in the month Pyanepsion, 
and lasted three days. 

The fust was called A^cr/a, from Vop^q:, a supper ; because on that day 
at evening, each tribe had a separate meeting, whereat a sumptuous en- 
tertainment was provided. 

The second day was named ' Avdopviri;, airo roZ &vu \oyuv, because on 
this day victims were offered to Jupiter ^r^;, and 5 ' A^cx.Tivup, and to 
Minerva, in whose sacrifices, as in all that were offered to the celestial gods, 
it was usual civo hvuv to.-, kiQclXu.:, to turn the heads of the victims up to- 
wards heaven. At this sacrifice, the children enrolled amongst citizens 
were placed close to the altar. It was usual also, for persons richly appa- 
relled, to take lighted torches out of the fire, and to run about, singing 
hymns in praise of Vulcan, who was the first that taught men the use of 
that element: which custom is by Meursius referred to this day, though 
Harpocration, to whom we are indebted for the mention of it, has left us 
in the dark as to its time. 

The third day was named KovoiZn;, from xov&c; , a youth ; or r.ovoa, 
shaving ; because the young men, who till that time remained unshaved, 
had their hair cut off before they were presented to be registered. Their fa- 
thers at this time were obliged to swear that both themselves and the mothers 
of the young men were freeborn Athenians. It was also usual to offer 
two ewes and a she-goat in sacrifice to Diana, which they called 0yg/p 
QgargUv ; the she-goat was termed ojg (podraos, and the ewe »#V (pod-mo. 9 
It was to be of a certain weight ; and because it once happened that the 
standers-by cried out in jest, Mt7ov, /x-7ov, too little, too little, it was ever 
after called Nuot, and the persons that offered it, M&iayotyu. 



1 Epistoia ad Hekneos, vii. 3. 



2 Pollux. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



347 



To these Hesychius adds a fourth day, which he tells us was called 
'Ert&n; ; but that name is not peculiar to this festival, but generally 
applied to any day celebrated after the end of another solemnity ; being 
derived avo rod Wfiuimv, from following ; because it was a sort of append- 
age to the great festival. 

This festival was observed five days by the Proteiithae, who began it a 
day sooner than others. There was also a decree made, when Cephesi- 
dorus was chief archon, whereby the senate was forbidden to meet for five 
days, 1 during the time of the solemnity. 2 

Avuvkia,, the second day in marriages, of which I shall have an oppor- 
tunity to speak in another place. 

A<roX\avicc, to Apollo at iEgialea, upon this account: Apollo, having 
obtained a victory over Python, went to iEgialea, accompanied with his 
sister Diana; but being frighted from thence, fled into Crete. After this 
the iEgialeans were infected with an epidemical distemper; and being 
advised by the prophets to appease the two offended deities, sent seven 
boys and as many virgins, to entreat them to return. Apollo and Diana 
accepted their piety, and came with them to the citadel of iEgialea: in 
memory of winch, a temple was dedicated to Pytho, the goddess of per- 
suasion ; and it became a custom to appoint chosen boys and virgins to 
make a solemn procession, in show as if they designed to bring back Apollo 
and Diana. 3 

AvravrdfAx-ui, certain days in which sacrifices were offered to the gods, 
called Hoptfuioi.* Who these were is doubtful. Certain it is, that -r^- 
trettos denotes any person that conducts another in his way ; and therefore 
was applied to Mercury, who was believed to be Pluto's gentleman-usher, 
and to conduct the souls of deceased persons to the shades below. a But I 
am rather inclined to think, these days belonged to the gods called 'A*ra- 
Trofji.'Tfitiai, i. e. iLtfoTDovroi, for a.^'o-Tro^h is by Phavorinus expounded a,<zro~ 
roo<7rr,, otherwise named Avnoi, aXs^ixaxni, a.vroTgo>7ra.7oi, Qvfyoi, and 
avertunci, because they were thought to avert evils; such were Jupiter, 
Hercules, and others ; and therefore, for vrouTci'iois, in Hesychius, I would 
read aToirofMretlais , unless they may be used as synonymous terms. 

AoccTitcz, a festival at Sicyon, 6 upon the birth-day of Aratus, whom they 
honoured with a priest, who, for distinction's sake, wore a riband be- 
spangled with white and purple spots. It was celebrated with music, and 



1 Athenaeus. lib. iv. 

2 The Ap; turia were, in fact, 
an old Dionysiac festival, and 
established in Greece prior to 
the Ionic migration into Asia. 
Its introduction into the former 
country is set down by some 1 190 
B. C. The account given of its 
Origin, from the stratagem prac- 
tised by Milanthas, can hardiy 
be the true one, though resting 
for support on many ancient au- 
thorities. (Compire the pas- 
sages referred to by Fischer, 



Ind. nd Theophrast. Chc.ract. s. 
iirj.wpia.. — Larcher nd Herodot. 
Fit Horn- c. 29. ; Schol. Plat, ad 
Tim. p. 201. ed. Rhunken ; 
Schol. Arislid. p. 118 seqq. 3 ebb; 
Ephori Frag, p. 120, ed. Marx.) 
Creuzer sees, in the legend of 
the Apaturi , the tradition of a 
religious war between the fol- 
lowers ^of Bacchus and a rival 
sect, and in the name Melanthus 
(' l the bl?ck one"), a reference 
to Egypt the dark land ' ) and 
to Bacchus, trie son <•{ Amnion, 



arrayed in the skin of a black 
goat. (Symbolik. vol. iii. p. 508, 
seqq.) Bitter (Vorhalle, p. 63.) 
rejects the Greek etymology of 
the name Apaturia (from oiranj), 
and traces an analogy between it 
and the Awatar, or Awatur of 
the Hindoos — Anthon's Lent* 
priere, vol. i. p. 180. 

3 Pausanias Corinthiacis. 

4 Hesychius. 

5 Sophocl. Ajac. v?r. S31. 

6 Pint. Arato". 



348 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the choristers of Bacchus assisted in the solemnity with harps. There v as 
also a solemn procession, in which the public schoolmaster, accompanied 
with his scholars, went first, and the senators, adorned with garlands, with 
as many of the other citizens as had a mind, followed. 

Aoysiuv 'Eogr&i, festivals at Argos, the names of which are lost. One 
we find mentioned in Parthenius, 1 upon which, he tells us, there was a 
public entertainment. 

Another is taken notice of in Plutarch, 2 upon which the boys called one 
another in jest fioiXXa%oudct:, L e. fiaXkovra.; a^ala?, by which words are 
signified persons that throw wild Jigs. Which custom, perhaps, was insti- 
tuted in memory of their ancient diet in Inachus' time, when they lived 
upon wild figs. 

A third we read of in iEneas, 3 in which great numbers of the citizens 
made a solemn procession out of the city in armour. 

Aotadvuoc, two festivals at Naxos, 4 in honour of two women, who had one 
common name of Ariadne. The former of them was thought to be of a 
gay and pleasant temper, and therefore her festival was to be observed with 
music, and many other expressions of joy and mirth. 

The latter, being the same that was exposed big with child upon that 
coast by Theseus, was supposed to be of a melancholy disposition, and 
therefore the solemnity dedicated to her had a show of sorrow and mourn- 
ing; and in memory of her being left by Theseus near the time of child- 
birth, it was usual for a young man to lie down and counterfeit all the 
agonies of women in labour. This festival is said to have been first insti- 
tuted by Theseus, as a recompense of his ingratitude to her. 5 

Ape'/Kpo£tcc, at Athens, 6 in the month Scirrophorion, in honour of 
Minerva, and Ersa, one of Cecrops' daughters, upon which account it is 
sometimes called 'Esry^ooia, or 'Epfaipogici. But the former name is de- 
rived ocro toZ afpijra, <piguv, i. e. because of certain mysterious things, 
which were carried by four select noble virgins, not under seven, nor 
above eleven years of age, and hence called ' 'Apfafpogot. Their apparel was 



1 Erotic, xiii. 

2 Graec. Ouaest. 

3 Poliorcet. cap. xvii. 

4 Piut. Theseo. 

5 Ariadne, the fabled wife oF 
Eacchus, is a personage con- 
cerning \vh"m there has been 
more confusion of history and 
allegory ihan concerning almost 
any other. Neither she, nor 
Bacchus, nor Theseus, appear to 
have been known to ihe author 
of the Iliad; the lines concern- 
ing th°m all three being mani- 
festly spurious: but in the Odys- 
sey, she is said to have been (he 
daughter of Minos and to have 
been carried away from Cret* by 
Theseus to Athens, where she 
was killed by Diana, that is.' 
died suddenly. Such appears to 
have been the plain sense of the 
passage, according to its true 



and original reading: but The- 
seus having become a deified and 
symbolical 'personage, Ariadne 
became so likewise ; and was 
therefore fabled to have been 
deserted byh/m in the island of 
Naxos. where Bacchus found 
and married her: in consequence 
of which she became the female 
personification of the attribute 
which he represented ; and, as 
such, constantly appears in the 
symbolical monuments of art, 
with all the accessary and cha- 
racteristic emblems. ( Knight's 
Inquiry into the Symbolical 
Language of Ancient Ait and 
Mythology, sect. 9D ; Class. 
Journ. vol. 24, p. 222 ) Creuzer, 
on the other hand, sees In Ari- 
adne, as represented in ancient 
sculpture, i.ow sunk in mournful 
6lumber, and again awakened, 



joyous, and raised to the skies, an 
emblem of immortality. But 
A.iadne, according to the same 
beautiful conception of her cha- 
racter, is not merely the symbol 
of consolation in death ; the 
clue in her hand, with which she 
guided Theseus through the 
mazes of the labyrinth, ranks her 
also among the class of the Par- 
nee. She is Proserpine-Venus. 
She presides over the birth and 
tbe death of our species. She 
guides tbe soul through the 
winding labyrinth of life: she 
lesds it forth again to freedom 
;.• d a new existence. {Creuzer » 
Symbolik, voL iv. p. 116, seqq.) 
Anthon's Lempriere, vol. i. ip. 
213-214. 

bHarpocrat. Suidas, Etymo^og. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



349 



white, and set off with ornaments of gold : whence apfaQogut is interpreted 
ZQvtryiv IrQrira. <po?*7v, xett ^ove'ict. 1 They had a particular sort of bread, 
which was termed vewros, 2 and cakes called avutr-uroi? There was a 
certain 0-<p*it>i<rTn%H>v, or ball-court, appropriated for their use in the Acro- 
polis, wherein stood a brazen statue of Isocrates on horseback. 4 Out of 
these were chosen two to weave, as the custom was, a Ti^ko;, or garment, 
for Minerva; which work they began on the thirtieth of Pyanepsion. 

A^r s/^/W, a festival in honour of "Aonpi$, or Diana. It was celebrated 
in several places of Greece, particularly at Delphi, where they offered a 
mullet to the goddess, as being thought to bear some sort of relation to 
her; because it is said to hunt, and kill the sea-hare. 5 The bread offered 
to the goddess was termed Xo%iz, ; 6 and the women who performed the 
sacred rites were called Xopfixi? 

Another solemnity of this name was observed three days together, with 
banquets and sports, at Syracuse. s 

AfrxXntrmz., a festival of ^Esculapius, observed in several parts of 
Greece . but no where with so much solemnity as by the Epidaurians, 9 
whom this god honoured with his more immediate presence, giving an- 
swers to them in an oracular way: wherefore it was called Msy&.Aarr*;^- 
?rsia, the great festival of JEsculapius}® One great part of the solemnity 
consisted of a musical entertainment, wherein the poets and musicians 
contended for victory, and therefore was called 'li^h u.y6»i the sacred con- 
tention . 

AffKcokia, a festival celebrated by the Athenian husbandmen, in honour 
of Bacchus, 11 to whom they sacrificed a he-goat; because that animal 
destroys the vines, and therefore was supposed to be hated by Bacchus. 
Out of the victim's skin it was customary to make a bottle, which being 
filled with oil and wine, they endeavoured to leap upon it with one foot, 
and he that first fixed himself upon it, was declared victor, and received 
the bottle as a reward. The doing this they called a<rzcoXta£uv, tfuoa, to 
lvt tov a/TKov from leaping upon a bottle; whence this festival 

has its name. 12 

AQoo^'uriz, festivals in honour of AQooYtTn, or Venus ; several of which 
were observed in divers parts of Greece : v the most remarkable of them 
was that at Cyprus, 13 first instituted by Cinyras; out of whose family cer- 
tain priests of Venus were elected, and for that reason named Kivjod^ai. 



1 Etymologici Auctor. 

2 Athenasas, iii. 

3 Suidas. 

4 PitiL.rch. Is crate. 

5 Athenaeus, vii. 

6 Hesvchius. 

7 Idem. 

S Livius xxiii. Hesych. 
9 Plato lone. 

10 I r. script, vet. 

11 Thumutus de Baccho, Aris- 
torhan. Schol- Pint Hesych. 

12 This festival was also intro- 
duced ir.to Italy, where the peo- 



pie besmeared their fjces with 
the dregs of wine, and sang 
hymns to the god. 1 hey always 
hanged some small images ot the 
god on the tallest trees in their 
vineyards, and ihese image- they 
called Cscllu. What the Oscilla 
were, has never been clearly as- 
certained. Some commentators 
tiiink that they were bunches of 
flowers : others, that it was the 
custom at the feast of K^cchus 
to swine: on ropes, like children. 
Heyne (a& Firg. Georg. 2. 3S9.) 

2 G 



thinks that they were small 
images of bark, hung up from a 
belief, on the part of the rustics, 
that in whatever direction they 
turned, under the impulse of the 
wind, they brought fertility. 
(Compare Saintp-fJroix, Recher- 
ches sur les Mysteres du Pagan- 
isme. vol. ii. p. 60.) — Antliuna 
Lemyierf, vol. i. p. 234. 

13 Clemens Proirept. Arnobius, 
v. Hesych. Fin. Schol. 



350 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



At this solemnity several mysterious rites were practised ; all that were 
initiated into them offered a piece of money to Venus, as a harlot, and 
received, as a token of the goddess's favour, a measure of salt and a 
(pakko;: the former because salt is a concretion of sea-water, to which 
Venus was thought to owe her birth ; the latter because she was the god- 
dess of wantonness. 

At Amathus, a city of Cyprus, solemn sacrifices were offered to Venus, 
and called Kfii^ws;; ; x which word is derived from xeeo<r2$ 3 fruit; per- 
haps because tins goddess presided over generation. 

At both the Paphi Venus' festival was observed, not only by the inha- 
bitants of those places, but by multitudes that thronged to it out of other 
cities. 2 

At Corinth it was celebrated by harlots. 3 

Ax'tXXidot, an anniversary festival at Sparta in honour of Achilles. 4 
B. 

BctK%ucc, to Bacchus. 5 See Aiovvtncc. 

BxXXvrv;, at Eleusis in Attica, to Demophoon the son of Celeus. 6 
Bagocrgov, solemn games in Thesprotia, wherein the strongest obtained 
the victory. 7 

BctffiXuot, a festival at Lebadea in Boeotia. 8 

BsvMtuat, a Thracian festival 9 in honour of Diana, who was by the 
Thracians called Bzv^is. From Thrace it was carried to Athens, where it 
was celebrated in the Piraeus, upon the nineteenth or twentieth of Thar- 
gelion. 

BonbQQfsAct, an Athenian festival, 10 so called aro rod p>or$oou.z7v, from 
coming to help; because it was instituted in memory of Ion, the son of 
Xuthus, who came to the assistance of the Athenians in the reign of king 
Erechtheus, when they were invaded by Eumolpus, the son of Neptune. 
According to others, 11 it was observed in memory of a victory obtained by 
Theseus against the Amazons, in the month of Boe'dromion. 

Bo^ioMrpn, another Athenian festival, 12 in honour of Boreas; who had an 
altar in Attica, and was thought to be related to the Athenians, on account 
of his marriage with Orithvia, the daughter of Erechtheus: for winch 
reason, when in a sea-fight, a great number of their enemies' ships were 
destroyed by a north wind, the Athenians imputed it to the kindness 
Boreas had for his wife's native country. 13 

Solemn sacrifices were also offered to Boreas at Megalopolis, in Arcadia, 
where he had a temple, and divine honours. 14 

B-jrnccifijv 'Eopryi . the Bottiseans were an Athenian colony; wherefore, 



} Hpsychius. 

2 Strabo. xiv. 

3 Athenaeus, xiii. 

4 Pausanias Laconicis. 

5 Hesychius. 

6 Athena}, be. Hesych. 



7 Hesych: us. 

8 Pind;iri SthoViastes, Olymp. 
Od. vii. 

9 Strabo, ix. Proclus InTimae- 
um. Hesyohlus. 

10 Harpecration, SuidaF. 



11 Plutarch in Theseo. 

\2 PJato in Phae.i. Hesych. 

13 Pausan- Atticis. 

14 Id. Arcadicist 



OF THE ttELIGION OF GREECE. 



351 



in memory of their origin, they observed this solemnity, in which the 
virgins used to say'I^sv us *AAjw*$, Let us go to Athens* 

Box<r'iht>z, an anniversary solemnity at Sparta, in memory of Brasidas, 
a Lacedaemonian captain, famous for his achievements at Methone, Pylos, 
and Amphipolis. It was celebrated with sacrifices and games, in which 
none were permitted to contend but freeborn Spartans. 2 Whoever 
neglected to be present at the solemnity was fined. 3 

Bootuocc»toi, to Diana, sumamed Brauronia, from the place in which this 
festival was observed, viz. Brauron, an Athenian borough, in which the 
famous statue of this goddess, brought from Scythia Taurica by Iphigenia, 
remained till the second Persian war, when Xerxes took it away. 4 It 
was celebrated once in five years, under the management of ten men, 
called, from their office, 'lago-rout. The victim ofiered in sacrifice was a 
goat : and it was customary for certain men to sing one of Homer's Iliads. 
The most remarkable persons at this solemnity were young virgins habited 
in yellow gowns, and consecrated to Diana. These were usually about 
ten years of age (it being unlawful for any of them to be above ten or 
under five) ; and then-fore to consecrate them was called ^-xczTivziv, from 
s = ten: it was called uozrivuv, and the virgins themselves were named 
Aonroi, hears, upon this account: amongst the Phlauida?, inhabitants of a 
Dorough in Attica, there was a bear which was so far divested of its natural 
fierceness, and became so tame and tractable, that they usually admitted 
it to eat and play with them, and received no harm thereby ; but a young 
maid once unluckily happening to be too familiar with it, the beast tore 
her to pieces, and was afterwards killed by the virgin's brethren; upon 
this ensued a dreadful pestilence, which proved very fatal to many of the 
inhabitants of Attica : as a remedy for which they were advised by an 
oracle to appease the anger of Diana for the bear, by consecrating virgins 
to her in memory of it. The Athenians punctually executed the divine 
command, and enacted a law, that no virgin should be married till she 
had undergone the ceremony. 

r. 

Taka'.z. a festival in which they boiled r^j* ya>^j.\\av, a mixture of bar- 
ley-pulse and milk. 3 Meursius is of opinion, that it belonged to Apollo, 
who, from a place in Boeotia, was surnamed Galaxius. 5 

Tei/,t'<e'iz}icc, a solemn sacrifice at Thebes, offered to Galinthias, one of 
the daughters of Proetus. It was celebrated before the festival of Her- 
cules, by whose order it was first instituted. 

Tau-AXicc, TvAfaia, T-v'ziwz, three private solemnities: the first whereof 
was observed at marriages; the second, in memory of the birth; the last, 
of the death of any person. 



1 Plutarch. TLeseo, et Ouajst. 3 Tnterprps Graec. in Aristot. 5 Hesychins. 

Gr«c. Ethic, ad Nicnmach. v. 7. 6 Proclus Ciirestcinath. 

2 Pausan. Laconicis, Tliucyd 4 Pausan. Atticis. et Arcad. 
v. buidd5. Pollux, vii. 0. Harpocr. Suid. 

2 G 2 



352 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



TinruWts ; this solemnity was celebrated by women, in honour of 
Genetyllis, the goddess of that sex, 1 to whom they offered dogs. This 
Genetyllis was Venus, h $<pogos yiv'unu;, the president of generation ~ 

Tsoaiir-noc, in honour of Neptune, at Gercestus, a village of Euboea, 
where he was honoured with a temple. 3 

Tipovfyulav "Eofiry, an anniversary festival in honour of Mars, at Geron- 
thrce, 4 where there was a temple dedicated to him. Pie had also a grove 
in the same place, into which it was unlawful for any woman to enter 
during the time of this solemnity. 3 

TiQvoia-po), a solemnity mentioned by ./Elian : 6 and perhaps the same 
with the yiQuoiapoi at the festival of Ceres Eleusinia, of which afterwards. 

r>?j e Es/5r'4, at Athens, in honour of mother Earth, to whom a temple 
was dedicated in the citadel of that place. 7 Solemn games were also cele- 
brated to her. 8 

Yvpvo'za'ihiu., or Tv/xvotfatStix, a solemn dance, 9 performed by Spartan 
boys. 

A. 

Afitc, a solemnity which lasted three days, during all which time 
torches, called in Greek lahig, were burned; whence the name. 10 

Upon the first day they commemorated the labour of Latona, and the 
birth of Apollo. 

On the second, the nativity of Glyeon and of the god. 

On the third, the marriage of Podalirius, and the mother of Alexander. 

Aai'^aXa, two festivals in Boeotia, 11 one of which was observed by the 
Plataeans at Alalcomenos, where was the largest grove of any in Boeotia: 
in this they assembled, and exposing to the open air pieces of boiled flesh, 
carefully observed whither the crows that came to prey upon them directed 
their flight ; and then hewed down all those trees upon which any of them 
alighted, and formed them into statues, which were by the ancient Greeks 
called AatixXx, from the ingenious artificer Dtedalus. 12 

1 Hesychius. tion of circumstances proves, and uninterrupted intercourse 

2 Anstoph. interpres ad Nub. that, of whatsoever country a na- with Egypt, Hence the laws and 

3 Stephan. Pindar. SchoL 01. tive, he had rendered himself re- the arts of the Cretans. With 
xn >- . . nowned by the exercise of his the former, the Athenian hero, 

4 This ancient town is suppos- skill at the court of Minos, before Theseus, wished to transplantthe 
ed to have been situated near the settling in Attica. The fuels at- latter also; and while he gave to 
village of Hieraki, where there tending his arrival there, and the his countrymen a similar system 
are some vestiges. In Gell's history of his previous labours, of policv, he did not fail to secure 
Itinerary, (p. 233). Jeraki is enable us to fix dates, and to the co-operation of one whose 
stated to be about tour hours dis- trace the true source of improve- knowledge might yield powerful 
stant from the mouth of the En- ment in Grecian art at this par- aid in humanising a rude people, 
rotas — Anth. Lem. vol. i. p. 014. ticuiar era, Of the early estab- by adding new dignity to the ob- 

;i Pausanias Laconicis. lishment of the Greeks planted jects of national veneration. 

6 Histor. An. iv. 43. in the isles of the .Egean, which Accordingly, Daedalus, accom- 

7 Thucyd. lib. ii. even preceded the mother coun- panying the conqueror of the 

5 Pindar. Pythion. Od. i x , try in the acquisition of wealth Minotaur to Athens, fixes there 
9 Plutarch. Apophthegm. and intelligence, the Doric colony the commencementof an improv- 

10 Lucianus l'seudumant. of Crete enjoyed, from a very ed style, 1234 years before the 

11 P;ii,sar.. Boeotia early period, the happiness and Christian era. The performances 

12 " Concerning Daedalus " ob- consequent power of settled gov- of Daedalus were chiefly in wood, 
serves Dr Memes, " the first of eminent. External advantages of which no fewer than nine, of 
the Athenian scuiptors, doubtlul of situation first invited the ac- large dimensions, are (iesci'-bed 
or fabulous accounts have reach- cess, while domestic institutions as existing in the second ceil- 
ed us; but a careful investiga- secured the benefits, of ancient tury ; which, iictwithstandins 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



The other solemnity was by far the greatest and most remarkable, being 
celebrated not only by Platsea, but all the cities of Boeotia, once in sixty 
years ; in memory, and, as it were, in recompense for the intermission of 
the lesser festival the same number of years, during which time the Pla- 
teaus had lived in exile. In order to this solemnity, there were always 
prepared fourteen Accfiakx at the other festivals, to be distributed by lots 
amongst the Plataeans, Coroneans, Thespians, Tanagraeans, Chaeroneans, 
Orchomenians, Lebadeans, and Thebans ; because they promoted a recon- 
ciliation with the Plataeans, and were desirous to have them recalled from 
banishment, and contributed offerings towards the celebration of this 
festival, about the time that Thebes was restored by Cassander, the son of 
Antipater. Nor did the forementioned cities only, but other cities of 
lesser note join in this solemnity; the manner of which was thus: 

A statue being adorned in woman's apparel, upon the banks of Asopus, 
a woman, in the habit of a bride-maid, was appointed to accompany it, 
being followed by a long train of Boeotians, who had places assigned them 
by lots, to the top of mount Cithaeron; upon which an altar of square 
pieces of timber, cemented together in the manner of stones, was erected. 
Upon this, large quantities of combustible matter being laid, each of the 
cities, and such men as were possessed of plentiful estates, offered a bull 
to Jupiter, and an ox or heifer to Juno, with plenty of wine and incense: 
the poorer sort, and such as were not of ability to purchase more costly 
oblations, contributed small sheep ; all which, together with the Aufia}.a, 
being thrown into one common heap, were set on fire, and not extinguished 
till the whole fabric, of which the altar itself made a part, was consumed 
to ashes. The first occasion of these customs was this: on a time, it 
happened that Juno had a quarrel with Jupiter, whereby the goddess was 
exasperated to such a degree that she departed from him, and retired into 
Euboea. The god was very much troubled at this desertion, and endea- 
voured by all the arts of persuasion, to engage her to return ; but finding 
her obstinate in her resolution, went to advise with Cithseron, who reigned 
at that time over the Plataeans, and had the greatest reputation for wisdom 
of any man in that age. The expedient he advised to, w r as this: that 



the injuries of fourteen hundred 
years, and the imperfections of 
early taste, seemad, in the words 
of Pausanias, to possess some- 
thing of divine expression. Their 
author, as reported by Diodorus, 
improved upon ancient art, so as 
to give vivacity to the attitude, 
and more animated expression to 
the countenance. Hence we are 
not to understand with some, 
that Daedalus introduced sculp- 
ture into Greece, nor even into 
Attica : but simply that he was 
the first to form something like a 
school of art, and whose works 
fu st excited the admiration of his 
own rude age, while they were 
<leemed worthy of notice even in 
mure enlightened times. Indeed, 



the details preserved in the clas- 
sic writers, that he raised the 
arms in varied position from the 
Hanks, and opened the eyes, be- 
fore narrow and blinking, suffi- 
ciently prove the extent of pre- 
ceding art." (Constable's Mis- 
cellany, vol. xxxix. p. 45, seqq.) 
— It may be doubted, however, 
notwithstanding the above, whe- 
ther Dae lalus ever had an actual 
existence, and whether a mere 
mythic parsonage be not in real- 
ity meant, and the name be in- 
tended to apply to any ingenious 
artificer. (Hirt. GpscIi. der 
Boukunst, vol. i. p. 193.— Com- 
pare the remarks of Heyne, ad 
Hum. IL 18, 590.) The works 
of Daedalus, mentioned by Pau- 

2 g 3 



sanias, (ix. 11.), and alluded to 
in the preceding extract, could 
have been none other than works 
of a later age. — As regards the 
improvement which Daedalus is 
said to have made in the forms of 
ancient statues, by separating the 
legs, which before were closed 
together, it may be observed, 
that this latter mnde of arranging 
the lower limbs appears to con- 
tain a hidden religious meaning, 
and would seem to have indicated 
that perfect repose and undis- 
turbed quiet that were supposed 
to form such essential attributes 
of the deity. (Ritters' Vorhalle, 
p. 235.) Auth. Lemp.xol, i. pp. 
416,447. 



354 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Jupiter should dress a statue in woman's apparel, and place it in a chariot, 
giving out that it was Plataea, the daughter of Asopus, and that she was 
contracted to him in marriage. The god approved his counsel, and put 
it in practice; and the report had no sooner reached Juno, but she posted 
with all haste to meet the chariot; where, having discovered the cheat, 
she was wonderfully taken with the contrivance, and returned into favour 
with her husband. 

An entire treatise was composed by Plutarch upon this festival, some 
fragments of which are still preserved in Eusebius, 1 and confirm the 
substance of the relation now given out of Pausanias ; from whom they 
only differ in this, that in them Cithseron is called Alalcomenes; and 
Platsea, Dredala. 

Acc^ov, a festival of which nothing remains besides the name, which is 
preserved by Hesychius. If the conjecture of Meursius deserve any 
credit, it will not be improbable that it belonged to one Daron, who, as 
the same grammarian informs us, was worshipped by the Macedonians, 
and thought to restore health to sick persons. 

Ac&yA/?, a solemnity at Argos, in which was represented the combat of 
Proetus and Acrisius. 

Aoxpv/Kpogia, a novennial festival, celebrated by the Boeotians in honour 
of Apollo. 2 The chief solemnity was thus: they adorned an olive bough 
with garlands of laurel, and various sorts of flowers ; upon the top of it was 
placed a globe of brass, from which hung other lesser globes ; about the 
middle were fixed to it purple crowns, and a globe of smaller size than 
that at the top : the bottom was covered with a garment of a saffron colour. 
The uppermost globe was an emblem of the sun, by whom they meant 
Apollo; that placed diametrically under it signified the moon; the lesser 
globes represented the stars; and the crowns, which were three hun- 
dred and sixty-five in number, represented the sun's annual revolution, 
which is completed in about the same number of days. The bough thus 
adorned, was carried in procession; the chief in which was a boy of a 
beautiful countenance and good parentage, whose father and mother were 
both living ; he was apparelled in a sumptuous garment, reaching down to 
his ancles: his hair hung loose and dishevelled; on his head was a crown 
of gold ; and upon his feet shoes, called ipJiicratidce, from Iphicrates, an 
Athenian, the first inventor of them. It was his duty to execute, at that 
time, the priest's office, and he was honoured with the title of Aa<pv>j<p^<?j, 
laurel-bearer. Before him went one of his nearest relations, bearing a 
rod adorned with garlands: after the boy followed a choir of virgins, with 
bl anches in their hands ; and in this order they proceeded as far as the 
temple of Apollo, surnamed Ismenius, and Galaxius, where they sung 
supplicatory hymns to the god. These ceremonies were first practised 
upon this account: the iEolians that inhabited Arne, and the adjacent 
territory, being advised by an oracle to relinquish their old seats, and to 



] De Praspar. Evangel, lib. iii. 



2 Pausanias Eoeoticis, Proclus Ghrestomathia. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



355 



seek their fortunes, made an invasion upon the Thebans, who at the same 
time were besieged by the Pelasgians: it happened to be near the time of 
Apollo's festival, which was religiously observed by both nations ; where- 
fore, a cessation of arms being granted on both sides, one party cut down 
laurel boughs in Helicon, the other near the river Melas; and, as the cus- 
tom was, carried them iu their hands in honour of Apollo. On the same 
day, there appeared in a dream to Polemates, general of the Boeotian 
forces, a young man, who presented him with a complete suit of armour, 
and commanded that every ninth year the Boeotians should offer solemn 
prayers to Apollo, with laurel in their hands: three days after this vision, 
he made a sally on the besiegers with such success, that they were forced 
to quit their enterprise ; whereupon he caused this festival to be insti- 
tuted.! 

AiXQtviu, a festival at iEgma, 2 in honour of Delphinian Apollo. 

An\iot, a quinquennial festival in the isle of Delos, 3 instituted by The- 
seus, at his return from Crete, in honour of Venus, whose statue, given 
to him by Ariadne, he erected in that place, having, by her assistance, 
met with success in his expedition. The chief ceremonies were these; 
they crowned the statue of the goddess with garlands ; appointed a choir 
of music, and horse races; and performed a remarkable dance, called 
Yi£a.\>o$, the crane ; in which they imitated, by their motions, the various 



1 In the festival of the Paph- 
nephoria, which the Thebans 
celebrated every ninth year in 
honour of Apollo, it is impossi- 
ble to avoid seeing an astrono- 
mical character. It took its 
name from the laurel or bay-tree, 
which the fairest youths of the 
city carried round in solemn 
procession, and which was 
ado:ned with flowers and 
brandies of olive. To an olive- 
tree, decorated in its turn with 
branches of laurel and flowers 
intertwined, and covered with a 
veil of purple, were suspended 
globes of different sizes, types of 
the sun and planets, and orna- 
mented with garlands, the num- 
ber of which was a symbol of the 
year. On the altar, too, burned 
a flame, the agitation, colour, 
and crackling of which served to 
reveal the future, a species of 
divination peculiar to the sacer- 
dotal order, and which prevailed 
also at Olympia, in Elis, the 
centre of most of the sacerdotal 
usages of the day. The god of 
the sun became also the god of 
music by a natural allusion t_» 
the movements of the plan, ts 
and the mysterious harmony of 
the spheres-, and the hawk, the 
universal type of the divine es- 
sence among the Egyptians is, 
with the Greeks, the sacred bud 
of Apollo. {Milan. Hist. An. x. 
14.) As soon, however, as this 
Apollo, whether his origin is to 
be traced to the banks of the 
Nile or the plains of India, as- 



sumes a marked station in the 
Grecian mythology, the national 
spirit labours to disengage him 
of his astronomical attributes. 
Henceforward every mysterious 
or scientific idea disappears from 
the Daphnephoria: they now 
become only commemorative of 
the passion of the god for a 
young female, who turns a deaf 
ear to his suit. A new deity, 
Helios ("HXtoj), discharges all 
the functions of the sun. This 
god, in his quality of son of Ura- 
nus and Terra, is placed among 
the cosmogonical personifica- 
tions-, he has no part to play in 
the fables of the poets; and he is 
only twice named in Homer, 
once as the father of Circe, and 
again as revealing to Vulcan the 
infidelity of his spouse. He has 
no priests, no worship: no so- 
lemn festival is celebrated in his 
praise. Thereupon, freed from 
every attribute of an abstract 
nature, Apollo appears in the 
halls of Olympus, participates in 
the celestial banquets, interferes 
in the quarrels of earth, becomes 
the tutelary god of the Trojans, 
the protector of Paris and ^Ene- 
as, the slave of Admetus, and the 
lover of Daphne. So true is it, 
that all these changes, in. the 
character of the divinity, were 
effected by the transmuting 
power of the Grecian spirit, that 
we see Apollo preserve in the 
mysteries, which formed so 
many deposits of the sacerdotal 
traditions, the astronomical at- 



tributes of which the public wor- 
ship had deprived him; and, at a 
later period, we find the New 
Platonists endeavouring to re- 
store to him these same attri- 
butes, when they wished to form 
an allegorical system of religious 
science and philosophy out of 
the absurdities of polytheism. 
But, in the popular religion, in- 
stead of being the god from 
whom emanate fecundity and in- 
crease, he is a simple shepherd, 
conducting the herds of another. 
Instead of dying and arising 
again to life, he is ever young. 
Instead of scorching the earth 
and its inhabitants with his de- 
vouring rays, he darts his fearful 
arrows from his quiver of gold. 
Instead of announcing the future 
in the mysterious language of 
the planets, he prophesies in his 
own name, Nor does he any 
longer direct the harmony of the 
spheres by the notes of his mys- 
tic lyre; he has now an instru- 
ment, invented by Mercury and 
perfected by himself. The 
dances, too, of the stars cease to 
be conducted by him; for he now 
moves at the head of the nine 
Muses (the nine strings of his 
divine cithara) the divinities 
who preside each over one of the 
liberal arts. (Constant, de la 
Religion, vol. ii. p. 93.)— An- 
thou's Lempriere, vol. i. p. 186. 

2 Pindari Schol. Olymp. viii. 

3 Thucydides, iii. Callimachus 
Hymn, in Delum, Hut, Theseo. 



356 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



windings of the Cretan labyrinth, out of which Theseus, who was the in- 
ventor of this dance, had made his escape. 

Another solemnity was every year celebrated in this island, in honour 
of Apollo, by the Athenians; but of this I have already given you an 
account. 

A'/tpvrotx, a solemnity in honour of Ceres, called by the Greeks Av/u,r,- 
tvo, 1 in which it was customary for the worshippers to lash themselves 
with whips, made of the bark of trees, and called ftugovrroi. 

Another festival of this name was observed by the Athenians, in honour 
of Demetrius Poliorcetes, 2 being the same with that which was before 
called Dionysia, and celebrated upon the thirteenth of Munychion, whose 
name was changed into Demetrion ; as also the day of this solemnity was 
named Demetrias. 

AiKvcMTTiyMiTi;, a solemnity at Sparta, 3 in honour of Diana Orthia, so 
named mvo tov pcarriyavv, from whipping, because it was usual to whip 
boys upon the goddess' altar. These boys were, at first, freeborn Spar- 
tans ; but, in more delicate ages, of meaner birth, being frequently the 
offspring of slaves: they were called BcoponlKxt, from the exercise they 
underwent at the altar, and which was very severe and cruel; and lest the 
officer should, out of compassion, remit any thing of the rigour of it, 
Diana's priestess stood by all the time, holding in her hand the goddess' 
image, which of itself was very light and easy to be borne, but if the boys 
were spared, became so ponderous, that the priestess was scarce able to 
support its weight. And lest the boys should faint under correction, or 
do any thing unworthy of Laconian education, their parents were usually 
present, to exhort them to bear whatever was inflicted upon them with 
patience and constancy. And so great were the bravery and resolution of 
the boys, that though they were lashed till the blood gushed out, and 
sometimes to death, yet a cry or groan was seldom or never heard to pro- 
ceed from any of them. Those of them that died by this means were 
buried with garlands upon their head, in token of joy or victory, and had 
the honour of a public funeral. 

Whence this custom had its origin, is not agreed by ancient writers. 
By some it is said to have been one of Lycurgus' institutions, and designed 
for no other end than to accustom the youth to endure pain, thereby to 
render them fearless and insensible of wounds. Others will have it done 
as a mitigation of an oracle, whereby it was commanded, that human blood 
should be shed upon Diana's altar. By some, it is reported to have been 
as ancient as Orestes, who, say they, transplanted out of Scythia into La- 
conia the image of Diana Taurica, to whom the Scythians used to offer 
human victims: this barbarous sort of worship the Lacedaemonians detested; 
but withal, fearing the anger of the goddess, made an order, that every 
year a boy should be whipped upon her altar, till the blood gushed out; 

1 Pollux, Onora. i. 1. Hesych. 3 Plutarch. Lacon. Tnstit. et Quaest. ii. Hy gin us, fab. 261. 
£ Plutarth. Demetrio. Diodor. Aristide. Pausanias Lacoriicis. 
Skill. VliL Eustath. IL Thomistius, Orat. Cic. Tusc. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



357 



and so, if nothing could satisfy her but human blood, she might not be 
altogether destitute of it. Lastly, some assign this cause for it: Pausa- 
nias, the Spartan general, as he was offering sacrifices and prayers, before 
the fight with Mardonius, was set upon by a company of Lydians, who 
plundered and squandered abroad the sacrifice ; but were at length repelled 
with whips and staves, which were the only arms the Lacedaemonians were 
at that time furnished with. In memory of this victory, the whipping of 
boys at the altar of Sparta, and after that, the Lydian procession, Plutarch 
tells us, was performed till his days. 
AiavrUiotf a festival at Sparta. 

Aidcrfx, at Athens, 1 in honour of Jupiter, surnamed MuXt%io;, the pro- 
pitious. It was so called &\<to rod Aios zct) rns urns, from Jupiter and 
■misfortune; because, by making supplications to Jupiter, they obtained 
protection and deliverance from dangers and evils. It was celebrated 
about the latter end of Anthesterion, without the city, where was a great 
concourse of all the Athenians feasting and offering sacrifices : at the same 
time there is said to have been a public mart, in which all sorts of vendi- 
bles were exposed to sale ; whence Strepsiades in Aristophanes says, he 
bought his son Phidippides a little chariot at this festival: 2 

" Ov t^cotov efioXov tkctfiov 'HXlOtO'TlXOV, 
T0C70J nyu.fA.'ssv eroi Aianrlois a/L^a^idoe,. 

Plutarch makes mention of another festival that belonged to Jupiter, 
wherein a solemn procession was made by men on horseback. 3 

AuvroXiTa, an Athenian festival. 4 celebrated upon the fourteenth of Scir- 
rophorion ; so named, because it was sacred rZj Ait n.o\a7, to Jupiter, sur- 
named Polieus, or protector of the city. Sometimes it was called 
Bovtyovtx, from killing an ox, for it was customary upon this day to place 
certain cakes, of the same sort with those used at sacrifices, upon a table 
of brass ; round this they drove a select number of oxen, of which he that 
ate any of the cakes was presently slaughtered. The person that killed 
the ox was called (Zovms, or fiov(povo;. No less than three families 
were employed in this ceremony and received different names from 
their offices therein. The family whose duty it was to drive the oxen 
were called Ksvrpial/zi, from -Avrgov, a spur; those that knocked him 
down, (hovrvwoi, being descended from Thaulon ; those that slaughtered 
and cut him up, Accireo}, butchers, or cooks. The origin of the custom 
was thus: on one of Jupiter's festivals, it happened that a hungry ox ate 
up one of the consecrated cakes ; whereupon the priest (some call him 
Thaulon, others Diomus, or Sopater), moved with a pious zeal, killed the 
profane beast. In those days it was looked upon as a capital crime to kill 
an ox ; wherefore the guilty priest was forced to secure himself by a timely 
flight; and the Athenians, in his stead, took the bloody axe, arraigned it, 



1 Thucyd. i. Aristophanis Schol. Nub. Suidas. 4 Pausanias Atticis, JSliaims, Var. Hist, viii.3. 

2 Aiistoph. Nub. ver. 862. Porphyrius de Abstinent, ab Animal. Kesyci^ 

3 PJiocione. Suidas. 



35S GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

and, according to Pausanias, brought it in not guilty ; but ^Elian is cf 
another opinion, and reports, that the priest and people present at the 
solemnity (for they also were accused as being accessory to the fact) were 
acquitted, but the axe condemned, which seems to be the most probable. 
In memory of these actions, it became ever after customary for the priest 
to fly, and judgment to be given about the slaughter of the ox. 

Aiktuwix, a Spartan festival, 1 in honour of Diana, sumamed Dictynna, 
from a city of Crete ; or from a Cretan nymph, one of her companions h\ 
hunting, who was called Dictynna, from her invention of hunting-nets, 
which are in Greek called Viktvx. 

AtoTtXucx,, in the spring, at Megara, in memory of the Athenian hero 
Diocles,2 who died in the defence of a certain youth whom he loved. 
Whence there was a contest at his tomb, in which a garland was given to 
the youth who gave the sweetest kiss. 3 

Aiopiioi, in honour of Jupiter Diomeus ; or of Diomus, 4 an Athenian 
hero, the son of Colyttus, from whom the inhabitants of one of the Athe- 
nian boroughs were named Aio{*$7;. 

Atovviriu, solemnities in honour of Atovveros, or Bacchus, sometimes called 
by the general name ofOgyix; which word, though sometimes applied to 
the mysteries of other gods, does more peculiarly belong to those of Bac- 
chus. The festivals of this god are said to have been instituted in Egypt, 
and afterwards taught the Grecians by one Melampus ;5 and by Plutarch 6 
we are informed, that the Egyptian Isis was the same with Ceres, and 
Osiris with Bacchus ; and that the Grecian Dionysia were the same with 
the Egyptian Pamylia. 7 



1 Pausanias Laconicis. 

2 Pindan Schol. Pythion. Od. 
xiii. 

3 Theocrit. Idyl. xii. 27. 

4 Etymniog. Eustath. 11. 5'. 

5 Herodotus ii. 

6 De Iside et Osiride. 

7 The worship of Bacchus is 
evidently of Indian origin. In 
order, however, to reach the soil 
of Greece, it had to traverse 
other countries, Upper Asia, 
Phoenicia, Egypt, and Thrace ; 
and, in its march, its fabulous 
legends became enlarged and va- 
riously modified. It is impossi- 
ble to deny the identity of Bac- 
chus with Osiris. The birth of 
Bacchus, drawn living from the 
womb of Semele, after she had 
perished beneath the fires of 
Jove, and his strange translation 
to the thigh of the monarch of 
Olympus, bear the impress of 
oriental imagery. When he 
escapes from his mothers womb, 
an ivy branch springs forth from 
a column to cover him with its 
shade (Eurip. Phcen. 638, seqq.), 
and the ivy was in Egypt the 
plant of Osiris. {Plut. de Is. et 
Os. p. 365.— Op. et Reuke, vol. 
vii. p. 442.) In like manner, 
the coffin of the Egyptian 
deity is shaded by the plant 



erica, which springs suddenly 
from the ground and envelopes 
it. {Plut. Ibid.) Bacchus and 
Osiris both float upon the waters 
in a chest or ark. They have 
both for one of their symbols the 
head of a bull; and hence Bac- 
chus is styled Bougenes by Hu- 
tarch. It is equally impossible 
not to recognise in Bacchus the 
Schiva of India, as well as the 
Lingam his symbol. (Compare 
Rhode, Religiose Bildung, &c. 
der Hindus, vol. ii. p. 232 ) If 
we wish to call etymology to our 
aid, we shall he struck with the 
remembrance which Dionysus 
(Atovueroj), the Greek name of 
Bacchus, bears toDiouichi (Deva< 
Nicha), a surname of Schiva. 
[Lnngles, Recherches Aiiatiques, 
vol. i. p. 278. — Cre.uzr's Symbo- 
lik, par Guiunaut, vol. i. p. 148, 
innotis.) An analogy may also 
be traced between the Greek 
term ju>;oq?, "thigh," and the 
Indian Merou, the mountain of 
the gods. One of the symbols 
of Bacchus is an equilateral tri- 
angle; this is also one of Schi- 
va's. The two systems of wor- 
ship have the same obscenities, 
the same emblems of the genera- 
tive power. (Asiatic Researches, 
vol. viii. p. 50.) Schiva is re- 



presented, in the Hindoo mytho- 
logy, as assuming the form of a 
lion during the great battle of 
the gods. He seizes the mon- 
ster that attacks him, and as- 
sails him with his teeth and 
fangs, while Dourga pierces him 
with his lance. The rame ex- 
ploit is attributed, in the Grecian 
mythology, to Bacchus, under 
the same form, against the giant 
Rhcetus. {Hor. Carm. ii. 19. 
23.) 

" Rhcetum retorsisti leonis 
Unguibus horribilique mal'i."' 
The manner in which the wor- 
ship of Bacchus came into 
Greece, probably by means of ss- 
veral successive migrations, 
through regions widely remote, 
will ever remain an eniema of 
difficult solution. The Greeks, 
indeed, made Thebes the birth- 
place of this deity ; but this 
proves nothing for the fact of his 
Grecian origin. Thebes, in Bee- 
otia, was the centre of the Cad- 
mean-Asiatie mythology: a god, 
whose worship came to the rer* 
of the Greeks out of Thebes, was 
for them a deity bom in Thebes: 
and hence arose the legend of 
the Theban origin of Bacchus. 
[Buttmann's Mytholngus, vol. 1. 
p. 5.) So, when the Greek my- 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



S59 



They were observed at Athens with great splendour, and more ceremo- 
nious superstition, than in any other part of Greece ; for the years were 
numbered by them,i the chief archon had a part in the management of 
them, 2 and the priests that officiated therein, were honoured with the first 
seats at public shows. 3 But at first they were without splendour and orna- 
ments, 4 being days set apart for public mirth, and observed only with these 
ceremonies : first, a vessel of wine, adorned with a vine branch, was 
brought forth ; after that followed a goat ; then was carried a basket of figs, 
aud after all, the phalli. 




Fig. 1 is the representation of a Bacchante with Thyrsus. 

2 . do. do. with Ruttles. 

3 . do. ' . do. with Torches. 

thology makes Bacchus to h;ive the Orphic doctrine; but re- legends, appear, in describing 

gone on an expedition to Asia, maining always an object of sus- the death of Pentheus, to partake 

and to have conquered India, it picion and aversion, and con- of the sanguinary joy, the fero- 

merely reverses the order of temned by the wise in the days cious irony and the fanaticism 

events, and describes, as the of Xenophanes and Heraclitus, of the Bacchantes. One would 

victorious progress of a Grecian as it had been a long time before feel tempted to say, that the sa- 

deity, what was in reality the proscribed by kings and rejected cerdotal spirit had triumphed 

course which the religion of an by communities. The fables of over these incredulous poets, 

Oriental deity took, from the which Bacchus is made i he hero, and that after the lapse of ten 

fast to the west. {Kunne, My- the rites which these tables elu- centuries the frenzy of the anci- 

thologie der Griechen, sec. 31) cidated, rites bearing at one tin:e ent orgies had affected their 

In the Anti- Symbolik of Voss (p. the impress of profound sadness, senses and troubled their reason. 

65, seqq.), we have an excellent at another of frantic joy, and by In the age of Homer these 

history of the introduction of the turns bloody and licentious, mournful recitals were either un- 

worship of Bacchus into Greece, mournful and frantic, never be- known or treated with disdain ; 

and its progress in that country, came part of the Grecian system fur he speaks only once of Bac- 

from the 20th to the 60th Olym- of religion. Wherever they an- chus, on occasion of the victory 

piad. We find this worship nounced themselves, they ex- which he gained over Lycurgus 

making its first appearance in cited only horror and dread. ( II. vi. 130 Compare Od. xxiv. 

the mysteries of Samothrace ; The sufferings and the destruc- 74.), and the scholiasts express 

furnishing to the Ionian school tion of various dynasties attach their surprise that the poet, after 

Phoenician elements; enriching themselves to their ;nghtful and having thus placed Bacchus 

itselt with ideas of Asiatic origin sudden appearance. Agave rends among the divinities of Olympus, 

by means of the extension of in pieces her son Pentheus. Ino makes him take no part in the 

commerce; mingling with the precipitates herself into the sea subjects that divide them. The 

commencements of Grecian phi- with Melicerta in her arms. The Grecian spirit, therefore, re- 

losophy in their very cradle; daughters of Minyas, becoming nounced, at an early period, 

presenting Lydian and Phrygian furious, commit horrible murder every attempt to modify this so 

additions as a primitive basis ; and undergo a hideous metamor- heterogeneous a coiiception. 

giving an occult meaning to the phosis. The language of the Constant, de la Religion, vol. ii. 

public games at Oiympia; car- poets who relate to us these p. 419. seqq.) — Anthonys Lem- 

rying bac k into Egypt, under the fearful traditions is sombre and priere, vol. i. pp. 268 , 269. 

reign of Psammitichus, along mysterious in its character, and 1 Suidas. 

with Milesian colonies, and en- bears evident marks of a sac°r 

riched with immense develop- dotal origin. The philosophic 

inputs, what the Egyptian colo- Euripides, as well as Ovid, who 

foes had once carried into expresses himself with so much 

Greece; identifying itself with lightness in reference to oiher 



2 Pollux, viii. 

3 Aristoph. Schol. Ran. 

4 Plutarchus rrspl <J>cAo7rXoi 



360 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



At some of them it was usual for the worshippers, in their garments 
and actions, to imitate the poetical fictions concerning Bacchus: they put 
on fawn-skins, fine linen, and mitres ; carried thyrsi, drums, pipes, flutes, 
and rattles ; and crowned themselves with garlands of trees sacred to Bac- 
chus ; such were the ivy, vine, fir, &c. Some imitated Silenus, Pan, and 
the satyrs, exposing themselves in comical dresses and antic motions: 
some rode upon asses, others drove goats to the slaughter. In this man- 
ner, persons of both sexes ran about the hills, deserts, and other places, 
wagging their heads, dancing in ridiculous postures, filling the air with 
hideous noises, and yelling, personating men distracted, and crying aloud, 
jL.ho7cra.fioi, ~Evo7 Bccx^i, or d>"lccK%s, or *lo(iocx^s J or 'ico Bccz^z. 

Such were the rites used in most of the festivals of Bacchus throughout 
Greece. At Athens, this frantic rout was, upon one of the solemnities of 
this god, followed by persons carrying sacred vessels, the first of which was 
filled with water; after these went a select number of honourable virgins, 
called KawiQagot, because they carried little baskets of gold filled with all 
sorts of fruit. In these consisted the most mysterious part of the solem- 
nity; and therefore, to amuse the common people, serpents were put into 
them, which sometimes crawling out of their places astonished the be- 
holders. Next was the IJspapaXXioc, being a company of men carrying 
tovs (paXXcus, which were poles, to the ends of which -were fixed things in 
the form of a man's privities: these persons were crowned with violets 
and ivy, and had their faces covered with other herbs ; they were called 
$otXXo<pogot, and the songs repeated by them ^ocXXiza. ao-para.. A r ter 
these followed the ^lSvQaWoi, in women's apparel, with garments striped 
with white, and reaching to their ancles, garlands on their heads, gloves 
composed of flowers on their hands, and in their gestures imitating drunk- 
en men. There were also certain persons called Aixvo<pogoi, whose office 
it was to carry the Atxvov, or mystical van of Bacchus, a thing so essential 
to this and other solemnities and sacrifices of this god, that few of them 
could be duly celebrated without it ; whence he is sometimes called Aix.- 
vir'/is. At this time, also, public shows, plays, and sports, were frequent- 
ed, and the whole city was filled with revelling and licentiousness. 

The festivals of Bacchus were almost innumerable; the names of some 
of the most remarkable of them are as follow: 

Aiovvo-i/x, oco^aiOTt^a, 1 celebrated upon the twelfth of Anthesterion, at 
Limnre in Attica, where was a temple of Bacchus. The chief persons 
that officiated were fourteen women, appointed by the BxcnXsvs, who was 
one of the archons, and provided necessaries for the solemnity : they were 
called r^a^ai, venerable, and could not enter upon their office till they 
had taken an oath in presence of the Bac/x^a, or wife of the BouriXiv;, 
that they were free from all manner of pollution. 

Aiovvo-ia, vi&jT-^a. are mentioned by Thucydides, 2 but perhaps are not dis- 
tinct from some of the following. 



1 Thucydid. ii. Hesychius, Demosth. Orat. in Neaeram, Pollux, vii. 



2 Loc citai. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



361 



Liotvaia. fMyaXx, 1 or the greater, sometimes called 'Acrixx, or <rx x«r 7 
acrru, as being celebrated within the city, in the month Elaphebolion. It 
is sometimes, by way of eminence, called Ajovvg-ix, without any distin- 
guishing epithet, because it was the most celebrated of all Bacchus' festi- 
vals at Athens; and it seems to be the same with the Aiovvcrtx xg%x/o7tgx: 
and the following to be the same with Aiotvtnx viuvigm, 

AiovvTin fxiKooi, or the less, sometimes called <rx xxr xyoobs, because it 
was observed in the country. It was a sort of preparation to the former 
and greater festival, 2 and was celebrated in autumn ; some place it in the 
month Posideon, others in Gamelion ; others will have it to be the same 
with Ajovvo-ix \watx, so named from Xwh, a- wine-press : and, agreeably 
to this opinion, Hesychius tells us, it was celebrated in the month Le- 
nceon. 

Aiowinix, Bgxvgcovict, 3 observed at Brauron, a borough of Attica, where 
the votaries gave themselves over to all manner of excess and lewdness. 

Aiovjtrttx, wnrriXiot* mysteries unlawful to be revealed, and observed by 
the Athenians in honour of Bacchus Nyctelius, to whom also they erected 
a temple. 

Qioivx, to Bacchus, surnamed ©Uivo;, the god ofivine. 

' tluotpdyiot, to Bacchus, surnamed 'ClpoQayo;, and 'P.pwrrh;, because 
human sacrifices were offered to him at that time ; 5 or from eating raw 
flesh, which action the priests used to imitate upon this solemnity. It 
was also customary for them to put serpents in their hair, and in all their 
behaviour to counterfeit madness and distraction. 

Aiovuo-ia, 'Aozeictizx, was an anniversary day in Arcadia, where the chil- 
dren, having been instructed in the music of Philoxenus and Timotheus, 
were brought yearly to the theatre, where they celebrated the feast of Bac- 
chus with songs, dances, and games. 6 

Several other festivals were observed in honour of this god, as the tri- 
ennial solemnity, called from the time of its celebration Atovvtrix rgnrtigt- 
xx, 7 which is said to have been first instituted by Bacchus himself, in 
memory of his expedition into India, in which he spent three years. 
Another also is mentioned by the scholiast of Aristophanes, 8 and said to 
be observed every fifth year. And besides these, we find frequent men- 
tion of Bacchus' festivals in most of the ancient authors, some of which 
are described in other places. 

Aioo-zu^x, in honour of Aiotrxov^oi, or Castor and Pollux, who were re- 
puted to be the sons of Jupiter. It was observed by the Cyrenfeans,9 but 
more especially by the Spartans, 10 whose country was honoured by the birth 
of these heroes. The solemnity was full of mirth, being a time wherein 
they shared plentifully of the gifts of Bacchus, and diverted themselves 
with sports, of which wrestling matches always made a part. 



1 Demosthen. Orat. in Leptin. 

2 Aristophanis Schcl. Achanu 

3 Idem in Pace. 

4 Pausanias Atticis. 



5 Plntarchus Theinistocle. 

6 Polybius. iv. 

7 Virgil. JEneid. iv. 

8 In Pac?. 

2 H 



9 Pind. Schol.Pythion. Od. v. 

10 Pausan. Messen. Sidonias 
Cavm. ix. 



362 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Ams Bod;, a Milesian festival, wherein an ox was offered to Jupiter, 1 as 
tike name imports. 

AouGtrsia, an anniversary day, observed in memory of Dryops, one of 
Apollo's sons, at Aisne, , which was a maritime town of Argos, and inha- 
bited by the Dryopians. 2 

AtohKurv, a festival so called, because it was celebrated upon the twelfth 
day after Ajithesterion. 3 See 'Av^r^/a. 

E. 

'E&opc/j, on the seventh day of every lunar month, 4 in honour of Apollo, 
to whom all seventh days were sacred, because one of them was his birth 
day ; whence he was sometimes called 'E/B^ayiv?;?. 5 The story we have 
in Hesiod; 6 

Kai s£io,«n, leoov ?iu.ap, The seventh day is sacred, 

Tp yap '\Tt6X\aiva ^pvnio^a yu.va.ro Ar, T £>. 'C,u$e Phoebus then was of Latojia born. 

At this solemnity the Athenians sung hymns to Apollo, and carried 
in their hauds branches of laurel, with which also they adorned their 
dishes. 

Another festival there was of this name., which private families observed 
upon the seventh day after the birth of a child: but of this I shall give an 
account in its own place. 

Ei<r'/}Tyglx, the day on which the magistrates at Athens entered upon 
their offices; 7 upon which it was customary for them to offer a solemn 
sacrifice, praying for the preservation and prosperity of the commonwealth, 
in the temple or hall of Jupiter BcvXkIqs, and Minerva BovXaia,, the coun- 
sellors.^ 

'EKaXy^ia, to Jupiter, surnamed Hecalus, or Hecalesius, from Hecale, 
one of the borough towns of the Leontian tribe in Attica; 9 or from an old 
woman called Hecale, by whom he had a statue erected. This Hecale, 10 
when Theseus was upon his expedition against the Marathonian bull, 
entertained him with all possible expressions of kindness and respect, 
making prayers and vows to the gods for his safe return. Theseus came 
off with victory and honour ; but at his return, finding old Hecale dead, 
and being thereby prevented from expressing his thankfulness to her, he 
ordered that her memory should be held sacred, and honoured at this 
solemnity, in which she was called, by a diminution of her name, Heca- 
lenej because she had accosted Theseus after that manner, calling him 
&y)7u$tov, which is a very usual mode of speech, when aged persons design 
to express their love and tenderness to the younger sort; so Strepsiades, 
in Aristophanes, 11 calls his son Phidippides by the diminutive name of 

"Ekc&t'/imcl, an anniversary solemnity observed in honour cf Hecate, by 

1 Hesyching. Dies. 8 Antiph. Oat. pro Choreut. 

2 Pausan. Messen. 5 Plut. Sympos. viii. quaest. 1. 9 Stephan. Byzantm. 

3 Hesychius. 6 Diebus. M Plutarch. Tr.eseo. 

4 Suidas> Proclus in Hcsiodi 7 Suid. aliique Lexicographi. 11 Nubibus. 



OF THE R&jlIGION OF GREECE. 



363 



the Stratonicensians, who were wont to assemble at this time in great 
numbers. 1 

The Athenians also had a great veneration for this goddess, believing 
that she was the overseer of their families, and protected their children; 
whence it was customary to erect statues to her before the doors of their 
houses, which, from the goddess' name, were called *E**Ta7«. 2 Every 
new moon there was a public fotmov) stepper, provided at the charge of 
the richer sort, which was no sooner brought to the accustomed place, but 
the poor people carried all off, giving out that Hecate had devoured it; 3 
whence it was called 'Exar^ hTvrvov, or Hecate's supper. This was done 
in a place where three ways met, because this goddess was supposed to 
have a threefold nature, or three offices, in allusion to which she was 
known by three names, being called in the infernal regions, Hecate ; in 
heaven, SiXjJvu, or the Moon ; and upon the earth, *Agrtut$, or Diana : 
whence it is we find a great many names attributed to her, derived from 
the number three, or bearing some relation to it; as T^yiv/iros, Tpykn- 
v»s, ToiyXatiwi, T^oVtrn, Trivia, Tergemina, Tritonia, with several others. 
The reason why Hecate was placed in the public ways, rather than other 
deities, was on Isei rav x.uQctcpu.Toj'i kgc) p.ic&/r/£a.rav Sfo?, because she pre- 
sided over piacular pollutions-* and the above mentioned sacrifices or sup- 
pers ($s7«rv«) uforGo-Tctiuv xcc) xxfagffiav l*s%u poi^ccv, were expiatory offer- 
ings to move this goddess to avert any evils which might impend by rea- 
son of piacular crimes 5 committed in the highways. 6 

'Exarofifatet, a festival celebrated in honour of Juno,7 by the Argians, 



1 Strabo, xiv. 

2 Aristophan. ej usque Schol. 
in Vesp. 

3 Idem in Pluto. 

4 Schol. Theocrit. in Idyll, ii. 

5 Hecate is evidently a stran- 
ger-divinity in the mythology of 
the Greeks. It would appear 
that she was one of the hurtful 
class of deities, transported by 
Hesiod into the Grecian mytho- 
logy, and placed behind the po- 
pular divinities of the day, as a 
b^ing of earlier existence. 
Hence the remark of the bjrd, 
that Jupiter respected all the 
prerogatives which Hecate had 
enjoyed previous to his ascend- 
ing the throne of his father. In- 
deed, the sphere which the poet 
assigns her, places her out of 
the reach of all contact with the 
actmg divinities of the day. She 
is neither mentioned in the Iiiad 
nor Odyssey, and the attributes 
assigned her in the more recent 
pn<?m of the Argonauts, are the 
seme with those of Proserpina in 
Homer. {Creuzer, Symbolik, 
vol. i. p. 15S.— Id. ii. 120.— 
Goerres, Mytheng. vol. i. p. 254. 
— Hermann, HaJidb. der Myth. 
\>.l. ii. p. 45.) Jablonski {Panlh. 
Aizypt.) regards Hecate as the 
game with the Egyptian Tith- 
lambo. H>>r action upon nature, 
her divei sified attributes, her in- 



numerable functions, are a mix- 
ture of physical, allegorical, and 
philosophical tiaciitions respect- 
ing the fusion of the elements 
and the generation of beings. 
Hecate was the night, and, by 
an extension of this idea, the 
primitive night, the primary 
cause or parent of all things. 
She was the moon, and hence 
were connected with her all 
those accessary ideas that are 
grouped around that of the moon: 
she is the goddess that troubles 
the reason of men. the goddess 
that presides over nocturnal 
ceremonies, and, consequently, 
over inagic: hence her identity 
with Diana for the Grecian my- 
thology, with Isis for the Egyp- 
tian ; and hence also all her cos- 
mogonbl attributes, assigned to 
Isis in Egypt. {Constant, de la 
Religion, vol. iv. p. 139, in notis.) 
As regards the etymology of 
her name, it may be remarked, 
that the most probable one seems 
to be that which deduces it from 
t e Greek evxrrj, the feminine of 
g«a-o 4 , denoting either her that 
operates from afar," or, "her 
that removes, or drives off." 
{Creuzer, Symbotik. vol. ii. p. 
Ii4.) Expiatory sacrifices were 
offered t'i this goddess on the 
38th of every month in which 
eggs and young do«rs formed the 
•? H 2 



principal ob-ects. The remains 
of these animals and of the other 
offerings, together with a large 
quantity of all sorts of comesti- 
bles, were exposed in the cross- 
roads and called the " Supper of 
Hecate," Ce«4ti7 S itlwvov.) The 
poorer class, and the cynics, 
seized upon these viands with an 
eagernes that passed among the 
ancients as a mark of extreme 
indigence, or the lowest degree 
of baseness. (Compare the note 
of Hemsterhuis, ad Lucian.Dial. 
Mart. 1. — Op. ed. Bip. vol. ii. p. 
397, seqq.) It is probable that 
the dug-headed form was the an- 
cient and mystic one of Hecate, 
that under which she w u s wor- 
shipped in the mysteries of Sa- 
mothrace, where dogs were im- 
molated in her honour. Hecate 
had also her mysteries, celebrat- 
ed at .3Sgina, and the establish- 
ment of which was ascribed to 
Orpheus. Numerous statues of 
the goddess were to be seen in 
this island, one by Myron with a 
single face; others with two 
faces, attributed to the famous 
Aicamenes. (Pausan. ii. 30.) — 
Anthorts Lempriere, vol. i. p. 
6U. 

6 Plutarch. 

7 Pindari Schol, Ol/mp. vii. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and iEgmensians, who were a colony from Argos. It was so called from 
iKurofifiy, which signifies a sacrifice consisting of a hundred oxen ; it 
being usual, upon the first day of this solemnity, to offer so many to Juno, 
the relics of all which were distributed amongst the citizens. There were 
also at this time public sports, first instituted by Archinus, one of the 
kings of Argos ; the prize was a brazen shield and a crown of myrtle. 

There was also an anniversary sacrifice called by this name in Laconia, 
and offered for the preservation of the hundred cities, which once flour- 
ished in that country. 1 

'Exa,Top.<povici, a solemn sacrifice to Jupiter, offered by the Messenians, 
when any of them killed a hundred enemies. 2 

E*W/«, a festival observed by the Phsestians in honour of Latona, upon 
this account: 3 Galatea, the daughter of Eurytius, was married to Lam- 
prtis, the son of Pandion, a citizen of Fhaestus in Crete: who, being of an 
honourable family, but wanting an estate answerable to his birth, and 
being unable to provide competent fortunes for daughters, had commanded 
his wife, that if she was brought to bed of a daughter, she should imme- 
diately put her to death. This done, he went to look after his flock, and 
before his return Galatea was delivered of a daughter, but being overcome 
by maternal affection, resolved to disobey her husband's cruel command : 
wherefore, to secure the infant, she called it Leucippus, telling her hus- 
band it was a boy. At length, being no longer able to conceal the arti- 
fice, she fled for succour to Latona's temple, where, with abundance of 
earnestness, she entreated the goddess, that, if it was possible, her virgin 
might be transformed into a boy. Latona, moved with compassion, 
granted her request, and was thence by the Phsestians called $una, h& <ro 
<puuv fit&tK ?y kooi), because the maid changed her sex ; and 'ExW/as, 
to rm vc&t'Sa, ixlueiv <rov vr&&Xov 9 because she put off her woman 's apparel. 

Eka^'/t^oXia, in honour of Diana, surnamed 'EXa<pr,{!>o\o$, the huntress ; 
for which reason, a cake made in the form of a deer, and upon that account 
called tXa(pos, was offered to her. 4 This festival was instituted upon this 
occasion: the Phocensians being reduced to the last extremity by the 
Thessalians, and disdaining to submit to them, Daiphantus proposed that 
a vast pile of combustible matter should be erected, upon which they 
should place their wives, children, and their whole substance ; and in case 
they were defeated, set all on fire together, that nothing might come into 
the hands of their enemies. But it being judged by no means reasonable 
so to dispose of the women without their consent, they summoned them 
to the public assembly ; where, being met in a full body, the proposal was 
no sooner offered to them, than, with unanimous consent, they gave their 
approbation of it, applauding Daiphantus, and decreeing him a crown, in 
reward of so generous and noble a contrivance ; the boys also are said to 
have met and consented to it. Things being in this posture, they went 



1 Eustath. Iliad. 

2 i\.usan. P.lcssen. 



3 Anton. Liberal. Mot-morpli. xvii. 

4 A then. Asmvoootp. lib. xiv. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



365 



to meet their enemies, whom they engaged with such fury and resolution, 
that those by whom they had just been before reduced to extreme despair, 
were entirely defeated by them. 1 In memory of which victory this festi- 
val was instituted, and observed with more solemnity, and frequently by 
greater numbers of worshippers, than any other in that country. Here 
you may take notice of the proverb, QiayAm a^ovoioc, Phocensian despair , 
which is applied to persons lost beyond all hopes of recovery, and is said 
to have taken its origin from this story. 

'EXivix, a festival instituted by the Laconians, in memory of Helena, 2 
to whom they gave the honour of a temple and divine worship. It was 
celebrated by virgins riding upon mules, or in certain chariots composed 
of reeds or bulrushes, and called Kavoifycci. 

EXiutiigta, at PlatEea, 3 to Jupiter Eleutherius, or the assertor of liberty, 
by delegates from almost all the cities of Greece. It was instituted upon 
this account: Mardonius, the Persian general, being defeated in the ter- 
ritories of Plateea, by the Grecians, under the conduct of Pausanias the 
Spartan, the Platseans erected' an altar, and a statue of white marble, to 
Jupiter Eleutherius, by whose assistance they supposed the Grecians had 
asserted the liberties of Greece against the force of the barbarians : and a 
general assembly being summoned from all parts of Greece, Aristides the 
Athenian, proposed that deputies might be sent every fifth year from the 
cities of Greece, to celebrate 'YXivO'igia, the games of liberty ; which was 
agreed upon, and great prizes appointed to be contended for. 

The Platseans also kept an anniversary solemnity, in memory of those 
that had valiantly lost their lives in defence of their country's liberty, of 
which the manner was thus: on the sixteenth of the month Msemacterion, 
which with the Boeotians is Alalcomenius, a procession was made, begin- 
ning about break of day. It was led by a trumpeter, sounding a point of 
war; then followed certain chariots, laden with myrrh, garlands, and a 
black bull ; after these came young men, freeborn, it not being permitted 
any person of servile condition to assist at any part of the solemnity, be- 
cause the men in whose memory it was instituted died in defence of the 
liberty of Greece; these carried libations of wine and milk, in large two- 
eared vessels, and jars of oil, and precious ointments : last of all came the 
chief magistrate, for whom, though it was unlawful at other times to touch 
any thing of iron, or wear garments of any colour but white, yet he was 
then clad in a purple robe, and taking a water-pot out of the city-chamber, 
proceeded with a sword in his hand through the middle of the town to the 
sepulchres : then he drew water out of a neighbouring spring, and washed 
and anointed the monuments ; then sacrificed the bull upon a pile of wood, 
making supplication to infernal Mercury, and Jupiter, and invited the 
souls of those valiant heroes that lost their lives in defence of their coun- 
try, to the entertainment ; then filling the bowl of wine, said, / dumb to 



1 Pint, de Virtute Mulierum, 



2 Kpsyclnv.s. 

2 h 3 



3 Pr-usan, BcpoU Pint. Aristide. 



SCO 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



those that lost their lives for the liberty of Greece. These solemnities, 
Plutarch tells us, were observed till his days. 

Another festival of this name was observed by the Samians, in honour 
of the god of love. 1 

It was also customary for slaves to keep a holiday called by this name, 
when they obtained liberty. To which custom there is an allusion in 
Plautus/ who introduces a slave, named Toxilus, rejoicing that his master 
was gone from home, and promising himself as much pleasure as if he had 
obtained his freedom ; whence he makes him to say, 

Basilice agito Eleutheria, 

'Ekivtrmx; this solemnity was observed by the Celeans and Phliasians, 
every fourth year; by the Pheneatee also, the Lacedaemonians, Parrhasi- 
ans, and Cretans ; but more especially by the Athenians, every fifth year, 
at Eleusis, a borough-town in Attica, from whence it was translated to 
Rome by Adrian the emperor, and never totally abolished till the reign of 
the elder Theodosius. It was the most celebrated and mysterious solem- 
nity of any in Greece; whence it was often called, by way of eminence, 
My<rr>^/a, 3 the mysteries, without any other note of distinction ; and so* 

1 Athense, Aewvoaof, lib. Hi. Greeks the same character -which by the Egyptians, mysteries; of 

2 Pers. act. i. seen. 1. they had among other nations, which, however, I wili relate no 

3 Beside the popular religion, And here we are induced to ask : more. It was from thence that 
Greece possessed also a religion What were they originally ? Row these mysteries were introduced 
of the initiated, preserved in the were they introduced and pre- into Greece.' Admitting this 
mysteries. Whatever we may served in Greece? And what even to be the chief design of the 
think of these institutions, and relation did they bear to the po- mysteries, it does not follow that 
whatever idea we may form of pular religion? it was the only one. Indeed, it 
them, no one can doubt that they The answer to these questions is very probable that, in the pro- 
were of a religious nature. They is contained in the remarks which gress of time, a great variety of 
must then have necessarily stood we have already made on the representations may have arisen 
in a certain relation to the reli- transformation and appropriation in the mysteries; their original 
gionof the people; but we shall of foreign gods by the Greeks, meaning might perhaps be gra- 
not be able to explain, with any Most of those gods, if not all of dually and entirely lost, and an- 
degree of probability, the nature them, were received as symboli- other be introduced in its stead, 
of that relation, until we trace cal physical beings, the poets Those passages may, there- 
them to their origin. _ made o"f them moral agents : and fore, be very easily explained, 

We must preface this inquiry as such they make their appear- which import that the mysteries, 

with a general remark. All ance in the religion of the peo- as has been particularly asserted 

the mysteries of the Greeks, as pie. of those of Eleusis, exhibited the 

far as we are , acquainted with The symbolical meaning would superiority of civilized over sa- 

thein, were introduced from have been lost if no means had vage life, and gave instructions 

abroad; and we can still point been provided to ensure its pre- respecting a future lite and its 

out the origin of most of them, servation. The mysteries, it nature. For what was this more 

Ceres had long wandered over seems, afforded such means, than an interpretation of the 

the earth before she was received Their great end therefore was, to sacred traditions which were told 

at Eleusis, and erected there her preserve the knowledge of the of the goddess, as the instructress 

sanctuary. Her secret rites at peculiar attributes of those divi- in agriculture, of the forced de- 

the Thesmophoria, according to nities which had been incorpo- scent of her daughter to the 

the account ot Herodotus, were rated into the popular religion lower world, &c? And we need 

first introduced by Danaus, who under new forms; what powers not be more astonished, if in 

brought them from Egypt to the and objects of nature they repre- some of their sacred rites we 

Peloponnesus. Whether the sented; how these and how the perceive an excitement curried 

rites of Orpheus and Bacchus universe came into being; in a to a degree of enthusiastic mad- 

criginally belonged to the Thra- word, cosmugonies. like those ness, which belonged peculiarly 

cians or the Egyptians, they cer- contained in the Orphicdoctrines. to the east, but which the Greeks 

tainly came from abroad. Those But this knowledge, though it -were very willing to receive. For 

of the Curetes and the Dactyli was preserved by oral instruc- we must not neglect to bear in 

originated in Crete. tion, was perpetuated no less by mind that they shared the spirit 

It has often been said, that symbolical representations and of the east; living as they aid 

these institutions in Greece suf- usages ; which, at least in part, on the very boundary line be- 

fered, in the progress of time, consisted of those sacred tradi- tween the east and west. As 

many and great alterations; "that tions and fables of which Ave have those institutions were propaga- 

Ihey commonly degenerated, or, already made mention. ' In the ted farther to the west they lost 

to speak more correctly, that the temple of Sais,' says Herodotus, their original character. We 

Grecians accommodated them to 'representations are given by know what the Bacchanalian 

themselves. It was not possible night of the adventures of the rites became at Rome; and had 

for them to preserve among the goddess; and these are called, they been introduced north of ifce 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



367 



Giiperstitiously careful were they to conceal the sacred rites, that if any 
person divulged any part of them, he was thought to have called down 
some divine judgment upon his head, and it was accounted unsafe to abide 
in the same house with him ; wherefore he was apprehended as a public 
offender, and suffered death. Every thing contained a mysteiy ; Ceres 
herself (to whom, with her daughter Proserpine, this solemnity was sacred), 
was not called by her own name, but by the unusual title of " A^hm, 
which seems to be derived from a%0osi grief or heaviness, because of her 
sorrow for the loss of her daughter, when she was stolen by Pluto. This 
secrecy was strictly enjoined, not only in Attica, but in all other places 
of Greece where this festival was observed, except Crete ; insomuch that 
if any person that was not lawfully initiated, did but, through ignorance 
or mistake, chance to be present at the mysterious rites, he was put to 
death. It is said by some to have been first instituted by Ceres herself, 
when she had supplied the Athenians with corn in a time of famine. 
Others attribute both those facts to king Erechtheus: some will have it to 
have been instituted by Musseus, the father of Eumolpus ; others by Eu- 
molpus himself. 

Persons of both sexes, and all ages, were initiated at this solemnity. 
Nor was it a thing indifferent, whether they would be so or not, for the 
neglect of it was looked upon as a crime of a very heinous nature ; inso- 
much that it was one part of the accusation for which Socrates was con- 
demned to death. All persons initiated were thought to live in a state of 
greater happiness and security than other men, being under the more 
immediate care and protection of the goddess: nor did the benefit of it 
extend only to this life ; but after death too, they enjoyed, as was believed, 
far greater degrees of felicity than others, and were honoured with the 
first places in the Elysian shades ; whereas others were forced to wallow 
in perpetual dirt, stink, and nastiness. 

But since the benefits of initiation were so vastly great, no wonder if 
they were very cautious what persons they admitted to it ; therefore such 
as were convicted of witchcraft, or any other heinous crime, or had com- 
mitted murder, though against their will, were debarred from these 
mysteries; and though, in later ages, all persons, barbarians excepted, 
were admitted to them, yet in the primitive times, the Athenians excluded 



Alps, what form would they have 
there assumed? But to those 
countries it was possible to trans- 
plant the vine, not the service of 
ihe god to whom the vine was 
sacred. The orgies of Bacchus 
suited the cold soil and incleniPnt 
forests of the north as little as 
the character of its inhabitants. 

The secret doctrines which 
were taught in the mysteries, 
may have finally degeneiated in. 
to mere forms and an unmeaning 
ritual. And yet the mysteries 
exercised a great influence on 
the spirit of the nation, not of the 
initiated only, but also of the 



great mass of the people ; and 
perhaps they influenced ihe latter 
still more than the former. They 
preserved ihe reverence for sa- 
cred things ; and this gave them 
their political importance. They 
produced that effect better than 
an/ modern secret societies have 
been iible to do. The mysteries 
had their secrets, but not every 
thing connected with them was 
secret. They had, like those of 
Eleusis, their public festivals, 
processions, and pilgrimages ; in 
which none but the initiated took 
a part, but of which no one was 
prohibited frcm being a spectator, 



Whilst the multitude was per- 
mitted to gazeatthem, it learned 
to believe, that there was some- 
thing sublimer than anything with 
whirh it was acquainted revealed 
only to the initiated •, and while 
the value of that sublimer know- 
ledge did not consist in secrecy 
alone, it did not lose any of its 
value by being concealed. 

Thus the popular religion and 
the secret doctrines, although 
always distinguished from each 
other, united in serving to curb 
the people.— Hcerens' Greece, pp. 
55-59. 



368 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



all strangers, that is, all that were not members of their own common- 
wealth. Hence, when Hercules, Castor, and Pollux, desired to be 
initiated, they were first made citizens of Athens, as we learn from 
Plutarch. 1 Nor were they admitted to the Mutrrtigta ^zyaXcc, or greater 
mysteries, but only to the pi-noa., or less, which were sacred to Proserpine, 
and first instituted on this account : on a time when the Athenians were 
celebrating the accustomed solemnity, Hercules happening to go that way, 
desired he might be initiated; but it being unlawful for any stranger to 
enjoy that privilege, and yet Hercules being a person who, by reason of 
his great power, and the extraordinary services he had done for them, 
could not be denied, Eumolpus thought of an expedient, whereby to satisfy 
the hero's request, without violating the laws ; which he did by instituting 
another solemnity, which was called Mixta, pvtrrnoiu, or the lesser myste- 
ries, which were afterwards solemnly observed in the month Anthesterion, 
at Agree, a place near the river Illissus ; whereas the greater were cele- 
brated in the month Boedromion, at Eleusis, an Attic borough, from 
which Ceres was called Eleusinia. In latter times, the lesser festival was 
used as a preparative to the greater ; for no persons were initiated in the 
greater, unless they had been purified at the lesser, the manner of which 
purification was thus: having kept themselves chaste and unpolluted nine 
days, they came and offered sacrifices and prayers, wearing crowns and 
garlands of flowers, which were called "Lr^a, or "iptou ; they had also 
under their feet A105 zuhtov, Jupiter s skin, which was the skin of a victim 
offered to that god. The person that assisted them herein was called 
'T^avo?, from vhu^ water, which was used at most purifications: them- 
selves were named Mutrrai, persons initiated. 

About a year after, having sacrificed a sow to Ceres, they were admitted 
to the greater mysteries, the secret rites of which, some few excepted, to 
which none but the priests were conscious, were frankly revealed to them ; 
whence they were called "EQogoi, and 2 'Ecro-frou, inspectors. The manner 
of initiation was thus: the candidates being crowned with myrtle, had 
admittance by night into a place called Mvyrixos <ry}xo;, the mystical tem- 
ple, which was an edifice so vast and capacious, that the most ample 
theatre did scarce exceed it. At their entrance, they purified themselves 
by washing their hands in holy water; and, at the same time, were 
admonished to present themselves with minds pure and undefiled, without 
which the external cleanness of the body would by no means be accepted. 
After this, the holy mysteries were read to them out of a book called 
lliTgcopa, ; which word is derived from «r£r^a, a stone, because the book 
was nothing else but two stones fitly cemented together. Then the priest 
that initiated them, called 'lipoQavrns, proposed certain questions, as 
whether they were fasting? &c, to which they returned answers in a set 
form, as may be seen in Meursius' treatise on this festival, to which I 
refer the reader. This done, strange and amazing objects presented 



2 Frogs, ICS. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



369 



themselves; sometimes the place they were in seemed to shake round 
them, sometimes appeared bright and resplendent with light and radiant 
fire, and then again covered with black darkness and horror; some- 
times thunder and lightning; sometimes frightful noises and bellow- 
ings; sometimes terrible apparitions astonished the trembling spectators. 
The 'being present at these sights was called Aurora, intuition. After 
this they were dismissed in these words, Ko 7 %, "0^\> The garments 
in which they were initiated were accounted sacred, and of no less efficacy 
to avert evils than charms and incantations; and therefore were never cast 
off till they were torn and tattered; nor was it then usual to throw them 
away, but they made swaddling clothes of them for their children, or con- 
secrated them to Ceres and Proserpine. 

The chief person that attended at the initiation was called 'liootpuvrvs, 
a reverter of holy things: he was a citizen of Athens, and held his office 
during life (though amongst the Celeans and Phliasians it was customary for 
him to resign his place every fourth year, which was the time of this fes- 
tival) ; he was farther obliged to devote himself wholly to divine service, 
and to live a chaste and single life ; to which end it was usual for him to 
anoint himself with the juice of hemlock, which, by its extreme coldness, 
is said to extinguish in a great measure the natural heat. The hierophantes 
had three assistants ; the first of whom was called from his office, A<fiod%o$ t 
torch -bearer; and to him it was permitted to marry. The second was called 
K^y>, of whose office I have already given an account. The third min- 
istered at the altar, and was, for that reason, named r O Wi ra> Bapw. 
Hierophantes is said to have been a type of the great Creator of all things ; 
A*hv%os, of the sun; K»gt;|, of Mercury; and 'O \*i ru jSaojfcw, of the moon. 

There were also certain public officers, whose business it was to take 
care that all things were performed according to custom. First Bx<ri\ws, 
the king, who was one of the archons, and was obliged at this solemnity to 
offer prayers and sacrifices, to see that no indecency or irregularity was 
committed, and the day following the mysteries, to assemble the senate to 
take cognizance of all offenders in that kind. Besides the king, there 
were four 'Esr/^sX^ra/, curators, elected by the people; one of them was 
appointed out of the sacred family of the Eumolpidae, another out of the 
Ceryces, and the remaining two out of the other citizens. There were 
also ten persons that assisted at this, and some other solemnities, who were 
called 'li^ovroto), because it was their business to offer sacrifices. 

This festival was celebrated in the month Boedromion, and continued 
nine days, beginning upon the fifteenth, and ending upon the twenty-third 

1 Wil ford endeavours to prove mer a more defensible one, -which sian, and we have no certain as- 

that these mysterious words are derives the words in question surance of its having ever existed 

of Sanscrit origin. {Asiatic Re- from the Persian CambakJtsch, in the ancient language; and, 

searches, vol. v.) M. Ouvaroff denoting, according to this lastly, it means, not l voti sui. 

follows in the same path with writer, ' vnti sui compos for, in compos f but ' qui ali quern voti 

still moreingenuity andlearning. the first place, there is nothing compotem facit." (Compare the 

(Essai sur les Mysteres d* Eleusis, that can prove the mysteries of note of De Sacy appended to 

p. 108, seqq.) The opinion, how- Eleusis to have been of Persian Sainte Croix's work, ''Mysteres 

ever, is barely if at all tenable, origin; in the next place, the du Paganisme, vol. i. p. 470.') 

Nor is the position of Von Ham- word Cambakhsch is modern Pet- 



370 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



day of that mouth, during which time it was unlawful to arrest any man, 
or present any petition ; and such as were found guilty of these practices 
were fined a thousand drachms, or, as others report, put to death. It was 
also unlawful for those that were initiated to sit upon the covering of a 
well, or to eat beans, mullets, or weazles. If any woman rode in a chariot 
to Eleusis, she was, by an edict of Eycurgus, obliged to pay six thousand 
drachms. The design of which order was to prevent the richer women 
from distinguishing themselves from those which were poor. 

1. The first day was called 'Ayugpoc, an assembly; because, it may be, 
then the worshippers first met together. 

2. The second was named " AXothi Mvcrrai, to the sea, you that are initi- 
ated; because, I suppose, they were commanded to purify themselves by 
washing in the sea. 

3. Upon the third they offered sacrifices, which consisted chiefly of an 
iExonian mullet, in Greek, rglyXn, and barley out of Rharium, a field of 
Eleusis, in which that sort of corn was first sown. These oblations were 
called ®6x, and accounted so sacred, that the priest themselves were not, 
as was usual in other offerings, allowed to partake of them. 

4. Upon the fourth they made a solemn procession, wherein the xaXcc- 
iiov, or holy basket of Ceres, was carried in a consecrated cart ; crowds of 
people shouting as they went along, XxTgz, A^jjt^, kail, Ceres ! After 
these followed certain women, called KtffroQo^oi, who, as the name implies, 
carried certain baskets : in these were contained sesamin, carded wool, 
some grains of salt, a serpent, pomegranates, reeds, ivy-boughs, and a sort 
of cakes called <p0o7$, poppies, &c. 

5. The fifth was called C H rwv Xa.y.-Trcchm 'a^iooc, the torch-day; because, 
on the night following it, the men and women ran about with torches in 
their hands. It was also customary to dedicate torches to Ceres, and to 
contend who should present the biggest ; which was done in memory of 
Ceres' journey, wherein she sought Proserpine, being conducted by the 
light of a torch, kindled in the flames of Etna. 

6. The sixth was called "Ixk^os, from Iacchus, the son of Jupiter and 
Ceres, who accompanied the goddess in her search after Proserpine, with 
a torch in his hand ; whence it is that his statue held a torch. This statue 
was carried from the Ceramicus to Eleusis in solemn procession, called 
after the hero's name "Ixa^og. The statue, and the persons that accom- 
panied it, had their heads crowned with myrtle: these were named 
'lxxwyeoyol, and all the way danced, and sung, and beat brazen kettles. 
The way by which they issued out of the city was called 'lieu oho?, the 
sacred way: the resting-place, 'Uox cvky,, from a Jig-tree, which grew 
there, and was, like all other things concerned in this solemnity, accounted 
sacred. It was also customary to rest upon a bridge built over the river 
Cephissus, where they made themselves merry by 1 jesting on those that 
passed by; whence yi(pv^uv, being derived from yitpvsa,, a bridge, is by 



1 Frot;s; pp. 142, 143. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



371 



Suidas expounded xi.s»«g»», mocking or jeering ; and yi<pv£i*rui are, by 
Hesychius, interpreted <r**crr«/, scoffers. Having passed this bridge, 
they went to Eieusis, the way into which was called Mvffruch lUo^og, the 
mystical entrance. 

7. Upon the seventh day were sports, in which the victors were re- 
warded with a measure of barley, as that grain had been first sown in 
Eieusis. 

8. The eighth was called 'E^at^v buiox, because it once happened 
that iEsculapius, coming from Epidaurus to Athens, and desiring to be 
initiated, had the lesser mysteries repeated ; whence it became customary 
to celebrate them a second time upon this day, and admit to initiation such 
persons as had not before enjoyed that privilege. 

9. The ninth and last day of the festival was called TL\'*pox'°*h earthen 
vessels; because it was usual to fill two such vessels with wine; one of 
which being placed towards the east, and the other towards the west, after 
the repetition of certain mystical words, they were both thrown down, anil 
the wine being spilt upon the ground, was offered as a libation. 1 



1 After all that has been said 
on the nature and design of the 
mysteries which were celebrated 
over the greater part of the an- 
cient -world, the learned are not 
even now wholly agreed in their 
opinions on this subject. The 
obscene rites which formed a 
part of these ceremonies, and the 
excesses to which they are said 
to have given occasio i, are fre- 
quently spoken of with reproba- 
tion by the fathers of the church, 
who constantly regard the myste- 
ries with horror and detestation. 
On the other hand, they are 
spoken of with high encomiums 
by the pagan philosophers, espe- 
cially by those of the later Pla- 
tonic school, as Porphyry, Iam- 
biiehus, Proclus, and Apuleius, 
who profess to explain the inten- 
tion of these sacred solemnities, 
and to interpret the strange and 
unpromising symbols which were 
exhibited in them, in a mystical 
sense, favourable to piety and 
virtue. It is probable that the 
truth lies between these opposite 
representations. It would appear 
that the intention with which the 
mysteries were first instituted 
was the promotion of social order 
and piety, such as heathen piety 
was; but that they had, in the 
course of many ages, become 
greatly corrupted, and that the 
secret and nocturnal assemblies 
which were held at their celebra- 
tion gave occasion to many ex- 
cesses. Meuxsius has very di.i- 
gently collected the passages of 
the ancient writers in which the 
mysteries are treated of, or 
casually mentioned - , but it was 
Warburton who iirst attempted, 
with any degree of success, to 
systematise thes? scattered facts, 
and to deduce from them any lu- 



minous conclusion ; and it must 
be allowed, that although this 
writer carries some of his specu- 
lations to an undue extent, and 
assumes a more dogmat : cal tone 
in his assertions than his autho- 
rities warrant, yet that his view 
of the subject appears to be es- 
sentially correct. Mr Gibbon 
attacked the bishop with seme 
warmth, and seems to have suc- 
ceeded in showing that Warbur- 
t< n's account of the sixth book of 
the iEneid is without founda- 
tion; but he has not invalidated 
the conclusions which relate to 
the purport of the mysteries. 
Amidst the obscurity which pre- 
vails on the subject of the mys- 
teries, the following facts may be 
considered as tolerably well as- 
certained. 1. The mysteries 
were of two kinds. The more 
public exhibition was intended to 
produce an effect on the minds of 
the people favourable to civil 
order, and tending to inspire 
veneration for the laws. It 
seems that this was one of the 
means adopted by the primitive 
legislators of mankind for re- 
claiming barbarians, and forming 
the inhabitants of the different 
counties, whither the mysteries 
were conveyed, to the prac.ice of 
social duties. They are repre- 
sented as celebrating the adoption 
of agriculture, and the invention 
of the arts of life. Diodonis Si- 
culus informs us, that the Sicilian 
feasts of Ceres, which lasted ten 
days, represented the ancient 
manner of living before men had 
learned the use and culture of 
bread-corn. From Varro, Clau- 
dian, and Arnobius, it appears 
that the Eleusinian rites repre- 
sented the life of Ceres, and her 
wanderings in quest of her 



daughter Proserpina, and her 
legislation of Sicily and Africa, 
where she taught the inhabitants 
agriculture, and reclaimed them 
from barbarism. In accordance 
with this is the authority of 
Cicero. The learned commenta- 
tor Turnebus observes, that the 
mysteries were called initio., be- 
cause they were celebrated in 
commemoration of the 'begin- 
nings' of civilized life, when 
Cer^s taught agriculture, and in- 
vented laws to restrain men 
hitherto barbarians. 2. The in- 
junctions to morality were sanc- 
tioned by the doctrine of future 
rewards and punishments. A 
remarkable passage from Cicero 
is strongly in proof of this asser- 
tion, in which, speaking of the 
advantages to be derived from the 
mysteries, he observes, ncquc 
solum cum Icrtiiia Vivendi ration- 
em uccepimus, scd etiani tuni spe 
meliore moriendi, 1 not only do we 
learn a method of living in joy, 
but also of dying in the enjoy- 
ment of a better hope.' {Be Lea-. 
xiv.) The initiated, and those, 
who should lead a virtuous life, 
were promised an abode in the 
islands of the blessed, where 
they were to enjoy a happy im- 
mortality, while the profane 
wallowed in a black pool of mud. 
How the fiction of the metempsy- 
chosis was connected with these 
doctrines does not appear very 
clearly, but it seems to have 
formed a prominent feature in 
the mystical solemnities, especi- 
ally in the east. 3. Concerning 
the nature of the arrnpfaTa, or in- 
violable mysteries, which were 
only divulged to a few favoured 
individuals, it is not easy to ar- 
rive at a satisfactory conclusion. 
Thus far, however, we may eon- 



372 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



*Ei.tvo$o0tee, an Athenian festival, 1 so called from *EXsv«/, i. e. vessels 
made of bulrushes, with ears of willow, in which certain mysterious things 
were carried upon this day. 

'EXXwr/a, two festivals, 2 one of which was celebrated in Crete, in honour 
of Europa, called 'EXX^t/^ which was either a Phoenician name, or de- 
rived a-ro rov \\iff@a.i aurhv v<xo tocv^ov, from Europa's ravishment by 
Jupiter in the form of a bull. At this time Europa's bones were carried 
in procession, with a myrtle garland called 'EXXcurtg, or 'EXX^tji?, which 
was no less than twenty cubits in circumference. 

The other festival was celebrated by the Corinthians, with solemn 
games and races, in which young men contended, running with lighted 
torches in their hands. It was instituted in honour of Minerva, surnamed 
'EXX/wr/s? civro rou iv Mx^mt %\ovs, from a certain pond in Marathon, 
where one of her statues was erected ; or asro rod IXtTv rov 'ivrvrov rov Uv- 
yourov, because by her assistance Bellerophon caught Pegasus, the winged 
horse, and brought him under command, which some take to be the first 
reason of the celebration of this festival. Others are of opinion, that this 
name was given to the goddess from one Hellotis, a Corinthian woman ; 
the story runs thus: — The Dorians being assisted by the posterity of Her- 
cules, made an invasion upon Peloponnesus where they took and burned 
Corinth: most of the women took care to secure themselves by an early 
flight; only some few, amongst whom were Hellotis and Eurytione, be- 
took themselves to Minerva's temple, hoping that the sanctity of the place 
would be a sufficient protection for them. No sooner had this reached the 
Dorians' ears, but they set fire to the temple: and all the rest making a 
shift to escape, Hellotis and Eurytione perished in the flames. Upon this 
ensued a dreadful plague, which proved very fatal to the Dorians : and the 
remedy prescribed by the goddess was to appease the ghosts of the two 
deceased sisters ; whereupon they instituted this festival in memory of 
them, and erected a temple to Minerva, surnamed from one of them, 
Hellotis. 

'Ekuptx, games in Sicily, near the river Helloris.3 
Eft,<z-\oxioi, at Athens. 4 

Ev?;X<«g/ s -, or rather, according to Meursius' conjecture, 'EvyaX/'ag/?, 
was a festival in honour of Enyalius, 5 whom some will have to be the same 
with Mars; others, only one of his ministers. 



sider as tolerably clenr, that al- ous to the popular belief in the ancient tbeosophists were not 

though there is no sufficient evi- mythology. From the writings very remote in their dogmas 

dence for Watburton's opinion, of Varro, of which fragments are from the notions of Spi.nosa. 

that the object was to expose the preserved by St Augustine, from — Mullet's Universal History, 

falsehood of the vulgar poiythe- numerous observations of Cle- (Note of English Translator,) 

isrn, and to declaie the unity of mens and of Proclus, from some vol. i. p. 25. 

God, yet some secret doctrines mystical passages of Euripides 1 Pollux Onom. lib. x. cap. 53. 

■were taught concerning the na- and of Virgil, and from the first Hesvch. 

ture of the gods, which it was book of the Saturnalia of Macro- 2 Hesych. Etym. Auct. Athen. 

held the most unpardonable of- bius, it would appear that the Aeinvoaocp. lib. xv. Pind. Schol, 

fence to divulge. Hence we explanations of the mythology, Olymp. Od. xiii. 

may infer that they were of such which were delivered in the mys- 3 Hesychius. 

a kind that the publication of teries, were chiefly physical, and 4 Idem, 

them was considered as danger- that the most celebrated of the 5 Idem. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



373 



E|/T'/y£/«, oblations or prayers to any of the gods, ftii i%odoo, for 
prosperous egress. These were offered, by generals before they went out 
to the wars, by men who were going from home, and such as were about 
to make their exit out of the world by death. 1 

Ea-a^&j?, to Ceres, named "A^s/a, 2 from a%0os, grief, in memory of 
her sorrow, when she had lost her daughter Proserpine. 

Evtitiptx, private festivals, and times of rejoicing, when a friend or re- 
lation had returned from a journey. 3 

WjMpm Av'oXXmos, a Delphian festival, in memory of a journey of 
Apollo. 4 ✓ 

Evrfgixdhx, in honour of Apollo. 5 

EvnxXtihu, an Athenian festival, in honour of Ceres. 6 

EtrtxoyivtGi, another of Ceres' festivals, observed by the Laconians. 7 

Evr/vaia, Eorivixto; 'EtfgTjj, a day of rejoicing after victory. 'EieiHxia 
§6uv signifies to sacrifice for a victory obtained. 

EtfurxaQiz, a Rhodian festival. 8 

Efitrxwa, a Spartan festival. 9 

Ert'wxioa., Wsttam^umss, at Scira in Attica, in honour of Ceres and Pro- 



serpine 



10 



'Eoear'ihcc, by the Thespians, in honour of "Eoa;, Cupid, the god of love. 11 
E^r/a. This festival seems to be the same with, the former, for it was 
observed by the Thespians in honour of Cupid: 12 being celebrated every 
fifth year with sports and games, wherein musicians and others contended. 
If any quarrels had happened amongst the people, it was usual at this time 
to offer sacrifices and prayers to the god, that he would put an end to 
them. 

Eoydrix, a Laconian festival, in honour of Hercules; 13 being, I suppose, 
instituted in memory of the labours, for labour is by the Greeks called 
'Eayov. 

'JEffxvviet. I would rather call it 'Egzvwta, for this festival belonged to 
Ceres, 14 whom we find surnamed Hercynna, in Lycophron ; 15 which title 
was given her from Hercynna, the daughter of Trophonius, and play- 
fellow of Proserpine. 16 

"Eg/xaix, a festival observed in honour of 'E^s??, Mercury, by the Phe- 
neatte in Arcadia, 17 and the Cyllenians in Elis. 18 

Another wo find observed by the Tanagrteans in Boeotia, 19 where Mer- 
cury was called Kgiotpogos, the ram-bearer, and represented with a ram 
upon his shoulder, because he is said, in a time of plague, to have walked 
about the city in that posture, and cured the sick ; in memory of which 
action, it was customary for one of the most beautiful youths in the city to 
walk round the city-walls with a lamb, or ram, upon his shoulders. 

1 Suid. Etymol. Auctor. 8 Hesvchius. 14 Hesychius. 

2 Plut. de Iside et Osiride. 9 Idem. 15 Cassandra, ver. 153. 

3 Himer. in Prop. Flavin. 10 Strabo Geogr. lib. ix. Steph. 36 Pausan. Bceoticis. 

4 Procop. in Epist. ad Zaehar. v. s»i'pot. 17 Idem Arcad. 

5 Hesychius. 11 Eust. sub fmem Iliad, «/. IS Idem Eliacis. 

6 'dem. 12 Plut Erotic. Paus. Boeot. 19 Idem Boeoticis. 

7 Idem. 13 Hesychius. 

2 i 



374 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



A festival of the same name was also observed in Crete, where it was 
usual for the servants to sit clown at the table, whilst their masters stood 
by and waited ; x which custom was also practised at the Roman saturnalia. 

Another of Mercury's festivals was observed by boys in the schools of 
exercise at Athens ; 2 at which no adult persons were allowed to be present, 
besides the gymnasiarch ; who, if convicted of having admitted any, under- 
went the same punishment with those that corrupted freeborn youth: the 
occasion of this law seems to have been the foul and not-to-be-named lust 
and wantonness which were practised in former times at this solemnity. 

t Ecrriata, solemn sacrifices to Vesta, 3 called in Greek 'Earta, of which 
it was unlawful to carry away, or communicate, any part to any besides 
the worshippers ; whence t E<TTia, S-vstv, to sacrifice to Vesta, is proverbially 
applied to such as do any thing in private, without spectators ; 4 or rather 
to covetous misers, that will not part with any thing they are once pos- 
sessed of. 5 

Evpinlua, or lipvuv 'Eopt'/i, to the Furies, 6 who were by the Athenians 
called 2j^va/ S-sa), venerable goddesses ; by the Sicyonians, and others, 
Ehpu'ilis, favourable or propitious y out of an opinion that their true 
names were unlucky omens. This festival was observed once every year 
with sacrifices, wherein pregnant ewes, cakes made by the most eminent 
of the young men, and a libation of honey and wine, were offered to the 
goddesses, the worshippers being decked with flowers. At Athens, none 
had admission to these solemnities but freeborn denizens; and of them, 
those only that were of known virtue and integrity, for such alone could 
be acceptable to these deities, whose peculiar oflice it was to revenge and 
punish all sorts of wickedness. 

Eugvtiicoviov, to Ceres. 7 

Eugvxkuet, a Spartan festival, mentioned in an old inscription. 

EuguvopziK, an anniversary solemnity observed by the Phigaleans in 
Arcadia, 8 who offered sacrifices, both in public and private, to Eurynome, 
who had in this place a temple, which was never opened but upon this 
day. This Eurynome was, as some are of opinion, the same with Diana ; 
or, according to others, one of Oceanus' daughters, mentioned in Homer, 
where she is said to have assisted in entertaining Vulcan. 

Ep/snr*?, horse-races in Laconia. 9 

H. 

'HXaKa.rcx.7a., a Laconian festival, 10 in honour of Helacatus, who was a 
boy beloved by Hercules. 

"Hoaia, a festival at Argos, in honour of Juno, who was the protectress 
of that city, and called in Greek "H^/i. The same was kept by the colo- 
nies from Argos, which inhabited the islands iEgina and Samos. There 



1 Athenae. Aenrvotro<p. lib. x\v. 

2 ^Eschines in Timarchui:). 

3 Hesycliius. 

•1 Dio^enianus. 



5 Tarrliasus. 

G Pliilo, Fausanias Bceo;icis. 
7 HVsycluus. 



8 Pausaniaii Arcadiris. 

9 Hosychius et Phavoi iiius. 
l\) Hssychius. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



375 



were two processions to the goddess' temple without the city ; one by the 
men in armour ; another, in which Juno's priestess, who was always a 
matron of the first quality, was drawn in a chariot by white oxen: from her 
priesthood the Argians accounted their years, as the Athenians did by the 
government of their archons. Being arrived at the temple, they offered a 
hecatomb of oxen, whence this festival is named 'Ezxro^oicx, ; that sacri- 
fice is also sometimes called As^va' which name may, perhaps, be de- 
rived from a bed, because it was Juno's care to preside over mar- 
riages, births, &c. There were also certain games, wherein the victory 
consisted in pulling down a shield that was strongly fixed upon the thea- 
tre : the reward was a crown of myrtle, and a brazen shield ; whence the 
game was sometimes called XxXkhos ayav, the brazen contention. See 

Another festival of this name we find celebrated every fifth year in 
Elis, where sixteen matrons were appointed to weave a garment for the 
goddess. There were games also, which are said to have been first insti- 
tuted by Hippodamia, in honour of Juno, by whose assistance she was 
married to Pelops. The presidents were sixteen matrons, every one of 
whom was attended by a maid : the contenders were virgins, who being 
distinguished into several classes, according to their ages, ran races in 
their order, beginning from the youngest. The habit of all was the same: 
their hair was dishevelled, their right shoulders were bare to the breasts, 
and their coats reached no lower than their knees. They had a second 
race in the Olympic stadium, which was at that time shortened about a 
sixth part. Such as obtained a victory were rewarded with crowns of 
olive, and a share of the ox that was offered in sacrifice, and were per- 
mitted to dedicate their own pictures to the goddess. 

This name was also given to a solemn day of mourning at Corinth, for 
Medea's children, who were buried in the temple of Juno Acrsea in that 
place, and, as some say, slain by the Corinthians, who, to remove the 
scandal of so barbarous a murder from themselves, are said to have given 
Euripides a large sum to invent the fable, wherein it is attributed to 
Medea, which before that time no man ever dreamed of. 1 

Another festival of this name was celebrated by the Pellenseans with 
games, wherein the victor was rewarded with a rich garment, called, from 
the name of the place, UiXXnvizri %Xa7\>oc. 

c Hoccx>.ucc, an Athenian festival, celebrated every fifth year in honour 
of Hercules. 2 

The Thisbians also, and Thebans in Boeotia, observed a solemn festival 
in honour of Hercules, surnamed MnXuv, because to, priXa., apples, were 
offered to him. 3 The origin of which custom was thus: it being usual 
in former times to ofTer a sheep at this solemnity, it happened once that 
the river Asopus had so far overflowed its banks, that it could not be 
forded, whereby the coming of the victim was hindered. The word 



1 Vycophron. Scholiast. 



2 Pollux, viii. 9. 
2 I 2 



3 Pollux., i. 1. 



376 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



fATtXov is ambiguous in Greek, signifying sometimes a sheep, sometimes 
an apple ; which some of the boys being aware of, for want of other em- 
ployment, performed the holy rites in sport, offering, instead of the ram, 
an apple, which they supported with four sticks, in imitation of feet, 
placing two more upon the top of it, to branch out like horns : Hercules was 
mightily taken with the jest, and the custom was continued from that time 
to my author's age, who flourished under Commodus the Roman emperor. 

At Sicyon, Hercules was honoured with a festival, which lasted two 
days, the former of which was called 'Ovoparx;, the latter 'noaxXua. 

At Lindus, there was a solemnity in honour of Hercules, at which no- 
thing was heard but execrations and ill-boding words, insomuch that if any 
person happened to let fall a lucky speech, he was thought to have pro- 
faned the holy rites; the origin of which custom is accounted for by 
Lactantius. 

There was another festival of Hercules at Coos, wherein the priest 
officiated with a mitre on his head, and in women's apparel. 

Hootroivhtec, a Peloponnesian festival, wherein the women met together 
and gathered flowers, 1 as the name imports, being derived from e«£, the 
spring, and av^<5?, a floiver. 

H?o%'ia, a festival mentioned by Hesychius. 

'Hgojt;, a festival celebrated every ninth year by the Delphians, in hon- 
our of some heroine, as may be learned from the name. 2 There were in 
it a great many mysterious rites, one of which was a representation of 
something like Semele's resurrection. 

'HQcturn'ioi, an Athenian festival in honour of "H$cti<rros, Vulcan. At 
this time there was a race with torches, called 'Ayuv Xoc^a^ov^os, in the 
academy; the manner of which was thus: 3 the antagonists were three 
young men, one of whom being appointed by lots to take his turn first, 
took a lighted torch in his hand, and began his course: if the torch was 
extinguished before he arrived at his journey's end, he delivered it to the 
second, and he in like manner to the third. The victory was his that 
carried the torch lighted to the race's end, who was called Aoc^A^o^o;, 
or Uv^ffYi<pooos ; but if none could perform that, the victory was not adjudged 
to any of them. If any of the contenders, for fear of extinguishing the 
torch by too violent a motion, slackened his course, the spectators used to 
strike him with the palms of their hands ; for which reason those blows 
were called Ylk'Aycu tfXctriiott, broad stripes; as also Ksoecpuxat, because 
they were inflicted in the Ceramicus, 4 of which the academy was a part. 
To the successive delivering of the torches from one to another, there are 
frequent allusions in authors, who usually compare it to the turns and 
vicissitudes of human affairs, and the various changes and successions that 
happen in the world ; of which I will only mention one instance out of 
Lucretius: 5 



] Hpsychms. 
H <jua±st. Graec. 



3 Pausan. Persii vetus Schol. 4 Arist. ejusque Schol. in Ran. 
Hesychius. 5 Lib. ii. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



377 



Inq>ie br-'Vi apatio mutnntur secla animnntum % Like racers, bear the lamp of "life, and live; 

Et quasi cursores vitu'i lumpada t?adu,it. And their race done, th ir lamps to others give, 

bo things by turns increase, by turns decay, CKEtCH. 

a 

ezkvffioc, a sacrifice offered by the husbandmen after harvest, v-t)^ <tv\5 
ilXitas <ru>v xct0<zr&jv, in gratitude to the gods, by whose blessing they en- 
joyed the fruits of the ground. The whole festival was called 'AX&cc : as 
also 'ZvytwfAttrrvipiU, ccta <?ns ffvyxopihn; t«v xugtrav, from, the gathering of 
fruits. Some will have it to be observed in honour of Ceres and Bacchus, 1 
as these were the two deities who had a peculiar care of the fruits of the 
earth. But Eustathius tells us, 2 that there was also a solemn procession 
at this time in honour of Neptune : and adds further, that all the gods had 
a share in the offerings at this festival ; as appears also from Homer's own 
words, who tells us, that Diana's anger against CEneus was caused by his 
neglect of sacrificing to her at tins festival, wherein all the rest of the gods 
had been feasted by him : 

Kal yap rolai xaxhv xov<r6dpovns*Apr*fi.is wp?e The silver Cynthia bade contention rise, 

Xtosaiifv? oV ol ovn S-nXvata yovycZ a\w^ In vengeance of neglected sacrifice : 

Olitvs p~'i\ aXkov oi Seol UivvvO' wariSu^oj, On GEneus" field she sent a monstrous boar, 

Ol'j? 5' ovk lf,p*%s Atoj Ko6pTi fj.sya.Xoio. That levelled harvests and whole forests tore. 

POP£. 

Hence comes QaXvtrtos. uora?, sometimes called QagynXos, 3 which was 
the first bread made of the new com. Some there are, that will have 
SaXua-iu. to be a general name for all the festivals wherein they carried 
tov; §a.Wo\>i, green boughs. 

QctoynXia., an Athenian festival in honour of the Sun, and his attend- 
ants the Hours; or, as others think, of Delian Apollo and Diana. It 
was celebrated upon the sixth and seventh days of Thargelion, and received 
its name from S-aoyy.Xix, which is a general word for all the fruits of the 
earth, because one of the chief ceremonies was the carrying about their 
first fruits in pots called Sagyfaoi, which name was also applied to the 
Eiotrieuvai, which were carried about the city at this time, and shall be 
described in the festival called Uuavi^icc. The chief solemnity was upon 
the latter day, the former being wholly taken up in making preparations 
for it ; at winch time it was customary to lustrate the city, which was done 
by two persons, called by the general name of $«^axi), 4 which is applied 
to all that purified cities; or the more peculiar one of ^.u[A&otx%oi. They 
were both men, or, according to others, a man and woman ; one of which 
represented the male, the other the female sex, and offered a sacrifice for 
each of them: it was usual for the man to carry about his neck figs, called 
i<r%u.}i;, of a blackish colour, and the woman white. 5 

Poetical fiction tells us, that the $et£fietxo$ was so called from one Phar- 
macus, that stole some of the consecrated vessels of Apollo, and being ap- 
prehended in the fact by Achilles' soldiers, suffered death ; of which crime 



1 Menandei Rh- tor. cap xtol 

2 Liad. ,'. 



3 Alheafeus, iii. 

4 Frogs, p. 164. Mitchell, i. 
263. 

2 I 3 



5 The ordinary rites in puriTy- 
ing cities are described hy John 
Tz-lzes, Chiliad. Hie tar. v. 23. 



373 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and punishment the Athenians had always a representation at this festival. 
The <&xgftocxcs was called K*a£',?<r<<r»j?, from a sort of figs called xodoai, 
and used in lustrations ; whence also x^cQn; vopos was a tune upon the 
flute, which was played as he went to perform his office. It was farther 
customary for a choir of singing men to contend for victory, and the con- 
queror to dedicate a tripos in the Pytheum, a temple of Apollo, built by 
Pisistratus. At this festival the Athenians enrolled their adopted sons in 
the public register, as they did their natural at Apaturia. During the 
solemnity, it was unlawful to give or receive pledges; and offenders of 
this kind were arraigned at an assembly held in the theatre of Bacchus. 

The Milesians had a festival of the same name, which they celebrated 
with many expressions of mirth and jollity, feasting and entertaining one 
another. 

Stoyupict, the marriage of the gods. It was a Sicilian festival in honour 
of Proserpine ; x and seems to have been instituted in memory of her mar- 
riage with Pluto : the chief part of the solemnity being nothing else but an 
imitation of nuptial rites. 

Gioivix. See Aiovvffia. 

<dio\ivia., a festival common to all the gods, 2 and celebrated in many 
cities of "Greece, but especially at Athens. 

The Pellenajans instituted solemn games, called by this name, in hon- 
our of Apollo eio^ivios, the god of hospitality, 3 or, of Apollo and Mercury: 4 
the victors were rewarded with a piece of plate, or with a garment called 
Xa«/V«. 

The same scholiast reports, 5 that the Dioscuri instituted a festival of 
this name in memory of an honour the gods did them, by coming to one 
of their entertainments. 

QiiQuvi'iK, or @io<px'/iOi, the appearance of the god. It was a festival 
observed by the Delphians, 6 upon the day whereon Apollo first manifested 
himself to them. 

Sisccvrvecr'ihoi, a Laeonian festival. 7 

Qiep'tav 'EigTY), a public festival, mart, and assembly of the iEtolians, 
held at a town in that country called Thermi. 8 
Qiorfyia,, a festival mentioned by Hesychius. 

®ztrpo(pooia., a festival in honour of Ceres, surnamed &i<rfte$ogo;, Legi- 
'era, 9 the lawgiver, because she was the first that taught mankind the 
use of laws. The first institution of it is by some attributed to 
Triptolemus, by others to Orpheus, and by others to the daughters of 
Danaiis. It was celebrated in many of the Grecian cities by the Spar- 
tans and Milesians, amongst whom the solemnity lasted three days; 
by the Drymeans in Phocis, the Thebans in Boeotia, the Megareans; 
by the Syracusans, where, towards the end of the solemnity, they 



1 Pollux, 1. 

2 Hesychius. 

3 Pausan. Achaicis. 



4 Pindar. Schol. Olymp. xi. 

5 Olymp. iii. 

6 Herodotus, i. Suid. 



7 Hesvchius. 

8 Polyb. v. 

9 Vir ;iiius, iEr.ei'L Jr. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



379 



carried in procession the secrets of a woman, composed of sesamin and 
honey, and called in Sicily f&vkXoi ; by the Eretrians in Euboea, where it 
was customary, on this occasion, to roast their meat by the heat of the 
sim; by the Delians, who used to bake loaves of a large size, called 
'A;e«*mw, which they ushered in with great solemnity, the bearers of them 
crying, 

A r tt r.ry crictro; tttzkiov rcayov. 

Hence the festival is sometimes called MzyccXtzgna, 

But the Athenians observed this festival with the greatest show of de- 
votion: the worshippers were freeborn women (it being imlawful for any 
of servile condition to be present), whose husbands were wont to defray 
the charges of the solemnity; and were obliged to do so, if their wives' 
portion amounted to three talents. These women were assisted by a 
priest called 2r:<p«va<^ar, because his head was adorned with a crown 
whilst he executed his office ; as also by certain virgins, who were strictly 
confined, and kept under severe discipline, being maintained at the public 
charge in a place called Bta-fio^aosTov, The women were clad in white 
apparel, to intimate their spotless innocence, and were obliged to the 
strictest chastity for five or three days before, and during the whole time 
of the solemnity, which lasted four days ; for which end they used to 
strew upon their beds such herbs as were thought to destroy all appetite to 
venereal pleasures; such were agnus castas, fieabane, and, which were 
made use of by the Milesian women, vine branches, &c. It was held 
unlawful to eat the kernels of pomegranates, or to adorn themselves with 
garlands ; every thing being carried on with the greatest appearance of 
seriousness and gravity, and nothing tolerated that bore the least show of 
wantonness and immodesty, or even of mirth and jollity, the custom of 
jesting upon one another excepted, which was constantly done in memory 
of Iambe, that by a taunting jest' extorted a smile from Ceres, when she 
was in a pensive and melancholy humour. Three days at least were spent 
in making preparations for the festival. Upon the eleventh of Pyanep- 
sion, the women, carrying books upon their heads, wherein the laws were 
contained, in memory of Ceres' invention, went to Eleusis, where the 
solemnity was kept; whence this day was called "Avo^o;, the ascent. Upon 
the fourteenth the festival began, and lasted till the seventeenth. Upon 
the sixteenth they kept a fast, sitting upon the ground, in token of humi- 
liation ; whence the day was called N^-rs/a, a fast. It was usual at this 
solemnity to pray to Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Calligenia: this Calli- 
genia some will have to have been Ceres' nurse, others her priestess, 
others her waiting-maid ; and some there are who make her the same with 
Ceres; but these seem to be sufficiently refuted by the testimony of Aris- 
tophanes, who mentions her as distinct from the goddess. 1 And this 
custom was omitted by the Eretrians alone of all the Grecians. There 



1 Thesmoyhor. v. 



380 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

was likewise a mysterious sacrifice, called Atwypx or ' ' Atfobicoypu,, asra 
tou ^iMKiffSvA iicufov rohg av^^as, because all men ivcre excluded and 
banished from it ; or, u,<zl rod %ico%0wai rov; voXiptlov;, because in a dan- 
gerous war the women's prayers were so prevalent with the gods, that 
their enemies were defeated hind put to flight as far as Chalcis; whence it 
is sometimes called Xe&XziStzov YiwyfAcc. There was another sacrifice 
called Zn/ala, a mulct, which was offered as an expiation of any irregulari- 
ties which happened during the solemnity. At the beginning of this fes- 
tival, all prisoners committed to jail for smaller faults, that is, such as did 
not make them incapable of communicating in the sacrifices, and other 
parts of divine worship, were released. 1 

®n<r£tx, an Athenian festival in memory of Theseus: it was celebrated 
upon the eighth of every month, because he was the reputed son of Nep- 
tune, to whom those days were held sacred ; cr because in his first journey 
from Troezen he arrived at Athens upon the eighth of Hecatombseon ; 
or in memory of his safe return from Crete, 2 which happened upon the 
eighth of Pyanepsion ; for which reason the festival was observed with 
greater solemnity upon that day than at other times. Some also there are 
that will have it to have been first instituted in memory of Theseus' unit- 
ing the Athenians into one body, who before lay dispersed in little hamlets 
up and down in Attica. It was celebrated with sports and games, with 
mirth and banquets ; and such as were poor, and unable to contribute to 
them, were entertained upon free cost at the public tables. 3 The sacrifices 
were called 'Oy^o^ix, from "Oy$oo$, the eighth, as being offered upon the 
eighth day of the month. 4 

®g'ta>, a festival in honour of Apollo. 5 The name seems to be derived 
from Apollo's three nurses, who were called Thrice. 

©men, a festival in honour of Bacchus, 6 observed by the Eleans, in a 
place distant about eight stadia from Elis, where it was confidently reported 
that the god himself was present in person ; the ground of which story was 



1 Sopater de Divisione Quaest. 

2 After destroying the Mino- 
taur, a celebrated monster, half 
a man and half a bull, which was 
confined in the labyrinth of Crete, 
and there devoured the young 
men and maidens whom the ty- 
ranny of Minos exacted annually 
from the Athenians. The story 
of the Minotaur is entirely fabu- 
lous, and its revolting details are 
entirely the offspring of Attic in- 
genuity. Connected as it was 
with the legend of Theseus, the 
national hero of Attica, and na- 
turally forming a favourite theme 
lor the poets and mythological 
writers of that country, it Cannot 
appear surprising that it should, 
in addition to its having been in 
the outset completely misunder- 
stood, be loaded in the course of 
lime with many and distorted 
particulars.— The whole fable is 
one of an astiOnomical character, 
b. ended with the worship ot the 



heavenly bodies. Pasiphae is the 
Moon. Compare the epithet Jla- 
<ri0ar/y, as applied to Diana in the 
Orphic Hymns, (35. 3), and 
also, together with HaoKpav-qs, 
to Selene in the period of the full 
moon, by a later bard. (J.laxiimis 
Ptiilos, irepl Karapxwv, in Fabric. 
Bibl. Gr. vol. viii p. 415. seqq. 
— Creuzer, Symbulik, vol. iv. p. 
88.) The " all-illumining" Pa- 
siphae, then, is, with every ap- 
pearance of probability, a god- 
dess, in the sphere of the Cretan 
lunar worship. The bull is one 
of the acknowledged symbols of 
the sun, (Creuzer, Symb. vol. ii 
p 23. 32.— Id. vol. iv. p. 16 &c.) 
Hence the union of Pasiphae 
with the bull is purely allegori- 
cal. Throughout the ancient 
world we find (lie idea very ge- 
nerally diffused, of (he influence 
exercised by the sun upon the 
moon with reference to the fertil- 
izing of the earth. This, with 



the Cretans, Avas figuratively 
expressed by a union between 
the latter luminary and the sym- 
bol of the former, and the very 
name Asterios sometimes applied, 
in place of Minotaurus, to the 
fruit of this fabled union, has it- 
self a reference to the supposed 
influence of the stais in general 
upon the productive energies of 
the earth. This religious my- 
thus would seem to have been 
carried from Crete to Attica, and, 
being completely misunderstood 
in this latter country, to have 
given rise to the story of Pasi- 
phae, with all its disgusting ac- 
companiments. (Hack Ereta. v.A. 
ii. p. 63.)— Pint. Theseo, Aris- 
toph. Schol. Plu!o. 

3 Aristoph. Pluto. 

4 Hesj chius. 
b Idem. 

6 Pausanias Eliac» 8'. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



381 



this: there was a certain chapel, into which the priests conveyed three 
empty vessels, in presence of the whole assembly, which consisted as well 
of foreigners as natives ; this done, they retired, and the doors being shut, 
themselves, and as many others as pleased, sealed them with their own 
signets ; on the morrow the company returned, and after any man had 
looked upon his own seal, and seen that it was unbroken, the doors being 
opened, the vessels were found full of wine. 
©vXXcc, in honour of Venus. 1 

Qwvxioi, a sacrifice so called from @uwo$, a tunny, which fishermen 
offered to Neptune after a plentiful draught. 2 

I. 

'izoo; Toifto;, The sacred marriage. It was a festival in honour of Jupi- 
ter and Juno, 3 being, I suppose, a commemoration of the marriage of those 
two deities. 

iScopuioi, a festival, wherein musicians contended ; it was celebrated in 
honour of Jupiter, 4 surnamed 'idwpnr'/); from Ithome, a city in Thessaly 
or Messene, where that god is said to have been nursed by the two nymphs 
Ithome and Neda, who gave names, the former to a town, the latter to a 
river. 

lvu%iu, one of Leucothea's festivals in Crete, being derived from Ina- 
chus, according to Hesychius ; or rather from Ino, who is the same with 
Leucothea, and u.x°s-> 9 r ^ e S > Dem g> perhaps, a commemoration of Ino's 
misfortunes. 

Ivuvia, a festival in Lemnos. 

Ivdua., festivals in memory of Ino, one of which was celebrated every 
year with sports and sacrifices at Corinth, being instituted by king Sisy- 
phus. 5 

An anniversary sacrifice was offered to Ino by the Megareans, where 
she was first called Leucothea, being cast upon that coast by the waves, 
and interred by Cleso and Tauropolis. 6 

Ino had another festival in Lacoma, where there was a pond consecrated 
to her: into this it was usual, at this solemnity, to cast cakes of flour, 
which, if they sunk, were presages of prosperity; but if they staid upon 
the surface of the water, were ill-boding omens. 7 

lo@ct*%sta6, in honour of Bacchus, surnamed Iobacchus, from the excla- 
mations used in some of his festivals, where they cried 'la Bdx,%e, &c. 
See Aiovutrtu,. 

loXccia, a Theban festival, the very same with 'U^xxXztec. 8 It was in- 
stituted in honour of Hercules, and his companion Iolaiis, who assisted 
him against Hydra. It lasted several days, on the first of which were 
offered solemn sacrifices ; on the next day horse-races, and the exercises 



1 Hesychius. 

2 Atlienrvus, lib. vii. 

3 Hesychius. 



4 Stephan. Byzant. Pansan. 6 Pausan. Atticis. 
Messen. 7 Idem. Laconicis. 

5 Tzstzes in Lycophroncm. 8 Pindari Schol. CMymp. vii. 



382 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



of the vrivTocQkos were performed ; the following day was set apart for 
wrestling. The victors were crowned with garlands of myrtle, which 
were used as funeral solemnities, of which sort this festival was one. They 
were also sometimes rewarded with tripods of brass. The place of these 
exercises was called 'lokuuov, from Iolaiis. In the same place stood the 
sepulchre of Amphitryon, and the cenotaphium, or honorary monument of 
Iolaiis, who was buried in Sardinia: both these at this solemnity were 
bestrewed with garlands and flowers. 1 

In'ia,, a solemnity observed by several cities, in honour of Isis, 2 who is 
said by some to have been the first that taught men the use of corn ; in 
memory of which benefit it was customary, at some places, for the wor- 
shippers at this festival to carry vessels full of wheat and barley. 

I^gwa, anniversary sports, celebrated at Olympia, in memory of Ische- 
nus, the grandson of- Mercury and Hierea, who, in a time of famine, 
devoted himself to be a sacrifice for his country, and was honoured with a 
monument near the Olympian stadium. 3 

K. 

4 Ka/3£/^/a, mysterious observances at Thebes and Lemnos, but more 

1 Pindari Schol. in Isthm. et root of the name Cabiri in the Cabiri of Samothrace. (Du Cxtlte 
ftemeonic. Hindoo Cuvera. {Wilford, Asi- des Cubires chtz les anciens Irlan- 

2 Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. at ic Researches, vol. v. p. 297, dais, Geneve. 1834. — Compare 

3 Isacius Tzetzes in Lycoph. sr>qq. —Poller, Mythol. des In- Blbliotheque Universelle, vol. 24.) 
Cassandi. ver. 42. dous, vol. ii. p. 312, seqq.) The On the other hand, O. Muller, in 

4 Creuzer traces the worship of best etymology, no doubt, is that a very remarkable dissertation 
the Cabiri, in the first instance, which makes the appellation of appended to his work on Orcho- 
to the Phoenicians, and makes these deities a Phoenician one, menus [Orchomenos und die Min* 
these deities identical with the denoting " powerful," ;l strong;" yr, Bi'lage ii. p. 450, seqq. «~ 
Putaeci, or Pataeci, of this people, and hence the titles, eeol ^yaXot, Gesch. der HelleniscJter StUmm?, 
{Herodot. iii. 37.) He then pro- Ivvaroi, which the Cabiri fre- &c. vol. i ), and Welcker {Trilc 
ceeds to find vestiges of these quently received among the f>ie de Prom'ethee, Darmstadt 
8,1 me Cabiri in Upper Asia, in Greeks. With the Cabiri, viewed 1824, 8vo.) reject the Phoenician, 
the name of the Pontic city Ca- in this light, may be compared pr, more properly speaking, Ori- 
bira; in the Mesopotamian Car- the Dii Poles of the augural books ental, origin of the Cabiri. The 
rte, the medals of which place of the Romans, {Varro, L. L. 4. first of these writers sees in them 
s^em to associate the worship of 10. p. 16. ed. Sculig.) Schelling, a worship purely Pelasgic, and, 
the Cabiri with that of the god however, {liber die Guttheiten von up to a certain point, the primi- 
Lunus ; and also in the Chaldean Samothrace, p. 107, seqq ), gives five religion of the Greeks entire, 
river Chebar or Chaboras. He a new etymology (the Hebrew with a distant relation at the 
discovers also in Malta, among Ckab&rim), by which the name same time to the Theogonies of 
the remains of Punic preserved. Cabiri is made to signify "the India; the second discovers a 
in the vulgar dialect of the isl- associate deities," and he com- mixture of various elements, suc- 
and, some traces of the name pares these deities with the DU cessively amalgamated, and the 
Cabiri in the word Qb Ir or Klblr, Cunsmtes or Dii Complices, most ancient of which would be 
which seems to designate an an- whose worship the Romans bor- the Dardan or Trojan Penates, 
cient pagan divinity, and is now rowed from the Etrurians. The becoming in process of time the 
taken to denote "the devil." same learned writer compares the Dioscuri, or else confounded with 
{Creuzer's ISymbolilc, par Guigni- names Ka/Seipoi, K^apot, K<5/3i- them, and at an early period 
nut, vol. ii. p. 2~>6.— Milnter, Re- x<h (which according to him are transported to Rome. Accord- 
Hifion der Carlhager. ed ii. p. identical), with the German Ko- ing to Constant {de la Religion, 
87.) Other writers believe that bald, " goblin," and finds in them vol. ii. p. 430.), the Cabiri de- 
they discover traces of the Cabiri all a common idea. His theory signaled the two grand opposing 
in Persia, and refer to the Ga- respecting the worship of the powers in each department of 
burini, or "strong men," whom Cabiri, which he refers exclu- nature, and represented by turns 
the essential ideas of metallurgy sively to Phoenician, Hebrew, the earth and the heavens, mois- 
andof arms would seem naturally end Semitic sources, differs in ture and dryness, the body an! 
to assimilate, either to the robust sever.il important points from soul, inert matter and vivifying 
forge-men of Vulcan, ut Lemnos, that of Creuzer, and has excited a intelligence. Their number was 
or to the armed priests of Phry- great deal of attention on the not fixed, but varied according to 
gia, Crete, and different parts of continent of Europe. It is in the necessity under which the 
Greece. {Foucher, sur la Reli- following the footsteps of Schel- priests found themselves of 
(jion des Perses. Mem. dAcad. Img, that Pictet thinks that he expressing the cosmogonic.al 
des Inscr ipt., &c. vol. 29.) Others has found, in the mythology of powers. Their figures were at 
again have recourse to the my- the ancient Irish, the worship, first excessively deformed : thev 
thoibgy of India, and find the and even the very names, of tiie were represented under the guise 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



S83 



especially at Imbrus and Samothrace, which islands were consecrated to 
the Cabiri, whom some will have to be Phoenician deities; others, the 
sons of Vulcan: others are of a different opinion from both, for nothing 
can be certainly determined concerning the origin, names, or number of 
them; such as desire further satisfaction, may consult Coelius Rhodiginu?, 
Lilius Gyraldus, and other mythologists. All that were initiated into 
these mysteries were thought effectually secured from storms at sea, and 
all other dangers. 1 The chief ceremony was thus: the person that offered 
himself, being crowned with olive branches, and girded about his loins 
with a purple riband, was placed upon a throne, around which the priests, 



of distorted dwarfs, ani under 
these forms were brought to Sa- 
mothrace. Their worship con- 
sisted in orgies closely resembling 
those of the Phrygian Cybele. 
The Grecian mythology at length 
received them, and the poets, in 
examining their attributes sought 
to ascertain which of them were 
susceptible of the necessary trans- 
formation. The statues of the 
Cabiri were placed in the port of 
Samothrace. They presided over 
the winds. Hence, with the 
Greeks they became gods favour- 
able to navigators and terrible to 
pirates. (Nigid. ap. Schol. germ, 
in imag. gemin.) They appeared 
also, according to the Grecian 
belief, on the tops of masts, un- 
der the form of brilliant flames, 
to announce the end of tempests. 
(Diod. Sic. iv.43.) Expressing, 
as they did, among other things, 
the opposition between light and 
darkness, they became with the 
Greeks two deities, one of whom 
was hidden beneath the earth, 
while the other shone in the 
skies. The Cabiri proceeded 
from the cosmogonical egg : and 
hence, with the Greeks, the new 
deities came forth from an egg, 
the fruit of the amour of JupiTer 
with Leda. In order, however, 
to nationalize them still more, 
they were made the tutelary he- 
roes of Sparta, and to preside 
over the Olympic games. (Pind. 
Olymp. iii. 63, seqq.) They be- 
came identified, through Helen, 
with the family of the Atridse. 
Warlike adventures were ascrib. 
ed to them. (Pausati. iii. 13.) 
Winged coursers were given 
tiiem by the gods. (Stesich. ap. 
Tertull. in Spectac. p. 9. seqq.) 
They received the names of Cas- 
tor and Pollux; and the hideous 
Cabiri became the beauteous 
Tyndaridae. — The whole fable of 
the Cabiri is singularly obscure. 
In Egypt they were at first live 
in number, in allusion to the five 
intercalary days necessary for 
completing the year. Under this 
astronomical point of view they 
had three fathers, the Sun, Her- 
mes, and Saturn. (Plut. de It et 
Os.) In the transition from Egypt 
to Greece, they lost this triple 



origin : three of them remained 
hidden powers, sons of the cos- 
mogonical Jove, and of Pioser- 
pina, the passive principle of fe- 
cundity as well as of destruction: 
the two others took the Greek 
names of Castor and Pollux, and 
had Leda for a mother, the mis- 
tress of Olympian Jove. (Cic. 
N. D. iii. 21.) For, in Egypt, 
their mother was not Leda but 
Nemesis, one of the appellations 
of Athyr, or the primitive night. 
The amour of Jupiter also lias 
here a fantastic character, which 
is sensibly weakened in the Gre- 
cian fable. Not only does Jupi- 
ter change himself into a swan, 
but he likewise directs Venus to 
pursue him under the form of an 
eagle, and he takes refuge in the 
bosom of Nemesis, whom slum- 
ber seizes, and who offers an 
easy conquest to her divine lover. 
Hermes thereupon conveys the 
egg to Sparta, and Leda incu- 
bates it. The Greeks, rejecting 
altogether the cosmogonical per- 
sonage Nemesis, made Leda the 
real mother, and the ancient Ca- 
biri became thus a component 
part of the national mythology. 
The Ionian school, however, 
faithful to the principles of a 
sacerdotal philosophy, continued 
to call them the offspring of the 
eternal tire, Vulcan, and of the 
nymph Cabiri, one of the Ocean- 
ides, which recalls the genera- 
tion by fire and water. When 
astronomy was introduced into 
the religion of Greece, they be- 
came the star of the morning, 
and the star of evening. It is 
possible to see an allusion to this 
idea in Homer, {II. iii. 2-!3.— Od. 
xi. 302.) At a later period they 
became the Twins. (Constant, 
de la Religion, vol. ii. p. 433, 
seqq. in notis.}— As regards the 
names of the individual Cabiri, 
it may be remarked that they all 
appear decidedly oriental. The 
etymologies given to them are as 
follows : Axieros is said to have 
signified in Egyptian, 'the all- 
powerful one,' and he is supposed 
by some to be identical with 
Phtha or Vulcan. Axiokerstts is 
made to denote 4 the great fecun- 
dator,' and is thought to have 



been the same with Mars, the 
planet ni.med in Egyptian, Erlo- 
si, a word which presents the 
same idea. Axiokersa is conse- 
quently ' the great fecundatrix,' 
Aphrodite or Venus, the com- 
panion of Mars. Zoega de Obe- 
lise, p. 220.— Compare Munter, 
Antiquar. Abhandl. p- 190, seqq.) 
As to the fourth personage, Cas- 
milus, the name is said to import 
'the all-wise,' by those who 
trace it to the Egyptian. (Zoega, 
I. c.) Bochart, however, witJi 
more probability, compares it 
with the Hebrew Cnsmiel, which 
signifies 'a servant,' ' a minister 
of the deity.' (Geogr. Sacr. i. p. 
39b.) Bochart gives Hebrew de- 
rivations a so for the oihtr names 
of the Cabiri. SchelJing, more 
recently, proceeding on the same 
principle, arrives at a similar 
result with Bochart, but in a 
quite different way. (Sarnothrac. 
Gottheiten, pp. 16, 17, 63 - 67, 
seqq.) His new etymolog : es, 
however, as those of Zoega, are 
not regarded very favourably by 
De Sacy, in the note to Saime- 
Groix's work, Mysterei du Pa- 
ganismes, vol. i. p. 43. Munter 
defends the explanations of Zeo- 
ga, and mail. tains, in general, 
w ith Creuzer the Egyptian origin 
of the Cabiri. He inclines, how- 
ever, to consider the last of the 
four, Casmilus, as of Phoenician 
origin, and explains it with 
Scheming, in a more simple man- 
ner than Bochart, by the term 
Cadmiel, ' he who stands before 
the deity,' or 'Avho beholds the 
face of the deity.' (Religion der 
Caithager, 2d. ed. p. 89, seqq.) 
Miiller, Welcker, Schwenk, and 
V6lcker,have explored the Greek 
language alone, for an elucidation 
of these mysterious names. And 
yet the first of these learned 
writers, in despite of his purely 
Hellenic system, cannot prevent 
himself from being struck by the 
remarkable coincidence, as well 
real as verbal, between Cama, the 
H indoo god of love, and Camilus. 
(Creuzer's Symbolik, par Guigni- 
aut. vol. ii. page 293, seqq. in 
notis) 

1 Diodor. Sicul, Bib), v. 



384 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and persons before initiated, danced and sported ; this was called Sevang 
or S-(?ovi<r t u,o;i enthronization. 1 

KaXocolhocj solemn sports, celebrated by the Laconians, in honour of 
Diana. 2 

¥.ex,XXiffnia, Beauty's rewards j a Lesbian festival, during which the 
women presented themselves in the temple of Juno, and the prize was 
assigned to the fairest. 3 

A contest of the same kind took place at the festival of Ceres Eleusinia 
amongst the Parrhasians, first instituted by Cypselus, whose wife Herodice 
was honoured with the first prize. 4 

The Eleans had one also of a similar nature, 5 in which the most beau- 
tiful man was presented with a complete suit of armour, which he conse- 
crated to Minerva, to whose temple he walked in procession, being 
accompanied with his friends, who adorned him with ribands, and crowned 
him with a garland of myrtle. 

KaXaz/vT^/a, an Athenian festival. 6 

Kxgvux, a festival observed in most of the cities of Greece ; but espe- 
cially at Sparta, where it was first instituted about the time of the 26th 
Olympiad, in honour, not of Jupiter, as some are of opinion, but of Apollo, 
surnamed Carneus, either from one Carneus a Trojan, 7 or from a beautiful 
youth, called Carnus, who was the son of Jupiter and Europa, 8 and be- 
loved by Apollo ; 9 or from Carnus an Acarnanian, who was instructed by 
this god in the art of divination, but afterwards murdered by the Dorians: 
This fact Apollo revenged upon them by a dreadful plague ; to avert which 
they instituted this festival, as Pausanias reports : or asro <rns xgavzia,;, 
from the cornel-tree, by transposing the letter g, as the same author inti- 
mates : for it is reported by some, that this festival was instituted by the 
Grecians, who had incurred Apollo's displeasure by cutting down a number 
of cornel-trees in a grove consecrated to him upon mount Ida, which they 
used in building the wooden horse ; or octto rod xga'ivstv, from accomplish- 
ing the request of Menelaus, 10 who, when he undertook his expedition 
against Troy made a vow to Apollo, in which he promised to pay him 
some signal honour, if his undertaking met with success. This festival 
lasted nine days, beginning upon the thirteenth of the month Carneus, 
which answered to the Athenian Metageitnion ; 11 it was an imitation of 
the method of living, and discipline used in camps ; for nine (rxidhg, tents, 
were erected ; in every one of which nine men, of three different tribes, 
three being chosen out of a tribe, lived for the space of nine days, during 
which time they were obedient to a public crier, and did nothing without 
express order from him. 12 Hesychius tells us, that the priest whose office 
it was to attend at this solemnity was named 'Aynvhs; and adds, in 



1 Plato Euthyd. Hesych. 

2 Homeri SchoL Iliad. t '. 

3 Athena?. Aetwoootp. xiii. 

4 Idem, ibid. 

5 Etymolog. Auctor. 



6 Etymolog. Auctor. 

7 Alcman. 

8 Hesychius. 

9 Theocriti Scholiast. 
10 Demetrius. 



11 Plut. Nicia. 

12 Athen. iv. Call'imac. Hyrni*. 
in Apoll. Pindarus Pythion. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



385 



another place, that out of every tribe five other ministers were elected, 
and called Kaontzrai, and obliged to continue in their function four years, 
during which time they remained bachelors. At this festival the musical 
numbers called Kecevtlet vopot were sung by musicians, who contended for 
victory. The first prize was won by Terpander. 

Kxgva, or Kagvocns, a festival in honour of Diana, 1 surnamed Caryatis, 
from Caryum in Laconia, where this solemnity was kept. It was usual 
for virgins to meet at the celebration, and join in a certain dance, said to 
be invented by Castor and Pollux, which they called xccgvaTilziv. 2 In the 
time of Xerxes 7 invasion, when the Laconians durst not show their heads 
for fear of the enemy, lest the goddess* anger should be incurred by the 
intermission of this solemnity, the neighbouring swains assembled in the 
accustomed place, and sung pastorals, which were called BovnoXiorpo), from 
fiouKoXoS) a neat-herd. Hence some are of opinion, that bucolics came 
first to be in use. 

KitrffoTopoi, a festival in honour of Hebe, the goddess of youth. 3 

KXaSiurn^ioL, or Btfffiotiet. This festival is mentioned by Hesychius, and 
seems to have been solemnized at the time when vines were primed ; for 
jcXa^iVTriiiiov, and fi'urfin, signify a pruning-hook. 

KvG&zxkr.triK, an anniversary solemnity celebrated upon mount Cnacalos, 
by the Caphyatae, in honour of Diana, who had from that place the sur- 
name of Cnacalesia. 4 

Kowthix, a solemnity upon the day before Theseus' festival, in which a 
ram was sacrificed to Connidas, Theseus' tutor. 5 

Kogzlx, in honour of Proserpine named Ko^>j, 6 which, in the Molossian 
dialect, signifies a beautiful woman. 

Ko£vfioiv<7tz(x., a festival held at Cnossus in Crete, in memory of the 
Corybantes, 7 who educated Jupiter, when he was concealed in that island 
from his father Saturn, who intended to devour him. 

Korurrtot, or Korurns, a nocturnal festival in honour of Cotys, or Co- 
tytto, the goddess of wantonness : 8 it was observed by the Athenians, 
Corinthians, Chians, Thracians, with others, and celebrated with such 
rites as were most acceptable to the goddess, who was thought to be de- 
lighted with nothing so much as lewdness and debauchery. Her priests 
were called Bacrra/, which name we find in Juvenal; it seems to have 
been derived h<zo rov ficitfrsiv, from dying or painting themselves ; for 

1 Pausanias Laconicis. T ov Ko 9 vitrbvra< : patveir.) Accord- The dance of the Corybantes is 

2 Lucianus Uepi opx^"^^ ing to Strabo (x. p. 479, ed. Cu- thought to have been symbolical 

3 Pausanias Corinthiacis. saub.), and Freret {Mem. de of the empire exercised by man 

4 Idem Arcadicis. VAcad. des Inscr. &c vol. xviii. over metals, as also of themove- 

5 Plutarch. Theseo. p. 34.), the word Corybas is a ments of the heavenly bodies. 

6 Hesychius. Phrygian one, and refers to the {Constant, de la Religion, vol. ii. 

7 The Corybantes, called also wild dances in which the Cory- p. 375, seqq.) The Corybantes 
Galli, were the priests of Cy- bantes indulged. As regards the are said to have been the first 
bele. Some suppose that they assertion commonly made, that that turned their attention to 
receive their name from Corybas, the Corybantes Avere originally metallurgy. {Sainte-Croix, Mys- 
son of Iasus and Cybele, who from Mount Ida, it may be re- teres duPaganisme vol. i. p. 79.) 
first introduced the rites of his marked that more correct autho- 6 Synesius in Encomio Calvi- 
mother into Phrygia. Others rities make Phrygia to have been tii, Suidas, Juvenalis Satir. ii. 
derive the name from their mov- their native seat. (Compare 

ing along in a kind of dance, and Rolle, Recherches mr le Culte de 
tossing the head to and fro, (diro Bacchus^ vol. i. p. 24fi, seqq.) 

2K 



386 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



they were wont to practise all sorts of effeminate and meretricious aits ; 
whence Korvo; §-ia<rurris, a votary of Cotys, is proverbially applied to men 
that spend their time in dressing and perfuming themselves. 

Another festival of this name was celebrated in Sicily, 1 where the wor- 
shippers carried boughs hung about with cakes and fruit, which it was 
lawful for any person to pluck off, in memory of Proserpine's ravishment, 
who is by some thought to have been the same with Cotytto. 2 

Koovia, an Athenian festival in honour of Saturn, who is called in Greek 
Koovos? It was celebrated in the month Hecatombaeon, which was for- 
merly called Cronius. 

Another of Saturn's festivals was celebrated upon the sixteenth of 
Metageitnion at Rhodes, 4 where they offered in sacrifice a condemned 
criminal. 

Kyj3«£v»j7i«, a festival instituted by Theseus, in memory of Nausitheus 
and Phseax, who were his Kufis^vrKi, pilots, in his voyage to Crete. 5 

KwoQovriS) a festival observed in the dog-days at Argos, 6 and so called 
ccro rod xvw; <Qovuv, from killing dogs ; because it was usual upon this 
day to kill all the dogs they met with. 

A. 

Auy.ihu.iuovtojv 'Eooru), some festivals there were at Lacedaemon, the 
names whereof are forgotten: one of them is mentioned by Plutarch in 
his love-stories, at which the married women, maidens, children, and 
servants, feasted altogether promiscuously; only the ladies, whose hus- 
bands were magistrates, watched all night in a large room by themselves. 

Another we find in Athenceus, 7 at which the women took all the old 
bachelors, and dragged them round an altar, beating them all the time 
with their fists ; to the end, that if no other motives would induce 
them to marry, the shame and ignominy they were exposed to at all times 
might compel them to it. 

Aa^iTT^ia, a festival at Pellene, 8 in Achaia, in honour of Bacchus, sur- 
named Aa^Trr^, from XapTuv, to shine ; because during this solemnity, 
which was observed in the night, the worshippers went to the temple of 
Bacchus with lighted torches in their hands. It was customary at this 
time to place vessels full of wine in several parts of every street of the 
city. 

Augtcraciieov 'Eo^rh, games at' Larissa, 9 wherein the combatants performed 
their exercises singly, before the nivTetdkos, or combat, consisting of five 
exercises, was invented. 

1 Plutarch. Proverb. meaning of "the ancient one." 3 Aristoph. Schol. Nub'bus, 

2 Sainte-Croix erroneously It is found, according to him, in Hesych. 

confounds Cotytto with the Bona all the Celtic dialects, and also 4 Porphyrius apud Theodore- 

Dea of the Romans. (Compare in the Persian. It occurred also turn. vii. Graec. affect. 

Hecherches sur les Mysteres du in the Sabine tongue. {Re- 5 Plutarchus Theseo. 

Paganisme, vol. ii. p. 177, with cherches sur le Cultp. de Bacchus, 6 Athenseus, iii. 

the note of De Sacy.) Rolle vol, i. p. 263 )— Avthon's Levi- 7 btnrvoootp. iii. 

m:ikes Cotys identical with Cy- priere, vol. i. p, 414. 8 Pausanias Achaicis. 

beie, and gives the name the 9 Apollonn Scholiast, iv. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



Augv'ff.cc, a festival of Bacchus, celebrated at Larysium, a mountain in 
Laconia, about the beginning of spring. 1 

Axtpgix, an anniversary festival at Patrse in Achaia, in honour of Diana, 8 
surnamed Laphria, either cczo tojv Xa^uoeov, from, spoils, which she took 
from wild beasts, because she was the goddess of huuting; and her statue, 
which was composed of gold and ivory, represented her in the habit of a 
huntress: or, because she desisted from her anger, and became every year 
ikot<pgors£M, more favourable and propitious to CEneus, king of the Caly- 
rionians: or from one Laphrius, a Phocensian, by whom her statue was 
erected in Calydonia; for this title was first given to Diana in Calydonia. 
and thence, together with her statue, translated to Patrse. The customs 
at this festival are thus described by Pausanias: At the approach of the 
festival, they made an ascent to the altar, heaping up soft earth in the 
manner of stairs ; round the altar they placed, in order, pieces of green 
wood, every one of which was in length sixteen cubits; upon it was laid 
the driest wood they could get. The solemnity lasted two days ; on the 
former of which there w r as a solemn procession, followed by Diana's 
priestess, who was a virgin, and rode in a chariot drawn by bucks. On 
the day following, they assembled to ofTer sacrifices, which consisted of 
birds, bears, bucks, lions, wolves, with all sorts of animals, and garden 
fruits, which were cast upon the altar, in part by private persons, and 
partly at the public charge; then the fire being kindled, it sometimes 
happened that the wild beasts, having their fetters loosed by the flames, 
leaped ofT the altar, which fell out when my author was present ; yet nei- 
ther then, nor at any time before, did any person receive the least harm 
thereby. 

Awthleif an anniversary day at Sparta, 3 in memory of Leonidas, king 
of that city, who, with a small number of men, put a stop to the whole 
army of Xerxes at Thermopylae, and maintained the passage of those 
straits two whole days together. Upon this day there was an oration pro- 
nounced on that hero, and sports, in which none were allowed to contend 
but frecborn Spartans. 

Aiovmxa; who was the author, or what was the occasion of this festival 
is not known ; 4 all that were admitted to it washed their hands with 
honey, which was poured upon them instead of water, in token that they 
were pure from all things hurtful and malicious. 

AiovaTci, a festival at Lerna, instituted by Philammon in honour of Bac- 
chus, Proserpine, and Ceres. 5 In the primitive times the Argives used 
to carry fire to this solemnity from a temple upon mount Crathis, dedi- 
cated to Diana, surnamed (perhaps from <rv^,f re) Tlugcovla. 

A»va?a, a festival of Bacchus, 6 surnamed Lemeus, from Xmh, a wine- 
press. It was celebrated in the month Lenaeon, with several ceremonies 
usual at other festivals of this god ; but what more especially recommended 

1 Pausanias Laconicis. 4 Porphyr. de Antro Nympha- serin. Veius. 

2 Pausan. Achaicis. rum. 6 Aristopli. Schol. Eqintibus, 

3 Idem Laconicis. 5 Pausan. Gorin. Arcad. In- Diug. Laert. P.atOiie 

2 K 2 



388 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



it, was the poetical contention, wherein poets strove for victory, and the 
tragedies acted at this time. 

ArfofioXia, Lapidation. This festival was celebrated by the Troezeni- 
ans, in memory of Lamia and Auxesia, two virgins, who came from Crete 
to Troezen in the time of a tumult and sedition, and fell a sacrifice to 
the fury of the people, by whom they were stoned to death. 1 

AdfAvuriha, a festival in honour of Diana, 2 sumamed Limnatis, from 
Limne, a school of exercise at Troezen, in which she was worshipped ; or, 
according to Artemidorus, from Xipvut, ponds y because she had the care 
of fishermen. 

Am/a, a festival in memory of Linus, an old poet, who had a statue in 
mount Helicon, to which Kara, 'iro; zxacrrov vrgo tyis B-vcriag tuv Movirwv 
ha.yiZ ) ov<ri' yearly parentations were made before they sacrificed to the 
Muses? 

AuKaix, an Arcadian festival, 4 resembling the Roman Lupercalia ; it 
was celebrated with games, in which the conqueror was rewarded with a 
suit of brazen armour. A human sacrifice was offered at this time. It 
was first observed by Lycaon, in honour of Jupiter, sumamed Lycaeus, 
either from Lycaon's own name, or the Arcadian mountain Lycaeus, which 
the Arcadians pretended was the true Olympus, whence they called it 
ligxv koqvQ'av, the sacred hill, because Jupiter was feigned to have had his 
education there ; in memory of which there was an altar, where a certain 
mysterious worship was paid to that god, and a plot of ground consecrated 
to him, upon which it was unlawful for any person to set his feet. 

KvKua, a festival held at Argos to Apollo Avxuog. This name, as 
also that other Avkoxt'ovo;, was derived from his delivering the Argives 
from (\vxoi) wolves, winch wasted their country. In memory of which 
benefit they dedicated a temple to Apollo Lyceus, and called one of their 
public fora, 'Ayogx Aukuos, the Lycean forum. Several other reasons are 
assigned, why the fore-mentioned names were given to Apollo; as, that 
he defended the flock of Admetus, king of Thessaly, from wolves ; or that 
he was born in Lycia, whence he is called Avxnyivm, by Homer, to men- 
tion no more. 5 

AvKov^yuoc, a festival celebrated by the Spartans, in memory of Lycur- 
gus, their lawgiver, 6 whom they honoured with a temple, and an anniver- 
sary sacrifice. 

AucruvSg'iot, a Samian festival, celebrated with sacrifices and games, in 
honour of Lysander, the Lacedaemonian admiral. 7 It was anciently called 
"Ileutx, which name was abolished by a decree of the Samians. 

M. 

Islxifjt-ar.T'Aoiu, solemn sacrifices offered by the Athenians in Mtemacte- 

3 Pausan. Coiinthiac. Arcadic. Porphyr. Tlf.pl iiroxm t r8e « 

2 Pausan. Achaic. l^vx- Hyginus, Fab. 173. 6 Plut. Lycurgo, Strab. viii. 

3 M. Bceotic. p. 584, ed. Hanov. 5 Pind. Schol. in Pylhion. 7 Pint. Lysandro, Hesych. 

4 Plutarch. Ca3sare ; Pausan. Soph, uterq. Schol. initio Eiec- 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



389 



rion, which was a winter month, to Jupiter Maipaxryi;, to induce him to 
send mild and temperate weather, because he was usually taken for the 
air, or heavens, and therefore thought to preside over the seasons. There 
are various reasons assigned for this surname ; for ^xifzaxryu is by Harpo- 
cration expounded hfavtrtuhvis %ou rugKxvtxes, outrageous and furious ; 
being derived from fznuuo-cruv, which is, according to Suidas, xXovurdoet, 
TtvfixroZfffai, to trouble or raise commotions. But Hesychius affixes a 
quite different signification to it; for, according to him, (tettfAUKryis is the 
same with fAu\i%ios, favourable and propitious : and herein Plutarch 
agrees with him, who tells us,i ' that it was his opinion, that by the name 
of "MeufiuKTvs, which was given by the Athenians to the king of the gods, 
was meant ULuki^iosJ 1 Neither of these significations are at all disagree- 
able to the design of this festival ; for since it was to procure good weather, 
it might either be instituted as a means to appease the deity, who was 
thought to cause storms and intemperate seasons ; or, to entreat the same 
person, as being of a mild and gentle disposition, and willing to grant the 
requests of his votaries. 

IshyxXxorioi, see Q-o-fAoQogia. 

MivsXaWa, a festival in honour of Menelaus, 2 at Therapnce in Laconia, 
where a temple was consecrated to him, in which he was worshipped, to- 
gether with Helena, not as a hero, or inferior deity, but as one of the 
supreme gods. 

*kli(roff<TPo<§cti\\a.i 'Hftiocct, certain days upon which the Lesbians offered 
public sacrifices. 3 

MiTezyJ-rvia, a festival in the month Metageitnion, in honour of Apollo 
Mirayurvto;,* being celebrated by the inhabitants of Melite that left their 
habitations, and settled among the Diomeans in Attica; whence these 
names seem to have been derived, for they import a removal from one 
neighbourhood to another. 

MiXrtaltlx, sacrifices, with horse-races, and other games, celebrated by 
the Chersonesians, in memory of Miltiades, the Athenian general. 5 

Mivusict, a festival celebrated by the Orchomenians, 6 who were called 
Minyae, and the river, upon which the city was founded, Minya, from 
Minyas, king of that place, in memory of whom this solemnity seems to 
have been instituted. 

MtruXyva'wv 'Eogrh, a festival celebrated by all the inhabitants of Mity- 
\me, in a place without the city, in honour of Apollo MccXXouc, 1 which 
surname we find mentioned also in Hesychius. 

Mouvvxia, an anniversary solemnity at Athens, 8 upon the sixteenth of 
Munychion, in honour of Diana, surnamed Munychia, from king Muny- 
chus, the son of Pentacleus ; or from a part of the Pirseeus, called Muny- 
chia, where this goddess had a temple, to which the Athenians allowed 



J Libro Uipt iopyrjcrUi. 

2 Isocrates in Helena; Encom. 
Paiisan. L irnnicis. 
d H.sychius. 



4 Flut. de Exilio, Harroc. Sui- 
las. 

5 Herododis, vi. 

6 Find. Schol. Isthrn. Od. 1. 

2 K 3 



7 Thncyd. initio iii. 

8 Pint, de Gloiia Athmiens. 
Harpocr. Etymol. Auc.or, buid. 
Eustaih. II. a'. 



290 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the privilege of being a sanctuary to such as fled to it for refuge. At this 
solemnity they offered certain cakes called ccpQiQuvns, which name is 
derived «cro rod uppQeisiv, from shining on every side, either because 
lighted torches hung round them when they were carried into the temple, 
or because they were offered at full moon, that being the time of this fes- 
tival ; for it was instituted in honour of Diana, who was reputed to be the 
same with the moon, because it was full moon when Themistocles over- 
threw the Persian fleet at Salamis. 

Maws/a, festivals in honour of the Muses, 1 at several places of Greece, 
especially amongst the Thespians, where solemn games were celebrated 
every fifth year. 

The Macedonians had also a festival in honour of Jupiter and the Muses, 
which being first instituted by king Archelaus, was celebrated with stage- 
plays, and games, and lasted nine days, according to the number of the 
Muses. 

Minx, a festival in honour of Ceres, 2 surnamed Mysia, from Mysius an 
Argian, who dedicated a temple to her, in a place about ten stadia distant 
from Pellene in Achaia: or, according to Phurnutus, from pvffioLv, to cloy, 
to satisfy, or to be ivell fed, because Ceres was the first that taught men 
how to use corn. This festival continued seven days ; upon the third of 
which, all the men and dogs being shut out of the temple, the women, 
together with the bitches, remained within, and having that night per- 
formed the accustomed rites, on the day following returned to the men, 
with whom they passed away their time in jesting and laughing at one 
another. 

MeoXux, an Arcadian festival, 3 so named from puko;, a fight : being 
instituted in memory of a battle, wherein Lycurgus slew Ereuthalion, 

N 

TSiKvffiu, in memory of deceased persons. Of this, and the following 
solemnities, I shall give a more full account when I come to treat of the 
honours paid to the dead. 

Ns^sers/a, or Ns^sova, a solemnity in memory of deceased persons; so 
called from the goddess Nemesis, who was thought to defend the relics 
and memories of the dead from injuries. Hence in Sophocles, 4 when 
Clytaemnestra insults over the ashes of her son Orestes, Electra thus in- 
vokes Nemesis: 

"Azovt, TSifAiffi;, tov S-olvovtos «§t/<w?. 

Nso/via, a festival celebrated to Bacchus, 5 when the new wine was first 
tasted, as the name signifies. 

NsonrroXj^s/a, a festival celebrated by the Delphians, 6 with much pomp 
and splendour, in memory of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, who was 

1 Pollux, 5. 1. iEsch. in Tim. 3 Apnl!. Rhod. Schol. v. 364. v. N<W<m«* 
Thus. Bceot. Diod. Sic. xvii. 4 Electras, ver. 793. Conf. ibi 5 Hesych. 

} Int. Erot. Triclin. ilem Demosth. Orat. 6 Heliod. JEthiopic. initio iii. 

2 Paus. line Achirie. adv. iSpudiam, p. 651). Suidas, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



391 



slain in the attempt to sack Apollo's temple, which he undertook in re- 
venge of his father's death, to which that god was accessary. 

N»fW&«, a Milesian festival in honour of Diana, 1 surnamed Neleis, 
from Neleus, an inhabitant of Miletus. 2 

N/x>j h iv "SAaouSmt, an anniversary solemnity observed by the Atheni- 
ans upon the sixth of Boedromion, in memory of that famous victory 
which Miltiades obtained against the Persians at Marathon. 3 

N/xjjr^/a A0'/ivx$, an Athenian solemnity, in memory of Minerva's 
victory over Neptune, when they contended which of them should have 
the honour of giving a name to the city, afterwards called Athens. 4 

Nat/^wwo, or Nsa^v/a, a festival observed at the beginning of every lunar 
month, 5 which was, as the name imports, upon the new moon, in honour 
of all the gods, but especially of Apollo, who was called mso/twos, because 
the sun is the first author of all light; and whatever distinction of times 
and seasons may be taken from other planets, yet they are all owing to 
him, as the origin and fountain of all those borrowed rays, which the rest 
have only by participation from him. To observe this festival was called 
vouft'/ivtd^uv, certain cakes offered therein vay^wov, and the worshippers 
vou/u,r,viU!rrat. It was observed with games, and public entertainments, 
which were made by the richer sort, to whose tables the poor flocked in 
great numbers. The Athenians, at these times, offered solemn prayers 
and sacrifices for the prosperity of their commonwealth the ensuing month, 
in Erechtheus' temple in the citadel, which was kept by a dragon, to which 
they gave, as was usual also in Trophonius' cave, a honey cake called 
fAtXiTTcurx. Neither were the gods only worshipped at this solemnity, 
but also the demigods and heroes. Plutarch relates, 6 that the Greeks, on 
their new moons, first worshipped (S-soy?) the gods, afterwards xc&i 
}a'ipovx;) the heroes and demons. These sacrifices, because they were 
offered every month, were called typnim U^a,, or impiiviK, and those that 
performed them WtpwueHi as also aygtttovi;. 7 

B. 

ga»&x«, a Macedonian festival, 8 so called because it was observed in the 
month Xanthus, which, as Suidas tells us, was the same with April. At 
this time the army was purified by a solemn lustration, the manner of 
which was thus: they divided a bitch into two halves, one of which, to- 
gether with the entrails, was placed upon the right hand, the other upon 
the left; between these the army marched in this order: after the arms of 
the Macedonian kings, came the first part of the army, consisting, I sup- 
pose, of horse; these were followed by the king and his children, after 
whom went the life-guards ; then followed the rest of the army. This 



1 Plut. de Virtut. Malierum. 5 Homeri Schol. Od. Eust. Vit. Horn. 

2 Lycoph. Cassandra. Od. v'. & <p'. Domost. in Arist. 6 Greec. Quaest. 

o Plut. de Gloria Athen. Theopli. Ethic. Charact. Etym. 7 Sophocles, p. 161. 

4 Pioclus in Ti.ua;. Com. i. Auct. Hesych. Herod, viii. et S Hesych. Livius xl. Gurt. X. 



392 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



done, the army was divided into two parts, one of which being set in array 
against the other, there followed a short encounter, in imitation of a fight. 

Evvo'tztx, or MiroiKia, an anniversary day observed by the Athenians to 
Minerva, 1 upon the sixteenth of Hecatombaeon, in memory that, by the 
persuasion of Theseus, they left their country seats, in which they lay dis- 
persed here and there in Attica, and united together in one body. 

O. 

OyxnffTin, a Boeotian festival, 2 in honour of Neptune, surnamed On- 
chestius, from Onchestus, a town of Boeotia, 

OXvwta,, a festival celebrated in honour of Olympian Jupiter, by the 
Athenians, SmyrnEeans, Macedonians, but especially by the Eleans, of 
whose solemnity I shall give an account afterwards. 

'OpoXouitx,, a Theban festival, in honour of Jupiter Homoloius, or Ceres 
Homoloia, 3 who were so called from Homole in Boeotia, or the prophetess 
Homoloia, or from opoXo?, which in the iEolian dialect signifies peaceable. 

Oo-^o^opix, or 'Cla-^otpo^oc, an Athenian festival, so called ccvl rod <piouv 
<ra; oa-p^tx;, from carrying boughs hung ivith grapes, which were termed 
cV^a/. 4 The institution and manner of it are described thus by Plutarch 
in the life of Theseus. When they drew near to Attica, both Theseus 
and the pilot were so transported with joy, that they forgot to hoist the 
sail which was to be the signal to ^Egeus of their safety, who, therefore, in 
despair, threw himself from the rock, and was dashed to pieces. Theseus 
disembarked, and performed those sacrifices to the gods, which he had 
vowed at Phalerum, when he set sail, and sent a herald to the city, with 
an account of his safe return. The messenger met with numbers lament- 
ing the fate of the king, and others rejoicing, as it was natural to expect, 
at the return of Theseus, welcoming him with the greatest kindness, and 
ready to crown him with flowers for his good news. He received the 
chaplets, and twined them round his herald's staff. Returning to the sea- 
shore, and finding that Theseus had not yet finished his libations, he 
stopped without, not choosing to disturb the sacrifice. When the libations 
were over, he announced the death of iEgeus. Upon this, they hastened, 
with sorrow, and tumultuous lamentations, to the city. Hence, they tell 
us, it is, that, in the '(V^p^a, or feast of boughs, to this day the herald 
is not crowned, but his staff; and those that are present at the libations 
cry out, sXeXst/, tou, hu. The former is the exclamation of haste and tri- 
umph, and the latter of trouble and confusion. It is probable that these 
are the o<r%o<po^xcc piXy), which are mentioned by Proclus. 5 

A little after, my author proceeds thus: 4 The feast called 'OtrxoQogia, 
which the Athenians still celebrate, was then first instituted by Theseus. 
For he did not take with him all the virgins upon whom the lot had fallen, 
but selected two young men of his acquaintance who had feminine and 



] Thncyd. ii. Pint. Theseo. 
.2 Pausan. Buioticis. 



3 Theocr. Schol. Idyll viii 

4 Harpocr. Hesych. 



5 Ghrestomathia. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



393 



florid aspects, but were not wanting in spirit and presence of mind. 
These by warm bathing, and keeping them out of the sun, by providing 
unguents for their hair and complexions, and eveiy thing necessary for 
their dress, by forming their voice, their maimer, and their step, he so 
effectually altered, that they passed among the virgins designed for Crete, 
and no one could discern the difference. At his return he walked in pro- 
cession with the same young men, dressed in the manner of those who 
now carry the branches. These are carried in honour of Bacchus and 
Ariadne, on account of the story before related ; or rather because they 
returned at the time of gathering ripe fruits. The AuvrvoQogot, women 
who carry the provisions, bear a part in the solemnity, and have a share 
in the sacrifice, to represent the mothers of those upon whom the lots fell, 
who brought their children provisions for the voyage. Fables and tales 
are the chief discourse, because the women then told their children stories 
to comfort them and keep up their spirits. These particulars are taken 
from the history of Demon.' Besides the rites already described, out of 
Plutarch, there was always a race at this festival: 1 the contenders were 
young men, elected out of every tribe, whose parents were both living. 
They ran from Bacchus' temple to that of Minerva Sciras, in the Phale- 
rean haven. The place where the race ended was called 'Oa-^etpo^ov, from 
the orxatf boughs, which the runners carried in their hands and deposited 
there. The conqueror's reward was a cup called nsvra-TXca, or nsvra^X^ 
fivefold, because it contained a mixture of five things, viz. wine, honey, 
cheese, meal, and a little oil. 

n. 

llayxXuhia, a festival so called a<7?o vruvrcdv xXub&sv, from all sorts of 
Coughs : it was celebrated by the Rhodians, when they pruned their vines.2 

Uccjufiotwria, a festival celebrated, as the name imports, by all the Boeo- 
tians* who assembled near Coronea, at the temple of Minerva, surnamed 
Itonia, from Itonius, the son of Amphictyon. 

Ua,va,0r,vccia, an Athenian festival in honour of Minerva, the protectress 
of Athens. It was first instituted by Erichthonius, or Orpheus, and called 
'A^'/?va/a, but afterwards renewed and amplified by Theseus, when he had 
united into one city the whole Athenian nation, and called TLavetfiweu*. 
Some are of opinion, that it was much the same with the Roman quinqua- 
tria, whence it is usual to call it by that name in Latin. At first, it con- 
tinued only one day ; but it afterwards was prolonged several days, and 
celebrated with greater preparations and magnificence than was usual in 
the primitive times. 

There were two solemnities of this name, one of which was called 
Miyata, nawJhouot, the great Panathencea, and was celebrated once in 
five years, beginning upon the 22d of Hecatombseon. The other was 



1 Pau;an. Atticis, Athen. xi. 
Hesych. Nicandri Schol. Alexiph. 



2 Hesychms. 

3 Strabo, i>:. Pausan. Boeot. 



291 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



called >L**« Uctvu^veaa, the lesser Panathencea, and was kept every third 
year ; or rather, as some think, every year, beginning upon the 20th or 
2 1st of Thargelion. In the latter, there were three games managed by 
ten presidents, who were elected out of the ten tribes of Athens, and who 
continued in office four years. On the first day, at even, there was a i 
race with torches, in which, first, footmen, and afterwards horsemen, con- 
tended: the same custom was observed in the greater festival. The 
second contention was ivavo^ia; ayojv, a gymnical exercise, so called, be- 
cause in it the combatants gave proof of their strength, or manhood. The 
place of these games was near the river, and was called from this festival 
iravaSnvuixovi the stadium, being decayed by time, was rebuilt of white 
Pentelic marble by Herodes, a native of Athens, with such splendour and 
magnificence, that the most stately theatres could not compare with it. 
The last was a musical contention, first instituted by Pericles. In the 
songs used at this time, they rehearsed the generous undertakings of Har- 
modius and Aristogiton, who opposed the tyranny of Pisistratus' sons; 
and of Thrasybulus, who delivered the Athenians from the thirty tyrants 
imposed on them by the Lacedsemoniuns. The first that obtained the 
victory, by playing upon the harp, was Phrynis, a Mitylensean. Other 
musical instruments were also made use of, especially flutes, on which they 
played in concert: there was also a dance performed by a circular chorus, 
of winch hereafter: and the poets contended in four plays, of which the 
last was a satire ; and altogether were named from their number, vit^cc- 
Xoy'tcc. Besides these, there was a contention at Sunium in imitation of 
a sea-fight. The conqueror in any of these games was rewarded with a 
vessel of oil, which he was permitted to dispose of in whatever manner he 
pleased, whereas it was unlawful for any other person to transport that 
commodity: he also received a crown of those olives which grew in the 
groves of Academus, and were sacred to Minerva, and called pogicti, from 
ftogo?, death, in remembrance of the misfortune of Halirrhothius, the son 
of Neptune, who, in a rage at his father's defeat by Miner va, in their 
contention about the name of Athens, when he attempted to cut down the 
olive-tree, by the production of which Minerva obtained the victory, 
missed his aim, and gave himself a fatal blow; others derive the name 
from pi^os, a part, because, according to some, these olives were given 
hy contribution; all persons that possessed olive-trees being obliged to 
contribute their proportions towards the celebration of this festival. Be- 
sides these, there was a certain dance called pyrrhichia, performed by 
young boys in armour, in imitation of Minerva, who, in triumph over the 
vanquished sons of Titan, danced in that manner. It was usual also, 
■when Athens was brought under the dominion of the Romans, for gladia- 
tors to contend after the Roman fashion. No man was permitted to be 
present at any of these games in dyed garments ; and the punishment of 
such offenders was left to the discretion of the 'Aywvofirns, or president of 



1 Frogs, p. 192. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE, 



395 



the games. Lastly, they offered a sumptuous sacrifice, towards which 
ev&ry one of the Athenian boroughs contributed an ox-; and of the flesh 
that remained, a public entertainment was made for the whole assembly. 

In the greater festival, most of the same rites and ceremonies were 
observed, but with greater splendour and magnificence, and with the addi- 
tion of some others, not observed in the lesser, as particularly the proces- 
sion, in which Minerva's sacred k'itXos, or garment, was carried. This 
Ti?r\o; was woven by a select number of virgins, called 'Ey(>ci<r<rtx,xi, from 
s^yay, work ; these were superintended by two of the 'AfynQo^oi, and en- 
tered upon their employment at the festival XxXxiTx, which was upon the 
30th day of Pyanepsion : it was of a white colour, without sleeves, and 
embroidered with gold; upon it were described the achievements of Mi- 
nerva, especially those against the giants: Jupiter also, and the heroes, 
with all such as were famous for valiant and noble exploits, had their effi- 
gies in it ; whence men of true courage and bravery are said to be o^uh 
-fztXoi), worthy to be portrayed in Minerva's sacred garment} With 
this cnsrAo? they made a solemn procession; the ceremonies of which were 
thus: in the Ceramicus, without the city, there was an engine built in 
the form of a ship, on purpose for this solemnity ; upon this the <z-i<r\o; 
was hung in the manner of a sail ; and the whole was conveyed, not by the 
beasts, as some have imagined, but by subterraneous machines, to the 
temple of Ceres Eleusinia, and from thence to the citadel, where the <zi- 
^rXo; was put upon Minerva's statue, which seems to have been laid upon 
a bed strewed with, or rather composed of, flowers, and called «rX«x<?. 
This procession was made by persons of all ages, sexes, and qualities. It 
was led up by old men, together, as some say, with old women, carrying 
olive-branches in their hands ; whence they are called SxX*.o<pogoi, bearers 
of green boughs ; after these came the men of full age, with shields and 
spears, being attended by the Mtreixu, or sojourners, who carried little 
boats, as a token of their being foreigners, and were upon that account- 
called 2xoi(py(pogsi, boat-bearers ; then followed the women, attended by 
the sojourners' wives, who were named 'YtyaQogoi, from bearing water- 
pots. These were followed by young men, singing hymns to the goddess; 
they were crowned with millet : next to these came select virgins of the 
first quality, called Kavyitp'oooi, basket-bearers, because they carried certain 
baskets, which contained some necessaries for the celebration of holy rites, 
which, as also other utensils required at the solemnity, were in the custody 
of one who, because he was chief manager of the public pomps, proces- 
sions, or embassies to the gods, was called 'A^iffsueas, and were distri- 
buted by him as occasion required ; these virgins were attended by the 
sojourners' daughters, who carried umbrellas and little seats, whence they 
were called AiQ^q'oooi, seat-carriers ; lastly, it is probable that the boys 
bore up the rear: they walked in a sort of coats worn at processions, 
and called Uavtuixixoi. The necessaries for this, as for all other pro- 



1 Ansfoi'h, Fquitibus. 



396 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



cessions, were prepared in a public hall, erected for that use. between 
the Piraean gate and Ceres' temple ; and the management and care of 
the whole business belonged to the JSopofvXaxHi which name denotes 
officers appointed to see that the laws, ancient rites, and customs, 
be observed. It was further usual at this solemnity, to make a jail- 
delivery, to present golden crowns to such as 
had done any remarkable service for the com- 
monwealth, and to appoint men to sing some of 
Homer's poems ; which custom was first intro- 
duced by Hipparchus, the son of Pisistratus. 
Lastly, in the sacrifices at this, and other quin- 
quennial solemnities, it was customary to pray 
for the prosperity of the Platseans, on account of 
the signal service they had done the Athenians 
at the battle of Marathon, wherein they behaved 
themselves with extraordinary courage and resolution. 
Ua.va.Kzia, in honour of Panace. 1 

TL&vhvifAov, the same with the 'A0wuta f and XaJUK£«&,3 and so called from 
the great concourse of people that used to meet at the solemnity. 

Ilav^/a, an Athenian festival, 3 so called from Pandion, by whom it was 
first instituted ; or because it was celebrated in honour of Jupiter, who 
can to. iruvroi hv-vuv, move and turn all things as he pleaseth. Others 
are of opinion that it belonged to the moon, and received its name because 
she tfdvron hvat, moves incessantly, appearing both in the night and day; 
whereas the sun shows himself by day only, and was supposed to rest all 
night. It was celebrated after the Atovuirtot, because Bacchus is some- 
times put for the sun, or Apollo, and was by some reputed to be the 
brother, by others, the son of the moon. 

Tldvfyoffos, an Athenian festival, 4 in memoiy of Pandrosus, the daughter 
of king Cecrops. 

Uavovcrlctt public rejoicings, 5 when the season, through its coldness and 
intemperance, forced the mariners to stay at home. 

TLatnWwioi) a public festival celebrated, as the name imports, by an 
assembly of people from ail parts of Greece. 6 

Tlaviuviu, a festival celebrated, as the name signifies, by a concourse of 
people from all the cities of Ionia. 7 The place, or temple, in which it was 
kept, was called Havtuviov.s It was instituted in honour of Neptune, sur- 
named Heliconius, from Helice, a city of Achaia, which afterwards per- 
ished by an earthquake. If the bull offered in sacrifice bellowed, it was 
accounted an omen of divine favour, because that sound was thought to be 
acceptable to Neptune. 9 

1 Theodoretus, vii. Therap. xvii. Proclus in Hesiod. "E P y. Dschangli is supposed to oecury 

2 Suidas. /S'. part of the ancient site. — Man- 

3 Etymolog. Auctor. Said. 6 Eustathius, Iliad. nert* Geogt. vol. vi. pt. iii. p. 

4 Athenagoras in Apologia, 7 Herodot. i. Strab. v. Eus- 304. 

Hesvch. tath. Iliad, 9 Horn. Iliad, xx 

5 iEneas Tacitus Poliorcet. 8 The Turkish Tillage of 




OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



o97 



Ukvo; Uor'/i, an anniversary solemnity 1 in honour of Pan, a„ Athens, 
where he had a temple, near the Acropolis, the dedication of which, and 
the institution of this festival, were upon this account: when Darius the 
Persian invaded Attica, one Phidippides was despatched on an embassy to 
the Spartans, to desire their assistance: and as he was in his iourney, 
about mount Parthenius, near Tegea, Pan met him, and calling him by 
his name, bid him ask the Athenians, what was the reason why they had 
no regard of him, who was their friend, and had often been serviceable to 
them, and should continue to be? Phidippides, at his return to Athens, 
related this vision, winch obtained so great credit with the Athenians, 
that they made a decree, that divine honours should be paid to that god 
also. 

Pan had likewise a festival in Arcadia,2 the country he was believed 
most to frequent and delight in, at which they used to beat his statue with 
trxtXXai, sea onions : the same was done when they missed of their prey 
in hunting, in anger, as it should seem, at the god, whom they reputed to 
be president of that sport. 

Farther, it was customary to offer a scanty sacrifice, the relics of which 
were not sufficient to entertain those that were present ; because, perhaps, 
they thought the god had frustrated their hopes of prey in hunting: on the 
contrary, when they had good success, they were more liberal in paying 
honours to him 3 



1 Herodot. vi. 106. 

2 Theocriti Schol. Idyll, vii. 

3 Jupiter is supposed to denote 
the ethereal spirit considered 
abstractedly, while Pan typifies 
it as diffused through the mass 
of universal matter. Hence Pan 
is called in the Orphic Hymns, 
4i Jupiter, the mover of all 
things,'' and described as harmo- 
nizing them by the music of his 
pipe. (Hymn, x. ver. 12 — Frag. 
yxviii. ver. 13, ed. Gem.) He is 
i.lso called the " pervader of the 
sky,'' (AlfopoirAayKToj. (Hymn, 
v. 1.) and of the sea ('AA»x-Aay»- 
toj. Soph. Aj. 703.), to signify 
the principle of order diffused 
through heaven and earth ; and 
the Arcadians called him *' the 
Lord of matter" (rbv r7,s vA^y 
xvpior. Mncrob. Sat, i. 22.), 
which title is expressed in the 
Latin name Syhanus ; SYLVA, 
*TAFA. and 'YAH v being the same 
word written according to the 
different modes of pronouncing 
in different dialects. In a cho- 
ral ode of Sophocles, he is ad- 
dressed by the title of " Author 
and director of the dances of the 
gods" (Aj. I. c), as being the 
author and disposer of the regu- 
lar motions of the universe, of 
which these divine dances were 
symbols. (Luciati. de Sultat. 7. 
—ed. Hemst. vol. ii. p. 271.) Ac- 
cording to Pindar (Schol. in 
Phid. Pyth. iii. 138.) this Arca- 
dian god was the associate or 
husband of Rhea, and conse- 



quently the same as Saturn, 
with whom he seems to be con- 
founded on some ancient coins. 
Among the Greeks all dancing 
was of the mimetic kind •, where- 
fore Aristotle classes it with 
poetry, music, and painting, as 
being equally an imitative art. 
(Poet. c. I.) ; and Lucian calls it 
a science of imitation and exhi- 
bition, which explained the con- 
ceptions of the mind, and certi- 
fied to the organs of sense tilings 
naturally beyond their reach. 

(De Saltat. 36 ed. Hemst. vol. 

ii. p. 289.) Dancing was also a 
part of the ceremonial in all 
mystic rites. Amon^ the Greeks, 
the Cnossian dances were pecu- 
liarly sacred to Jupiter, as the 
Nyssian were to Bacchus, both 
of which were under the direc- 
tion of Pan, (Sophocl. I. c), who, 
being the principle of universal 
order, partook of the nature of 
all the other gods; they being 
personifications of particuiar 
modes of acting of the great all- 
ruling principle, and he of his 
general law of pre-established 
harmony; whence, upon an an- 
cient vase of Greek workman- 
ship, he is represented playing 
upon a pipe, between two figures, 
the one male and the other fe- 
male, over the latter ot which is 
written N002S and over the for- 
mer AAKOS. while he himself is 
distinguished by the title MOA- 
KOS; so that this composition 
exjlicitly shows him in the cha- 
2 L 



racter of universal harmony, re- 
sulting from mind and strength; 
these titles being in the ancient 
dialect of Magna Grascia, where 
the vase was found, the same as 
NOTTS, AAKH, and MOAUH. in 
ordinary Greek. Pan, like other 
mystic deities, was wholly un- 
known to the first race of poets; 
there being no mention of him 
either in the Iliad, the Odyssey, 
or the genuine poems of Hesiod, 
and the mythologists of later 
times having made him a son of 
Mercury by Penelope, the wife 
of Ulysses; a fiction, perhaps, 
best accuunted for by the conjec- 
ture of Herodotus tii. 146.), that 
the terrestrial genealogies ot the 
mystic deities, Pan, Bacchus, 
and Hercules, are mere fables, 
bearing date from the supposed 
time of their becoming objects of 
public worship. Both in Greece 
and Egypt, Pan was commonly 
represented under the symboli- 
cal form of the goat half-hu- 
manized (Herod, ii- 46.), from 
which are derived his subordi- 
nate ministers, or personified 
emanations, called Sat; rs,Fauns, 
Tituri, Panisci, &c. ; who, as 
well as their parent, were whol- 
ly unknown to the ancient poets. 
Though the Greek writers call 
the deity who was represented 
by the sacred goat at Mendes, 
Pan, he more exactly answers to 
Priapus.- — Anthon's Lempriere, 
vol. ii. p. 1105. 



398 



GHECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



UutoiJ/iX, see Uvxvi^pia. 

TLaoaXia, a commemoration-day in honour of an ancient hero, whose 
name was Paralus. 1 

Uava-ctviiK, a festival, in which were solemn games, wherein only free- 
born Spartans contended ; also, an oration in praise of Pausanias, the Spar- 
tan general, under whose conduct the Grecians overcame Mardonius, in 
the famous battle at Plataea. 2 

UiXocr&'ot, a festival held by the Eleans to Pelops, whom that nation 
honoured more than any other hero. It was kept in imitation of Hercu- 
les, who sacrificed to Pelops in a trench, as was usually done to the manes 
and infernal gods. We are informed 3 that the magistrates of the Eleans 
sacrificed every year a ram in the same manner; that the priest had no 
share in the victim ; and that none of the Eleans, or other worshippers, 
were permitted to eat any part of it. Whoever ventured to transgress 
this rule was excluded from Jupiter's temple. Only the neck was allotted 
to one of Jupiter's officers, who was called fyXevs, from his office, which 
was to provide the customary wood for sacrifices, it being held unlawful in 
that country to employ any other tree than the Xzvkx, or white poplar, to 
that use. 

lUXuoia, a Thessalian festival, not unlike the Roman Saturnalia. It is 
thus described by Athenseus: 4 « Baton, the Sinopensian rhetorician, in his 
description of Thessaly and Hsemonia, declares that the Saturnalia are a 
Grecian festival, and called by the Thessaiians Peloria ; Ins words are 
these: " On a time when the Pelasgians were offering public sacrifices, 
one Pelorus came in, and told one of them, that the mountains of Tempe 
in Hcemonia were torn asunder by an earthquake ; and the lake, which 
had before covered the adjacent valley, making its way through the breach, 
and falling into the stream of Peneus, had left behind a vast, pleasant, and 
delightful plain. The Pelasgians hugged Pelorus for his news, and in- 
vited him to an entertainment, where he was treated with all sorts of 
dainties: the rest of the Pelasgians also brought the best provisions they 
had, and presented them to him; and his landlord, with others of the best 
-quality, waited on him by turns. In commemoration of this, when the 
Pelasgians had seated themselves in the newly-discovered country, they 
instituted a festival, in which they offered sacrifices to Jupiter, surnamed 
Pelor, and made sumptuous entertainments, to which they invited not 
only all the foreigners amongst them, but prisoners also, whom they per- 
mitted to sit down, and waited upon them. This festival is to this day 
observed with great solemnity by the Thessaiians, and is called Htluoia," ' 

Ueyr'tTtia,, a Macedonian solemnity. 5 

YlipitpatXta., the same with ^a.XXa.yuyia,, being derived from (pczXko;, of 
which see more in Atovvcrin. 

nir&vdrwv Ugr?i 7 gymrriral exercises at Pitana. 6 



J "Eii6trifh. Od>'ss. o'. 
•£ Pius an. l.^ccnicis. 



3 Fansan. i. p. 407, edit, Lirs. 4 Lib. x<v. 
310, edit. Hanov. ' 3 Mes/chiu:. 



6 Idem. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



S99 



nXt/vT^/a, a festival in honour of Aglauros, the daughter of Cecrops, or 
rather of Minerva, who received from that lady the name of Aglauros. 1 
At this time they undressed Minerva's statue, and washed it ; whence the 
solemnity was called nXwrioict, from «r*tm/v, to wash. It was accounted 
an unfortunate or inauspicious day ; and therefore the temples, as upon all 
such days, were surrounded with ropes, so that no man could have admis- 
sion ; the reason of which custom, with a farther account of this solemnity, 
we have in Plutarch's Alcibiades: e The festival of the «r&»t>?^gt&, or puri- 
fying of the goddess Minerva, was celebrated on the twenty-fifth of May, 
when the *ou%itoydai perform those ceremonies which are not to be re- 
vealed, disrobing the image and covering it up. Hence it is that the 
Athenians, of all days, reckon this the most unlucky, and take the 
most care not to do business upon it. Alcibiades' return from exile 
happening on this day, it seemed that the goddess did not receive 
him graciously, but rather with aversion, since she hid her face from 
him. Notwithstanding all this, every thing succeeded according to 
his wish.' Farther, it was customary at this festival to bear in procession 
a clustre of figs, which was called 'T&yhrooia,, or 'Hysjr^ias, from hy'ioy.a.i, 
to lead the way, because figs were hyepates rod zc&Pugou (o'iov, leaders to 
humanity, and a civil course of life ; for, when men left off their ancient 
and barbarous diet of acorns, the next thing they used for food was figs. 

UoXiuct, a solemnity at Thebes, 2 in honour of Apollo, surnamed Uoktos f 
grey, because he was represented in this city, contrary to the practice of 
all other places, with grey hairs. The victim was a bull; but when it 
happened once that no bull could be procured, an ox was taken from the 
cart, and sacrificed: whence the custom of killing labouring oxen, which, 
till that time, was looked on as a capital crime, first commenced* 

Hiptricdv la'tpavos £00797, a festival mentioned by Hesychius. There was 
au image at this solemnity called by a peculiar name Iri/x/xccnscTov. 

notnfiiu, or Tloffulwict, in honour of Iloffn^av, Neptune, to whom also 
they offered a solemn sacrifice, called 'OvuXiov? 

Uotavrucc, a festival in honour of Priapus. 4 

H(H>no office, or Hgnooir'ia, sacrifices offered vroo rvis u^oo-ias, before seed- 
time, 5 to Ceres, who was hence surnamed Hgongoda. They were called 
by the common people U^oocktoJ^u, from uzrh, which sometimes signifies 



1 Hesych. Plut. Alcib. Athen. 
ii. Plut. viii. 12. 

2 Pausan. Bceoticis. 

3 Hesychius. 

4 Priapus, like Osiris, is a type 
of the great generating or pro- 
ductive principle of the universe. 
" In this universal character," 
observes Knight, " he is cele- 
brated by the Greek poets under 
the title of Love or Attracti n, 
the first principle of Animation; 
the father of gods and men; and 
the regulator and disposer of all 
things. {Aristoph. Ad. 693. ed. 
Brunck. Parmenid. Ap. S'ob. 
c. l&—Orpfi. Hymn. v. b.) 



is said to pervade the universe 
with the motion of his wings, 
bringing pure light; and thence 
to be called the splendid, the 
self-illumined, the ruling Pria- 
pus {Orph. Hymn. v. 5.); light 
being considered in this primi- 
tive philosophy, as the great nu- 
tritive principle of ail things. 
{Soph. Oed. Tyr. 1437.) Wings 
are attributed to him as the em- 
blems of spontaneous motion; 
and he is said to have sprung 
from the e-.-g of night, because 
the egg was the ancient symbol 
of organic matter in its inert 
V {Inquiry. &c. sec. 23. — 
2 L 2 



Class. Journ. vol. xxiii. p. 12.) 
The same writer considers the 
name Priapus as equivalent to 
/Sptairovj, clamorous, from the an- 
cient custom of attaching bells 
to statues and figures of this 
deity} the ringing of bells and 
clatter of metals being almost 
universally employed as a means 
of consecration, and a charm 
against the destroying and inert 
powers. {Class. Journ. vol. xxvi. 
p. 48.) — Anthon's Lempriere, vol. 
ii. pp. 1249, 1250. 

5 Hesych. Snid. Aristopl). 
Schol. Equitibus. 



400 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the same with triTog, bread-corn ; whence comes Ayifjcnnpo; km*, Ceres' 
com, in Homer. 1 The first institution of these sacrifices was by the com- 
mand of one Authias, a prophet, who gave out that this was the only 
method to appease the incensed goddess, who had at that time afflicted 
not Athens only, where this solemnity was observed, but all the other 
parts of Greece, with a grievous famine. 

Hgokoyia, a festival celebrated by the inhabitants of Laconia before they 
gathered their fruits. 2 

Tlooftccxta, a festival in which the Lacedaemonians crowned themselves 
with reeds. 3 

Ilooft'/ihia, an Athenian solemnity, celebrated in honour of Prometheus, 4 
with torch-races, in remembrance that he was the first that taught men 
the use of fire. 

nooffxeufwirvoiu, a day of rejoicing, when a new-married wife went to 
cohabit with her husband. 5 

UooTiksia, a solemnity before marriage, of which afterwards. 

JJporpvyua, a festival in honour of Neptune, and of Bacchus, 6 surnamed 
Upor^vy/i;, or Hoorpvyouos, aero rov <rpuyo;, from new wine. 

UpotyQasiu., a festival, so called k<7to rov ^potp^ctvsrj, from preventing, or 
coming before. It was observed by the Clazomenians, in remembrance 
that they made themselves master of Leuca, by coming to the celebration 
of a sacrifice before the Cumseans. 7 

Jlpo^upio-r^pta, a solemn sacrifice which the Athenian magistrates 
yearly offered to Minerva, when the spring began first to appear. 8 

UpcjToriXdtKz, a festival celebrated by the Chersonesians and Thessali- 
ans, 9 in memory of Protesilaus, who was the first Greek slain by Hector. 

Tluxvi^ix, an Athenian festival, 10 sometimes called crvxvo^lx, or ?rav- 
o^pictt on tfolvra; iloov kccptov; <tv\ o^u, because Theseus and his com- 
panions were entertained with all manner of fruits : the former and more 
usual name is derived a-ro rov t-^uv vrCuvoo, from boiling pulse, as was usual 
upon that day ; the reason of which custom, with a farther account of this 
solemnity, I will give you in the words of Plutarch: * Theseus, after the 
funeral of his father, paid his vows to Apollo upon the seventh of Pyanep- 
sion ; for on that day, the youths that returned with him safe from Crete 
made their entiy into the city. They say, also, that the custom of boil- 
ing pulse was derived from hence ; because the young men that escaped 
put all that was left of their provision together, and boiling it in one 
common pot, feasted themselves with it, and with great rejoicing ate 
all together. Hence also they carry about an olive branch, bound about 
with wool, such as they then made use of in their supplications, which 
was called Elps<ripjvr h from zHpo;, wool P and crowned with all sorts of first- 

1 Vide Annot. nostras in Pint 5 Harpocration, Suid. Lucianus. Deor. Concil. 

de Audiendis Poetit. 6 Hesychius. 10 Harpocr. P;ut. Tbeceo. He« 

2 Hesychius. 1 Diodor. Sicul. xv. sychius. 

3 Athenaeus xv. 8 Suidas. 

4 Aristoph. Schol. Ranis. 9 Find. Schol. Iethm. Od. i. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



401 



fruits, to signify that scarcity and barrenness were ceased, singing, in 
their procession, this song: 

fclpeo-tivT?, ox-tea ceptLv. leal rlovas agrov^ And hone<r, labouring bees' sweet toil, 
Kai (*t\* tv KorvXy >cai IXaiov arai/ojTao&u, But, above all, wine's noble juice ; 

Kal *uW 6ur<apjf, «5>y av fitdvov^a Ka8aicyi. Then cares thou ia the cup shalt steep, 

Eiresione. fus produce, And, full of joy, receive soft sle;p. 
And wholesome bread, and cheerful oil, DUKE. 

Though some are of opinion that this custom is retained in memory of the 
Heraclidae, who were thus entertained,, and brought up by the Athenians: 
yet the former account is more generally received. It may be added far- 
ther, that the El^za-iav/], when it was carried about in honour of Apollo, 
was of laurel ; when of Minerva, of olive : because those trees were be- 
lieved to be most acceptable to these deities: when the solemnity was 
ended, it was customary for them to erect it before their house-doors, 
thinking it an amulet, whereby scarcity and want were prevented. • 

TlvXcua, a festival at Pyke, 1 otherwise called Thermopylae in honour of 
Ceres, surnamed, from that place, Eylaea. 

Hvoituiv Uorh, the festival of torches ; it was observed at Argos, and in- 
stituted in memory of the torches lighted by Linceus and Hypermnestra, 
to signify to each other that they had both escaped out of danger. 2 

P. 

'PaiSBsy a.vuX'/i'^i;, the reception, or elevation of the rod. It was an 
anniversary day in the island of Cos, at which the priests carried a cypress 
tree. 3 

'Pa-^codcov iocrii, a part of the Aiovvffiu,, or festival of Bacchus, at which 
they repeated scraps of songs, or poems, as they walked by the ^od's 
statue."* 



2ce£#£«e, nocturnal mysteries, 5 in honour of Jupiter Sabazius, into which 
all that were initiated had a golden serpent put in at their breasts, and 
taken out at the lower parts of their garments, in memory of Jupiter's 
ravishing Proserpine in the form of a serpent. Others 6 are of opinion, 
that this solemnity was in honour of Bacchus, surnamed Sabazius from 
the Sabee, a people of Thrace ; 7 and it is probable this festival was not first 
instituted by the Grecians, but derived to them from the barbarians (such 
were the Thracians reputed), amongst whom, Suidas tells us, 
was the same with uia&t*, to shout dot, as was usual in the festival of 
Bacchus : add to this that the priests of Bacchus were, by the Thracians, 
called 2«/So/. 

^uvicc, a festival in honour of Diana, 8 surnamed Saronia, from Saro, 

IStrabc- ix. 6 Diodorus Siculus, ir. Aris- (Sainte-Croix Mysteres du Pa- 

i f T aus - ^orintniacis. toyh. Schol. Vespis. Harpocr. sranisme, vol. ii.' p. 95, ed. Be 

3 Hippocr. Epist. ad. S. P. O. 7 De Sacy inclines to the Sacy ) 

, u » r l tan " .. opinion that the root of this ap- S Pausan. Corinthiacis. 

4 Athenaeum mit. tii. puliation may be found in the 

5 C.emens Protreot. Arnob. v, name of the Arabian city Saba. 

2 l 3 



402 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the third king of Troezen, by whom a temple was erected, and this festi- 
val instituted to her. 

2s/£«;£&/«, a shaking off the burden. It was a public sacrifice at 
Athens, in memory of Solon's ordinance, whereby the debts of poor peo- 
ple were either entirely remitted, or, at least, the interest due upon them 
lessened, and creditors hindered from seizing upon the persons of their 
debtors, as had been customary before that time. 1 

^.iu'iXn, a festival mentioned by Hesychius ; and observed, it may be, 
in memory of Semele, the mother of Bacchus. 

liTrnoiov, a Delphian festival, celebrated every ninth year, in memory 
of Apollo's victory over Python. The chief part of the solemnity was a 
representation of the pursuit of Python by Apollo. 2 

2^v/a, at Argos. 3 It might, perhaps, be celebrated in honour of 
Minerva, who was surnamed 2^sv/ac, from <;8i\og, strength. 

2*s?£a, Sxi'ga, or ^KigoQooix, an anniversary solemnity at Athens, 4 upon 
the twelfth day of Scirrophorion, in honour of Minerva, or as some say, of 
Ceres and, Proserpine. The name is derived from Sciras, a borough be- 
tween Athens and Eleusis, where there was a temple dedicated to Miner- 
va, surnamed Sciras from that place ; or from one Scirus, an inhabitant of 
Eleusis ; or from Sciron of Salamis ; or from <ry/i%oe, chalk or white plaster, 
of which the statue dedicated to Minerva by Theseus, when he returned 
from Crete was composed: or from rxigov, an umhrella, which was at this 
time carried in procession by Erechtheus'" priest, or some of the sacred 
family of Butas, who, to distinguish them from others that made false 
pretensions to that kindred, were called '^no^ovrahai, the genuine off- 
spring of Butas / those that ordered this procession were wont to make 
use of Aios x&dia, the skins of beasts sacrificed to Jupiter, surnamed Mu- 
X'i%io?, and 'K.rnttes, of which titles I have spoken before. Farther, there 
was at the festival a race called "Oo-^c^o^a, because the young men that 
contended therein did (p'l^uv rh? 0^^0.5, carry in their hands vine-branches 
frill of grapes. 

2*/s£a, or 2»/£^a, at Alea, in Arcadia, 5 in honour of Bacchus, whose 
image was exposed i/vo tt\ <r%ia£i, under an umbrella; whence it is pro- 
bable the name of this festival was derived. At this time the women were 
beaten with scourges, in the same manner with the Spartan boys at the 
altar of Diana Orthia, which they underwent in obedience to a command 
of the Delphian oracle. 

2a/XX&/v tooTTi, the festival of sea-onions. It was observed in Sicily; 
the chief part of it was a combat, wherein youths beat one another with 
sea-onions: he that obtained the victory was rewarded by the gymnasiarch 
with a bull. 6 

SsrcgTia, mentioned by Hesychius. 



1 Pint Solone. 

2 Pint. Grasc. Quffist. 

3 Hesychius. 



4 Aristoph. Schol. Concionat. viii. 33. 

Harpocr. Suidas. 6 Theocr. Schol. Idyll, vii. 

5 Pausan. Arcadicis, Pollux, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



403 



2rr,*isc, an Athenian solemnity, 1 wherein the women made jests and 
lampoons upon one another; whence trrwiveai signifies to abuse, ridicule, 
or speak evil of one another. 

IroQua., at Eretria, in honour of Diana Stophea, 2 

2rufA$eiXta, at Stymphalus in Arcadia, in honour of Diana, named from 
that place Stymphalia. 3 

1uy%o/xi<rr7)otcc, see QccXvffta,. 

Ivvoixia., see Buvoixia,. 

lu^etjcouffiuv lo^rai, Syracusan festivals, one of which Plato mentions ; 4 
it continued ten days, during which time the women were employed in 
offering sacrifices. 

Another we read of in Tully, 5 which was celebrated every year by vast 
numbers of men and women, at the lake near Syracuse, through which 
Pluto was said to have descended with Proserpine. 

Ivoa/xioc, games at Sparta, 6 the prize of which was o-ugfixiK, a mixture 
of fat and honey. 

2fit/T>j£/«, sacrifices and thanksgivings for deliverance out of dangers. 
One of these festivals was kept at Sicyon, on the fifth of Anthesterion, to 
Jupiter ^ta-r,o, the saviour ; that city having been on that day delivered 
by Aratus from the Macedonian tyranny. 7 

T. 

Tottvuoia, in honour of Neptune, surnamed Tsenarius, from Trenarus, a 
promontory in Laconia, where was a temple dedicated to him. The wor- 
shippers were called Tcavcto'ircu. 8 

TaXoLiVirvs, gymnical exercises in honour of Jupiter TccXuil; , as Meur- 
sius conjectures from the words of Hesychius. 

Tavgua, in honour of Neptune, as Hesychius reports: perhaps it was 
the same with that mentioned by Athenseus, 9 and celebrated at Ephesus, 
wherein the cup-bearers were young men, and called Tadgoi. 

TccuoovoXiicc, in honour of Diana Tc&ugo<xo\os , 10 of which sumame there 
are various accounts ; the most probable is that which derives it from Scy- 
thia Taurica, where this goddess was worshipped. 

Txuoo^oXia,, at Cyzicus. ]1 

Ticro-a^xoffro'i, the fortieth day after child-birth, upon which the women 
went to the temples, and paid some grateful acknowledgments for their 
safe delivery ; of which custom I shall give a further account in one of 
the following books. 

Tifavihit, a Spartan festival, 12 in which the T^Jjva/, or nurses, conveyed 
the male infants committed to their charge to the temple of Diana Coiy- 
thallia, which was at some distance from the city, being seated not far 

1 Hesych. Suidas. 6 Hesychius. 10 Hesychius. 

2 Athemeus, vi. 7 Pint. Arato. Poljb. ii. Ci- 11 Idem. 

3 Pausan. Arcadicis. cero, de Offic. iiu 12 Athen. iv. Hesychius. 
4Ep<st. ad Dior.is propinquos. S Idem. 

Orat. in Verrem, iv. 9 Lib. x. 



404 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



from that part of the river Tiassa which was near Cleta ; here they offered 
young pigs in sacrifice; during the time of the solemnity some of them 
danced, and were called Koovfaxtirrpeu ; others exposed themselves in 
antic and ridiculous postures, and were named Kvotrroi, They had like- 
wise a public entertainment at this and some other times, which was 
called stows, and to partake of it, jiocrlguv. The manner of it was thus: 
tents being erected near the temple, and beds furnished therein, and 
covered with tapestry, all the guests, as well foreigners as natives of Laco- 
nia, were invited to supper, where every man had his portion allotted him, 
together with a small loaf of bread, called (pvo-lzvkXo;, a piece of new 
cheese, part of the entrails of the victim, and, instead of sweetmeats, figs, 
beans, and green vetches. 

Ttruvsec, 1 in memory of the Titans. 2 

TX'/i<aro\ip,i'ic&, games celebrated at Rhodes, 3 in memoiy of Tlepolemus, 
upon the twenty-fourth day of the month Gorpiseus, in which not only men, 
but boys, were permitted to contend. The victors were crowned with 
poplar. 

Tovitx, the institution and manner of this solemnity are described in 
Athenseus, 4 who tells us it was kept at Samos. The chief ceremony con- 
sisted in carrying Juno's image to the sea shore, and offering cakes to it, 
and then restoring it to its former place; which was done in commemo- 
ration of its being stolen by the Tyrrhenians, and, when their ships were 
detained in the harbour by an invisible force, exposed upon the shore. 
The name of this festival is derived ccxl rod crwrovw; ^i^nXn^mm to 
figlrcis, from the image's being fast hound by those that first found it, be- 
cause they imagined it was going to leave them. 

To%x(>$ia, at Athens, 5 in memory of Toxaris, a Scythian hero, who 
died there, and went under the name of '^ivog largos, the foreign physi- 
cian . 

T^ixXcigta,, an anniversary festival, 6 celebrated by the Ionians that inha- 
bited Aroe, Anthea, and Mesatis, in honour of Diana Triclaria, to appease 
whose anger for the adultery committed in her temple by Menalippus and 
Comtetho the priestess, they were commanded by the Delphian oracle to 
sacrifice a boy and a virgin : this inhuman custom continued till after the 
Trojan war, when it was abolished by Eurypilus. 



1 Pezron ( Antiquite des Celtes) those Cuthites, or sons of Chus, fare with the gods an allegorical 

makes the Geltse to ba the same called giants, who built the picture of the angry collisions 

with the Titans, and their tower of Babel, and were after- of the elements in the earlier 

princes the same with the giants wards dispersed. Constant re- ages of the world. (Compare 

in scripture. According to him, gards the legend of the gods and Hermann und Creiiser, Briefe, 

the Titans were the descendants the Tiians as the tradition of a p. 158.)— Anthons Lemprierc, 

of Gomer, the son of Japhet. Ha warfare between two rival reli- vol. ii. p. 1503. 

adds that the word Titan is per- gious sects, ihe Titans being con- 2 Moschopulus Collect. Diet, 

feet Celtic, and he derives it sidered by him as having wor- Attica. 

from tit, earth, and den, or ten, shipped the elements and stars. 3 Pind. Schol. Olymp. Od. vii. 

man j and hence, he says, the (de la Religion, vol. ii. p. 3150 4 Lib. xv. 

reason of the Greek appellation The best solution, however, ap- 5 Lucianus Scytha. 

of yfjyevisly, or earth-born, which ]>ears to be that which makes 6 Pausan. Achaicis. 

was applied to them. The Ti- the Titans mere personifications 

tans, according to Bryant, were of the elements, and their war- 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 405 

t^ioTricc, solemn games dedicated to Apollo Triopius. The prizes were 
tripods of brass, which the victors were obliged to consecrate to Apollo. 1 
Tgivrov/i'Tcz), a festival mentioned by Hesychius. 

TatrotfccrogiTx, a solemnity/ 2 in which it was usual to pray for children 
to the Qioi yzn$7,ioi, or gods of generation, who were sometimes called 
Toirosrecrogis. Of these I shall have occasion to speak afterwards. 

TgoQaviz, solemn games celebrated every year at Lebadea, in honour of 
Trophonius. 3 

Twee), mentioned in Hesychius. 

Tvefik, celebrated by the Achseans, in honour of Bacchus. 4 
T. 

"Taz'ivha, an anniversary solemnity 5 at Amyclse in Laconia, in the 
month Hecatombaeon, in memory of the beautiful youth Hyacinthus, with 
games in honour of Apollo. It is thus described by Athenseus: 6 ' Poly- 
crates reports in his Laconics, that the Laconians celebrate a festival 
called Hyacinthia, three days together; during first day, their grief 
for the death of Hyacinthus is so excessive, that they neither adorn them- 
selves with crowns at their entertainments nor eat bread, but sweetmeats 
only, and such like things: nor sing pieans in honour of the god, nor prac- 
tise any of the customs that are usual at other sacrifices ; but having 
supped with gravit)', and an orderly composedness, depart. Upon the 
second day, there is a variety of spectacles, frequented by a vast concourse 
of people. The boys, having their coats girt about them, play sometimes 
upon the harp, sometimes upon the flute, sometimes strike at once upon 
all their strings, and sing hymns in honour of the god, Apollo, in anapaes- 
tic numbers, and shrill acute sounds. Others pass across the theatre upon 
horses richly accoutred ; at the same time enter choirs of young men, 
singing some of their own country songs, and, amongst them, persons 
appointed to dance according to the ancient form, to the flute, and vocal 
music. Of the virgins, some are ushered in, riding in chariots made of 
wood, covered at the top, and magnificently adorned ; others in race-cha- 
riots. The whole city is filled with joy at this time ; they offer multi- 
tudes of victims, and entertain all their acquaintance and slaves ; and so 
eager are they to be present at the games, that no man stays at home, but 
the city is left empty and desolate/ 

'^(hoiffrtKoc, at Argos, 7 upon the sixteenth, or rather upon the new moon, 
of the month called by the Argives Hermeas. The chief ceremony was, 
that the men and women exchanged habits, in memory of the gener- 
ous achievements of Telesilia, who, when Argos w r as besieged by Cleo- 
menes, having collected a sufficient number of women, made a brave and 
vigorous defence against the whole Spartan army. 



1 Herodot. i. 44. 

2 Etymologici Auctor. 

3 Find. Schol. Olymp. Od. vii. 



4 Pausan. Corinthiacis. ' Flut. Virt. Mulier. Polyecn, 

5 Idem Lacon. Hesychius. viii. 
f) Lib. iv. 



406 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



'YtyoQoQtx, a solemnity, so called asro <rov Qiguv litu^, from bearing 
water ; and kept at Athens in memory of those that perished in the de- 
luge. 1 

Another festival was celebrated at^Egina, to Apollo, in the month Del- 
phinius. 2 

"T/av/a, at Orchomenos and Man tinea, in honour of Diana Hymnia. 
'Yarfyta, a festival at Argos, in honour of Venus. 3 The name is 
derived from vs, a sow, because sows were sacrificed to this goddess. 

^a-yYiertoc, <Pxy/icrl(&, or Q'/iyvtriK, or ^xy^ai^cffia, or Q'/iywffivr'ocrta,) was a 
festival, so called from (pciyuv, and «rm;v, to eat and drink, because it was 
a time of good living. 4 It was observed during the Dionysia, and be- 
longed to Bacchus. 

$a.yuv, a festival mentioned by Eustathius, 5 and, as the name imports, 
of the same nature with the former. 

^acfi^dicrr^x, mentioned by Hesychius. 

&XXo$, a festival of Bacchus, 6 being a preparative to the Aiovvtrtx? 
$i(>i<pa.Tria,, a festival at Cyzicum, wherein a black heifer was sacrificed 
to Pherephatte,8 or Proserpine. 9 

$6j<r(pG£t>x, in honour of Phosphorus, or Lucifer. 10 

X. 

XaXzua, so called from ^aX«a;, brass, because it was celebrated in 
memory of the first invention of working that metal, which is owing to 
Athens. 11 It was called Tlu.vhnpov, because o <ara; Gripes, the whole Athenian 
nation assembled to celebrate it. Sometimes also this festival was called 
'A^vxtx, because it was kept in honour of 'ArVV/j, or Minerva, who was 
the goddess of all sorts of arts and inventions, and upon that account 
named 'E^yavj?, from sgyov, work. Afterwards it was only kept by me- 
chanics and handicraftsmen, especially those concerned in brass work, and 
that in honour of Vulcan, who was the god of smiths, and the first that 
taught the Athenians the use of brass. 

X&Xxiot'xtu, an anniversary day at Sparta, on which the young men as- 
sembled in arms to celebrate a sacrifice in the temple of Minerva, sur- 
named XxXxlaxo;, from her temple, which was made of brass. The 
ephori were always present, to give directions for the due performance of 
the solemnity. 12 

Xaovix, a festival celebrated by the Chaonians in Epirus. 13 

XvoiXu, a festival observed once in nine years by the Delphians: 14 ' A 

1 Elymologici Auctor. Suidas. 8 Rieiner, in his Greek and 9 Pint. Lucullo. 

2 Pindari Schol. Nemeon. Od. German Lexicon, pronounces 10 Plut. in Coloteai. Hesych* 
v. this appellation to be one, not of 11 Eustath. Iliad. /?'. SuidHg, 

3 Athenaeus, iii. Greek but of foreign origin, and, Harpocr. Elymologici Auctor. 

4 Idem. vii. consequently, condemns all the 12 PolyLiius, iv. Pausan. Pho- 

5 ()£yss. <p'. fanciful derivations which have cicis, p. 618. et Laconicis, p. 1D3. 

6 Suidas. been deduced for it through the 13 Partbenius Erct. 32. 
1 Aristoph. Schol. Nubibus. former language.— Ant'wi. 14 Plut. Girsc. Oua;st. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



407 



great drought having brought a famine upon the Delphians, they went 
with their wives and children as supplicants to the king's gate, who distri- 
buted meal and pulse to the more noted of them, not having enough to 
supply the necessities of all; but a little orphan girl coming and impor- 
tuning him, he beat her with his shoe, and threw it in her face; she in- 
deed was a poor vagrant beggar, but of a disposition nowise mean or igno- 
ble : wherefore, unable to bear the affront, she withdrew, and untying her 
girdle, hanged herself therewith. The famine hereupon increasing, and 
many diseases accompanying it, the Pythia was consulted by the king, 
and answered, that the death of the virgin Charila, who slew herself, must 
be expiated: the Delphians, after a long search, discovered at length that 
the maid who had been beaten with the shoe was called by that name, and 
instituted certain sacrifices, mixed with expiatory rites, which are religi- 
ously observed every ninth year to this day. The king presides at them, 
and distributes meal and pulse to all persons, as well strangers as citizens; 
and Charila's effigy being brought in, when all have received their dole, 
the king smites it with his shoe ; then the governess of the Thyades con- 
veys it to some lonesome and desolate place, where, a halter being put 
about its neck, they bury it in the same spot of ground where Charila was 
interred.' 

Xagio-ict, a festival celebrated in honour of the Charites, 1 or Graces, with 
dances, which continued all night ; he who continued awake the longest 
was rewarded with a cake, called Uvgapods. 

Xagio-T'/igiu, 'EXiufaglas, a thanksgiving day at Athens, 2 upon the twelfth 
day of Boedromion, which was the day whereon Thrasybulus expelled the 
thirty tyrants, and restored the Athenians their liberty. 

Xagpiocruva, at Athens. 3 

Xtigo*Met, a festival celebrated by the Xugovovoi, or handicraftsmen. 4 
Xikdovix, a festival at Rhodes, 3 in the month Boedromion, wherein the 
boys went from door to door begging, and singing a certain song; the 
doing which was called xzXthvs&v, and the song itself was named XiXtVo- 
vt<ruec, because it was begun with an invocation of the XgX/^v, or swallow: 
it is set down at large in Athenseus, and begins thus: 

"Ex8\ txQi, X-Xidaiv, xc&Xut 
"Qgotg ocycvrot, %. t. A. 

It is said to have been composed by Cleobulus the Lindian, as an artifice 
to get money in a time of public calamity. In like manner, to sing the 
song wherein a raven, in Greek Ko^ vn , was invoked, they called 
£itv. And it seems to have been customary for beggars to go about and 
sing for wages ; so Homer is said to have done, earning his living by sing- 
ing a song called El^riavn. 

Xt'ovia, an anniversary day kept by the Hermionians, in honour of Ceres, 
sumamed Chthonia, ei ther because she was goddess of the earth, which is 



408 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



called in Greek £^>v, or from a damsel of that name, whom Ceres c'dmea 
from Argolis to Hermione, where she dedicated a temple to the goddess. 
The manner of this festival is thus described by Pausanias: 1 ' Ceres her- 
self is named Chthonia, and under that title is honoured with a festival, 
celebrated ever}-' summer in this method : a procession is led up by the 
priests of the gods, and the magistrates that year in office, who are fol- 
lowed by a crowd of men and women ; the boys also make a solemn pro- 
cession in honour of the goddess, being in white apparel, and having upon 
their heads crowns composed of a flower, which is by them called K^o- 
cdv^aAos, but seems to be the same with hyacinth, as appears as well by 
the bigness and colour as from the letters inscribed upon it, in memory of 
the untimely death of Hyacinthus. This procession is followed by persons 
that drag a heifer, untamed and newly taken from the herd, fast bound, to 
the temple, where they let her loose ; which being done, the door-keepers, 
who till then had kept the temple gates open, make all fast, and four old 
women being left within, and armed with scythes, they pursue the heifer, 
and despatch her, as soon as they are able, by cutting her throat. Then 
the doors being opened, certain appointed persons put a second heifer into 
the temple, afterwards a third, and then a fourth, all which the old women 
kill in the fore-mentioned manner ; and it is observable, that all fall on 
the same side/ 

Xtrcovia, in honour of Diana, surnamed Chitonia, from Chitone, a 
borough in Attica, where this festival was celebrated. 2 

Another festival of this name was celebrated at Syracuse, with songs 
and dances proper to the day. 3 

Xt.o'.ios, a festival celebrated at Athens upon the sixth of Thargelion, 4 
with sports and mirth, sacrificing a ram to Ceres, worshipped in a temple 
in or near the acropolis of Athens, under the title of XXori, 5 which name, 
though Pausanias thought to bear a hidden and mystical sense, understood 
by none but the priests themselves, yet perhaps it may be derived from 
^Xe?7j grass, because Ceres was goddess of the earth, and all the fruits 
thereof; and is the same with the epithet of zu%\oos, or fertile, which is 
applied to her by Sophocles: 6 

Til 5' iv%\oov AvfMjTgns srre-^fov 
Uocyov [AoXoZtrot. ■ 

Where this conjecture seems to be approved by the scholiast, who tells us, 
that Ceres, surnamed Eu^Xoos, was worshipped in a temple near the acro- 
polis, which can be no other than that already mentioned. Add to this, 
that Gyraldus is of opinion that Ceres is called XXcjj amongst the Greeks, 
for the same reason that she is named Flava amongst the Latins. 

Xo\;. See 'Av0i<rT'/ioia,. 

XoXas, in honour of Bacchus. 7 

1 CorinthiacU. 4 Hesych. Eustathius, II. Symholik, vol. it. p. 314. 

2 Calhmachi Schol. Hymn, in Pausan. Atticis. 6 OZdip. Colon, 
Dian. Atlienaeus xir. 5 As reeards the terra x ^v, 1 Hesychius. 

3Stephan. Byzantin. v. Xt-*^. compare the remarks of Creuzer, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE 



409 



X'JTooi. See ' Avh(rrr,oicc. 

n 

SlpaQuyiet, a festival in honour of Bacchus 'QpoQxyo?, eater of raw 
Jlesh, 1 of which I have spoken in the former part of this chapter. In this, 
as in the other festivals of Bacchus, frenzy and madness were counterfeited: 
what was peculiar to it was, that the worshippers used to eat the entrails 
of goats, raw and bloody, in imitation of the god, to whom the surname 
by which he was adorned at this solemnity was given for the like actions. 

'CloccTa, solemn sacrifices 2 of fruits, offered in spring, summer, autumn, 
and winter, that heaven might grant mild and temperate weather. They 
were offered to the three goddesses called "P.oai, Hours, who attended upon 
the sun, presided over the four seasons of the year, and were honoured 
with divine worship at Athens. 3 



CHAP. XXI. 

OF THE PUBLIC GAMES IN GREECE, AND THE PRINCIPAL EXERCISES USED IN 
THEM. 4 



I come, in the next place, to the four public and solemn games, which 
were peculiarly termed hoe\ sacred, partly from the esteem they had all 



1 Clemens Protrept. Arnob. v. 

2 Hesvchius. 

3 Athen. xiv. 

4 Among the numerous festi- 
vals which the several Greek 
cities were accustomed to cele- 
brate, there were some, which 
from causes that are uo longer 
well known, or were, perhaps, 
quite accidental, soon became 
really national. At these fo- 
reigners could be spectators; but 
the Greeks alone were permit- 
ted to contend for the prizes. 
This right belonged to the inha- 
bitant of the farthest colony, as 
well as of the mother country, 
and was esteemed inalienable 
and invaluable. Even princes 
were proud of the privilege, for 
which the Persian king himself 
would have sued in vain, of 
sending their chariots to the 
races of Olympia. Every one 
has learned, from the odes of 

■ Pindar, that, besides the Olym- 
pic contests, the Pythian games 
at Delphi, the Nemean at Argos, 
»ncl the Isthmian at Corinth 
were of this number. As to the 
origin of these games, Homer 
does not make mention of them, 
which he would hardly have ne- 
glected to do if they had existed 
or been famous in his day. Yet 
the foundation of th^m was laid 
in so remote a period of antiqui- 



ty, that it is attributed to sods 
and heroes. Uncertain as" are 
these traditions, it is remarkable 
that a different origin is attri- 
buted to each one of them. 
Those of Olympia wore insti- 
tuted by Hercu'es on his victo- 
rious return, and were designed 
as contests in bodily strength; 
those of Delphi were at first 
only musical exercises; though 
other contests were afterwards 
added. Those of Nemea were 
originally funeral games; re- 
specting the occasion of insti- 
tuting those on the Isthmus, 
there are different accoxmts. 

But, whatever may have been 
the origin of the games, they be- 
came national ones. This did 
not certainly take place at once; 
and we should err it we applied 
the accounts given us of the 
Olympic games in the flourish- 
ing periods of Greece to earlier 
ages. On the contrary, from the 
accurate registers which were 
kept by the judges, we learn 
most distinctly that these games 
gained their importance and cha- 
racter by degrees. They have 
not forgotten to mention when 
the different kinds of contests 
(for at first there were no races), 
were permitted and adopted. But 
still these games gained import- 
ance, though it was gradually; 
2 M 



and the time came when they 
were worthy to be celebrated by 
Pindar. 

In this manner, therefore, 
these festivals, and the games 
connected with them, received a 
national character. They were 
peculiar to the Greeks; and on 
that account also were of great 
utility. " They were justly- 
praised," Isocrates very happily 
observes, "who instituted these 
famous assemblies, and thus 
made it customary for us to come 
together as allies, having set 
aside our hostilities; to increase 
our friendship by recalling our 
relationship in our common vows 
and sacrifices; to renew our an- 
cient family friendships, and to 
form new ones. They have pro- 
vided that neither the unpolished 
nor the well educated should 
leave the games without profit ; 
but that in this assembly of the 
Greeks in one place, some may 
display their wealth, and others 
observe their contests, and none 
be present without a purpose, but 
each have something of which to 
boast; the one part, while they 
see those engaged in the con- 
tests making exertions on their 
account; the other, when they 
consider that all this concourse 
of people has assembled to be 
spectators of their contests." 



410 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

over Greece, from every part of which vast multitudes of spectators flocked 
to them, and partly because they were instituted in honour of the gods, or 
deified heroes, and always began with sacrificing to them, and concluded 
in the same religious manner. 

Their names, together with the persons to whom they were dedicated, 
and the prizes in each of them, are elegantly comprised by Archias, in the 
two following distiches: 

Ol hjO {/,:* S-V^TCdV, 6t "hvo § a,6a,va.7&v f 

AQXoc Zi xbrivos, (jWiKa, (riXivoc, S77V$« 

Such as obtained victories in any of these games, especially the Olym- 
pic, 1 were universally honoured, nay, almost adored. At their return 
home, they rode in a triumphal chariot into the city, the walls being broken 
down to give them entrance ; which was done, as Plutarch is of opinion, 
to signify that walls are of small use to a city that is inhabited by men of 
courage and ability to defend it. At Sparta, they had an honourable post 
in the army, being placed near the king's person. At some places, they 
had presents made to them by their native city, were honoured with the 
first places at all shows and games, and ever after maintained at the public 



The accounts which we read of 
the splendour of these games, 
especially of the Olympic, where 
the Greek nation appeared in 
all its glory, give a high idea of 
them. And yet it was public 
opinion, far more than the reali- 
ty, which gave its value to the 
crown of victory. The glory of 
being conqueror in these games 
was the highest with which the 
Grecian was acquainted ; it con- 
ferred honour, not only on him 
who won the palm, but on his 
family, and on his native city. 
He was not honoured in Olympia 
alone; his victory was the vic- 
tory of his native place ; here he 
was solemnly received; new fes- 
tivals were instituted on his ac- 
count - , and he had afterwards a 
right of living at the public 
charge in the Prytaneum. A 
victory at Olympia, says Cicero 
with truth, rendered the victor 
illustrious no less than his con- 
sulship the Roman consul. The 
tournaments of the middle age 
were something similar; or ra- 
ther might have become some- 
thing similar, if the circum- 
stances of society had not pre- 
vented their development. But 
as a distinct line of division was 
drawn between the classes, they 
became interesting to but one 
class. Birth decided who could 
take a part in them, and who 
were excluded. There was no- 
thing of this among the Greeks. 
The lowest of the people could 
join at Olympia in the contest for 
the branch of the sscred olive 



tree, as well as Alcibiades, or 
even the ruler of Syracuse with 
all the splendour of his equi- 
page. 

Their influence on the politi- 
cal affairs of the Grecian states 
was perhaps not so great as Iso- 
crates represents. A solemnity 
of a few d ys could harily be 
sufficient to cool the passions 
and still the mutual enmities of 
the several races. History men- 
tions no peace which was ever 
negotiated, and still less which 
was ever concluded, at Olympia. 
But so much greater was the in- 
fluence exercised over the men- 
tal culture of the nation ; and if 
the culture of a nation decides 
its character, our plan requires of 
us to pnuse and consider it. 

In all their institutions, when 
they are considered in the light 
in which the Greeks regarded 
them, we shall commonly find 
proofs of the noble disposition of 
that people. And these are to 
be observed in the games, where 
everything which was in itself 
beautiful and glorious; bodily 
strength and skill in boxing, 
wrestling, and running ; the 
splendour of opulence, as dis- 
played in the equipagps for the 
chariot races ; excellence in poe- 
try, and in other intellectual 
productions, were hpre rewarded 
with their prize. But the degree 
of importance assigned to the 
productions of mind was not 
everywhere the same. Musical 
contests, in which the Greeks 
united poetry, song, and music, 



were common in the larger 
games, as well as in those'hardly 
less splendid ones which were 
instituted in the several cities. 
But there was a difference in 
their relative importance. At 
Olympia, though they were not 
entirely excluded, they were yet 
less essentia] ; while in the Py- 
thian games they formed from 
their earliest origin the primary 
ob'cct. They held the same 
rank in several festivals of the 
smaller cities, at the Panathenaaa, 
at Athens, at Delos. Epidaurus, 
Ephesus, and other places. But 
even where no actual competi- 
tion took place, evry one who 
felt possessed of sufficient talents 
was permitted to come forward 
with the y roductions of art. The 
rhapsodist and the performer on 
the flute ; the lyric poet, the his- 
torian, and the orator, had each 
his place. The odes of Pindar 
were chanted in honour of the 
victors, not in emulation of 
others ; and Herodotus had no 
rival when he read his history at 
Olympia. These assemblies 
were large enough to sfford 
room for the reception of every 
thing which was glorious and 
beautiful; and it was especially 
at Olympia and Delphi that the 
observer of the character of he 
Greeks could justly break forth 
in exclamations of admiring as- 
tonishment— Heereris Greece* 
pp. Ill — j]5. 

1 Plut Sympos. ii. nuwst. 6. 
Vitruvius Praefat. in Architect, 
ix. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



411 



charge. 1 Cicero reports, 2 that a victory in the Olympic games was not 
much less honourable than a triumph at Rome. Happy was that man 
thought who could but obtain a single victory: if any person merited re- 
peated rewards, he was thought to have attained to the utmost felicity that 
human nature is capable of; but if he came off conqueror in all the exer- 
cises, he was elevated above the condition of men, and his actions styled 
wonderful victories. 3 Nor did their honours terminate in themselves, but 
were extended to all about them ; the city that gave them birth and edu- 
cation was esteemed more honourable and august ; happy were their rela- 
tions, and thrice happy their parents. A Spartan, 4 meeting Diagoras, 
who had himself been crowned in the Olympic games, and had seen his 
sons and grandchildren victors, embraced him, and said, ' Die, Diagoras, 
for thou canst not be a god.' By the laws of Solon, a hundred drachms 
were allowed from the public treasury to every Athenian who obtained a 
prize in the Isthmian games ; and five hundred drachms to such as were 
victors in the Olympic. 5 Afterwards, the latter of these had their main- 
tenance in the prytaneum, or public hall of Athens. At the same place, 
it was forbidden by the laws to give slaves or harlots their names from any 
of these games, which was accounted a dishonour to the solemnities. 6 
Hence there is a dispute in Athenseus, 7 how it came to pass that Nemea, 
the minstrel, was so called from the Nemean games. 

Persons were appointed to take care that all things were performed 
according to custom, to decide controversies amongst the antagonists, and 
to adjudge the prizes to those that merited them: these were called 
aiffV^TiTcci, figetfiturrai, ccyuvuo^oci, uyuvoh'ixoit, a.ycdvoGira.1, ccQX^'ircti, 
though betwixt these two Phavorinus makes a distinction, for afaotirat, 
he tells us, was peculiar to gymnical exercises ; whereas the former was 
sometimes applied to musical contentions. They were likewise called 
px^ov^ot, and pxpSovopoi, from px^o;, a rod or sceptre, which these 
judges, and in general all kings and great magistrates, carried in their 
hands. 

After the judges had passed sentence, a public herald proclaimed the 
name of the victor, whence x^ua-eruv in Greek, and prcedicare in Latin, 
signify to commend or proclaim any man's praises. The token of victory . 
was in most places a palm branch, which was presented to the conquerors, 
and carried by them in their hands, which custom was first introduced by. 
Theseus at the institution of the Delian games, 8 though others will have 
it to be much more ancient: hence palmam dare, ' to yield the victory;'" 
and plurium palmarum homo, in Tully, ' a man that has won a great many 
prizes/ 

The principal exercises in these games were as follow: 
nlvrafaov, or Quinquertium, which consisted of the five exercises con- 
tained in this verse: 

4 Pint. Pelopida. 7 Lib. xiii. 

5 Pint. Solone. 8 Plut. Theseo. 

6 Lib. i. 10. Lib. iv. 12. 
2 M 2 



1 Xenoph. Coloph. in Epig. 

2 Orat. pro FJacco. 
S Plut. Lucullo. 



412 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



"AXfAcc, xobuxir/iv, dttrzov, mzovtu, ttolX^v. 
leaping, running, throwing, darting, and wrestling. Instead of darting 
some mention boxing, and others may speak of other exercises different 
from those which have been mentioned; for &Ura6Xov seems to have been 
a common name for any five sorts of exercise performed at the same time. 
In all of them, there were some customs that deserve our observation. 

Agopos, the exercise of running, was in great esteem amongst the 
ancient Greeks, insomuch that such as prepared themselves for it thought 
it worth their while to use means to bum or parch their spleen, because 
it was believed to be a hinderance to them, and retard them in their course. 
Homer tells us, that swiftness is one of the most excellent endowments 
with which a man can be blessed.i Indeed, all those exercises that con- 
duced to fit men for war were more especially valued. Now swiftness 
was looked upon as an excellent qualification in a warrior, both because it 
serves for a sudden assault and onset, and likewise for a nimble retreat; 
and therefore it is not surprising that the constant character which Homer 
gives us of Achilles is, that he was dixvs, or swift of foot ; and in 

the holy scriptures, David, in his poetical lamentation over those two 
great captains, Saul and Jonathan, takes particular notice of this warlike 
quality of theirs: ' They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.' 
To return: the course was called (rrcfitov, being of the same extent with 
the measure of that name, which contains 125 paces; the runners, 
erotiiob^opoi. When the length of it was enlarged, it was named Vo\i%o;, 
and the contenders ^oXi^o^oo^ot ; whence the proverb Mh ^<rs/ h evabiof 
$okt%ov, search not for a greater thing in a less. Suidas assigns twenty- 
four stadia to the VoX^ts, and others only twelve. The measure of it 
seems not to have been fixed or determined, but variable at pleasure. 
When they ran back again to the place whence they had first set out, the 
course was called ViauXos, and the runners, tta,vXo$(>opoi, for uuXo$ Avas the 
old term for stadium. Sometimes they ran in armour, and were termed 

"AXpa, the exercise of leaping, they sometimes performed with 
weights upon their heads and shoulders, sometimes carrying them in their 
hands: these were called aXr^s?, and, though now and then of different 
figures, were usually of an oval form, and made with holes, or else covered 
with thongs through which the contenders put their fingers. 'AXrij^f 
were also sometimes used in throwing. The place from which they 
leaped was called fiarr,; : 2 and that to which they leaped to. \<rxa^ha, t 
from ffxa^ra, to dig, because it was marked by digging up the earth; 
whence vndZv vtf\p roc ItxctfAfiivoi, to leap beyond the mark, is applied to 
persons that overleap or exceed their bounds. The mark in the exercise 
of throwing quoits was also sometimes, for the same reason, termed 
CxafAua.. 

'Piypts, the exercise of throwing or darting, was performed, sometimes 



1 Odyss. 5'. ver. 147. 



g Pollux. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



413 



with a javelin, rod, or other instrument of a large size, which they threw 
out of their naked hands, or by means of a thong tied about the middle of 
it ; the doing of it was termed uxovriffpci : sometimes with an arrow or 
little javelin, which was either shot out of a bow, or cast out of a sling; 
and the art of doing this was called rofyxri. 

Alma was a quoit of stone, brass, or iron, which they threw by means 




of a thong put through a hole in the middle of it, 1 but in a manner quite 
different from that of throwing darts; for there the hands were lifted up 
and extended, whereas the discus was hurled in the manner of a bowl. 
It was of different figures and sizes, being sometimes four-square, but 
usually broad and like a lentil, whence that herb is, by Dioscorides, called 




tiirxos. The same exercise 
was sometimes performed 
with an instrument called 
ff'oXos, which some will have 
to be distinguished from Vic- 
xog t because that was of 
iron, this' of stone ; but 
others, with more reason, 
report that the difference 
consisted in this, viz. that 
(roXos was of a spherical 
figure, whereas Vnrxos was 
broad. 



TLvyfAtxhi the exercise of 



p=g„ boxing, was sometimes per- 



^ formed by combatants having 
^ in their hands balls of stone 



] Eustath, Odyss. S'. 

2 m 3 



414 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



or lead, called <r(px7gai y and then it was termed ir(pcct^o/^u^ix. At first 
their hands and arms were naked and unguarded ; afterwards they were 
surrounded with thongs of leather called cestus, which at first were 
short, reaching no higher than the wrists, but were afterwards enlarged, 
and carried up to the elbow, and sometimes as high as the shoulder: and 
in time they came to be used not only as defensive arms but to annoy the 
enemy, being filled with plummets of lead and iron, to add force to the 
blows. The cestus was very ancient, being invented by Amycus king of 
the Bebrycians, who was contemporary with the Argonauts. 1 Those that 
prepared themselves for this exercise, used all possible means to render 
themselves fat and fleshy, that so they might be better able to endure 
blows : whence corpulent men or women were usually called pugiles. 2 

HaXyi, the exercise of wres- 
tling, was sometimes called 
Kcx,Ttt.(hkr t riK7i, because the com- 
batants endeavoured to throw 
each other down, to do which 
they called fi%cu. At first they 
contended only with strength 
of body, but Theseus invented 
the art of wrestling, by which 
men were enabled to throw 
down those who were far supe- 
rior to them in strength. 3 In 
later ages, they never encoun- 
tered till all their joints and 
members had been soundly 
rubbed, fomented, and suppled 
with oil,whereby all strains were 
prevented. The victory was 
adjudged to him that gave his 
antagonist three falls ; whence r^ix^xt and a^or^uloci signify to conquer; o 
roiaZus, or a?rorgta.%c&:, and <rgiotxTV£, the conqueror; r^x^vivui, or u<7or£i*%- 
6r,vu.t, to be conquered; and <x,rgixxro$ ara. an insuperable evil : others make the 
proper signification of these words to belong only to victors in all the exer- 
cises of the vivrodXos ; 4 however, the forementioned custom is sufficiently 
attested by the epigram upon Milo, who, having challenged the whole 
assembly, and finding none that durst encounter him, claimed the crown ; 
but as he was going to receive it, unfortunately fell down: whereat the 
people cried out that he had forfeited the prize ; then Milo, 5 

»AKrr<iy &' Iv piaooioLv ivinpay^, Ol x l rpt tarty' Arose, and standing in the midst, thus cried : 
*Ev Ktlpat, XoL-nov riXXa /xs rij /SaXtTo). One single fall cannot the prize decide, 

And who is here can throw me V other two? 

There were two kinds of wrestling, viz. one called 'Otfia *a*.n, and 




1 Clem. Alexan. Strom, i. 307. 3 Pausanias Atticis. _ 

2 Tereiit. Eunuch, act. ii. oc. 3. 4 Pollux Onomast. Hi. 30. 



5 Antholog. ii. 1. Epigram xi. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



415 



'OgdotfolXv!, which is that already described: and another called 'Ava^A/vo- 
vra.'kn, because the combatants used voluntarily to throw themselves down, 
and continue the fight upon the ground, by pinching, biting, scratching, 
and all manner of ways annoying their adversary ; whereby it often came 
to pass, that the weaker combatant, and who would never have been able 
to throw his antagonist, obtained the victory, and forced him to yield ; for 
in this exercise, as in boxing also, the victory was never adjudged till one 
party had fairly yielded. This was sometimes done by words, and often 
by lifting up a finger, whence ^xhtvXov u.va,'ruvu.<r$a.t signifies to yield the 
victory; for which reason, we are told by Plutarch, that the Lacedsemoni- 
ans would not permit any of those exercises to be practised in their city, 
wherein those that were conquered did ^axrvkov uvccruvcctrdcci, confess 
themselves overcome by holding up their finger, because they thought it 
would derogate from the temper and spirit of the Spartans to have any of 
them tamely yield to any adversary ; though that place has been hitherto 
mistaken by most interpreters. Martial has taken notice of this exercise: 

Hunc amo, qui vincit, sed qui succumbere novit, 
Et melius didicit ii t v &vaic\ivoTra\7)v. 

It is the very same with what is more commonly called sruyxgoiriov, 
which consists of the two exercises of wrestling and boxing: from the 




former, it borrows the custom of throwing down ; from the latter, that of 
beating adversaries; for wrestlers never struck, nor did boxers ever 
attempt to throw down one another ; but the Twyz^riKerroii were per- 
mitted to do botn; and it was customary for the weaker party, when he 
found himself sore pressed by his adversary, to fall down, and fight rolling 
on the ground, whence these combatants were called zvXi<rn%o), which 
gave occasion to the mistake of Hieronymus Mercurialis, who fancied 
there were two Pancratia, one in which the combatants stood erect, the 



416 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



other in which they roiled in the gravel. This exercise is sometimes 
called *eifAfiiei%iov, and the combatants Ua^u.^ot. 1 

Horse-races were either perform- 
ed by single horses, which were 
called xikviT&i 9 or fAoydfjLWKz; ; or by 
two horses, on one of which they 
performed the race, and leaped upon 
the other at the goal; these men 
were called av«/3aT«/, and if it was 
a mare they leaped upon, she was 
named xx^n: or by horses coupled 
together in chariots, which were 
sometimes drawn by two, three, 
four, &c. horses ; whence we read of 
^vw^oi) r'&fyiwoi, Tire cAwooi, &c. How 
great soever the number of horses 
might be, they were all placed not as now, but in one front, being coupled 
together by pairs. Afterwards Clisthenes the Sicyonian brought in a 
custom of coupling the two middle horses only, which are for that reason 
called ^uyioi, and governing the rest by reins, whence they are usually 
termed tnioctipoooi, cn^ouoi, <^aotx,<rn^oi, <zu.ou.o^oi, aogrwgi:, &c. Sometimes 
we find mules used instead of horses, and the chariots drawn by them 
called oivwai. The principal part of the charioteer's art and skill con- 
sisted in avoiding the vvo-crat, goals; in which, if he foiled, the over- 
turning of his chariot, which was a necessary consequence, brought him 
into great danger, as well as disgrace. 

Besides the exercises already described, there were others of a quite dif- 
ferent nature : in which musicians, poets, and artists contended for victory. 
Thus, in the 91st Olympiad Euripides and Xenocles contended who should 
be accounted the best tragedian. 2 On another occasion, Cleomenes re- 
commended himself by repeating some collections of the verses of Empe- 
docles, which he had compiled. 3 At another time, Gorgias of Leontium, 
who invented the art of discoursing on any subject without premeditation, 
made a public offer to all the Greeks who were present at the solemnity, 
to discourse extempore upon whatever argument any of them should pro- 
pound. Lastly, to mention only one example more, Herodotus is said to 
have gained veiy great applause, and to have fired young Thucydides with 
an early emulation of him, by repeating his history at the Olympic 
games. 4 




1 Pollux, Suidas, Hyginus, &c. 

2 ,'Elianus, Var. Hist. ii. 8. 



3 Athenasus, xiii. 

4 Snidas, &c. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



417 



CHAP. XXII. 

OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES. 

The Olympian games were so called from Olympian Jupiter, to whom 
they were dedicated, or from Olympia, a city in the territory of the 
Pisans ; or, according to Stephanus, the same with Pisa. Their first in- 
stitution is referred by some to Jupiter, after his victory over the 
sons of Titan ; l at which time Mars is said to have been crowned for box- 
ing, and Apollo to have been superior to Mercury at running. Phlegon, 
the author of the Olympiads, reports that, they were first instituted by 
Pisus, from whom the city Pisae was named. 

According to others, the first author of them was one of the Dactyli, 
named Hercules, not the son of Alcmena, but another of far greater anti- 
quity, who with his four brethren, Pseoneus, Ida, Jasius, and Epimedes, 
left their ancient seat in Ida, a mountain of Crete, and settled in Elis, 
where he instituted this solemnity ; the original of which was only a race, 
wherein the four younger brothers contending for diversion, the victor was 
crowned by Hercules with an olive garland, which was not composed of 
the common olive branches, nor the natural product of that country, 2 but 
brought by Hercules (so fables will have it) from the Hyperborean Scythi- 
ans, and planted in the Pantheum near Olympia, where it flourished, 
though not after the manner of other olive trees, but spreading out its 
boughs more like a myrtle: it was called xakXur-ritpccvo;, fit for croivns, 
and garlands given to victors in these games were always composed of it ; 
and it was forbidden, under a great penalty, to cut it for any other use. 
These Dactyli were five in number, whence it is that the Olympian 
games were celebrated once in live years, though others make them to be 
solemnized -once in four ; wherefore, according to the former, an Olympiad 
must consist of five, according to the latter, of four years: but neither of 
these accounts is exact; for this solemnity was held indeed every fifth 
year, yet not after the term of five years was quite past, but every fiftieth 
month, which is the second month after the completion of four years ; 3 and 
as these games were celebrated every fifth year, so they lasted five days; 
for they began upon the eleventh, and ended upon the fifteenth day of the 
lunar month, when the moon was at the full. 

Others report that these games were instituted by Pelops, in honour of 
Neptune, by whose assistance he had vanquished GSnomaus, and married 
his daughter Hippodamia. 

Others say, they were first celebrated by Hercules, the son of Alcmena, 
in honour of Pelops, from whom he was descended by the mother's side ; 4 



1 Aristoph. ej usque Schol. in Schol. xxi. 

)ut - 3 Isaacus Tzpt. in Lycophr.et 4 Solinus Polyhist. et Statius 

2 Aristqt. et ex eo Aristoph. Joannes Tzet. Chiliad. I. Hist. Theb. vi. 



418 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



but being after that discontinued for some time, they were revived by 
Iphitus, or IphicluSj one of the sons of Hercules. 

The most common opinion is, that the Olympian games were first in- 
stituted by this Hercules, in honour of Olympian Jupiter, out of the spoils 
taken from Auges king of Elis, whom he had dethroned and plundered, 
when defrauded by him of the reward he had promised for cleansing his 
stables : l Diodorus the Sicilian confirms this account, 2 and adds, that Her- 
cules proposed no other reward to the victors but a crown, in memory of 
his own labours, all of which he accomplished for the benefit of mankind, 
without designing any reward to himself, besides the praise of doing well. 
At tliis institution, it is reported that Hercules himself came off conqueror 
in all the exercises except wrestling, to which when he had challenged all 
the field, and could find no man that could grapple with him, at length 
Jupiter, having assumed a human shape, entered the lists; and when the 
contention had remained doubtful for a considerable time, neither party 
having the advantage, or being willing to submit, the god discovered him- 
self to his son, and from this action, got the surname of ILxka,nrrr,s, the 
wrestler, by which he is known in Lycophron. 3 

All these stories are rejected by Strabo, in his description of Elis, where 
he reports, that an iEtolian colony, together with some of Hercules' pos- 
terity, subdued a great many of the Pissean towns, and amongst them 
Olympia, when they first instituted, or at least revived, enlarged, and 
augmented these games, which, as my author thinks, could not have been 
omitted by Homer, who takes every opportunity to adorn his poems with 
descriptions of such solemnities, had they been of any note before the 
Trojan war. Whatever becomes of the first author of the Olympian 
games, it is certain they were either altogether discontinued or very little 
frequented, till the time of Iphitus, who was contemporary with Lycurgus 
the Spartan lawgiver. 4 He reinstituted this solemnity about four hundred 
and eight years after the Trojan war, from which time, according to 
Solinus, the number of the Olympiads was reckoned. 5 After this they 
were again neglected till the time of Choroebus, who, according to Phle- 
gon's computation, lived in the 28th Olympiad after Iphitus, and who 
instituted again the Olympian games ; which, after this time, were con- 
stantly celebrated. And this really fell out in the 418th year after the 
destruction of Troy, or two years sooner, by Eusebius' account, which 
reckons four hundred and six years from the taking of Troy to the first 
Olympiad, meaning that which was first in the common computation of 
Olympiads, which was begun at this time. 6 

1 Hind. Olymp initio, Od. ii. most modern writers, from the is less than 194 correspond to 

2 Bibliothec. Hist. iv. new moon of the 3938th year of years bs r ore Christ; andali those 

3 Cassandra, ver. 41. the Julian period, which was of any Olympiad above the 194ih 

4 Aristoteles inPiut. Lycurgo, nearest to the summer solstice ; are years after Christ. To re- 
Pausanias. ^ ^ and consequently 776 years be- duce years of the Olympiads to 

5 Solinus Polyhist. i. fore the vulgar aera. As the first those of the vulgar aera, take 1 

6 The Olympiads are series of year of this latter asra cones- from the given Olympiads that 
foi\r years, each of which dates ponds to the 19Uh Olympiad, all you may have complete Olympi- 
its commencement, according to the years of any Olympiad which fids, multiply the remainder by 



OF THE RELTGTON OF GREECE. 



419 



The care and management of these games belonged sometimes to the 
Pisteans, but, for the most part, to the Eleans, by whom the Pisasans were 
destroyed, and their very name extinguished. Polybius, in the fourth 
book of his history, reports, that the Eleans, by the general consent of the 
Greeks, enjoyed their possessions without any molestation or fear of war 
or violence in consideration of the Olympian games, which were there 
celebrated. And this he assigns as a reason why they chiefly delighted in 
a country life, and did not flock together into towns like other states of 
Greece. Nevertheless we find, that the 104th Olympiad was celebrated 
by order of the Arcadians, by whom the Eleans were at that time reduced 
to a very low condition ; but this, and all those managed by the inhabi- 
tants of Pisa, the Eleans called ' ' AvoXvpvriuhz?, Unlawful Olympiads, and 
left out of their annals, wherein the names of the victors, and all occur- 
rences at these games, were recorded. Till the 50th Olympiad, a single 
person superintended, but then two were appointed to perform that office. 
In the 103d Olympiad that number was increased to twelve, according to 
the number of the Elean tribes, out of every one of which one president 
was elected: but in the following Olympiad, the Eleans having suffered 
great losses by a war with the Arcadians, and being reduced to eight 
tribes, the presidents were also reduced to that number: in the 105th 
Olympiad, they were increased to nine ; and, in the 106th to ten, which 
number continued till the reign of Adrian the Roman emperor. These 
persons were called 'EXA^vo^a/, and assembled together in a place named 
'EXXwoSixxTov in the Elean forum, where they were obliged to reside ten 
months before the celebration of the games, to take care that such as 
offered themselves to contend, performed their ^s^y^fa^ara, or pre- 
paratory exercises, and to be instructed in all the laws of the games, by 
certain men called ^ofjco(pvXa.xi?, keepers of the laivs : to prevent all unjust 
practices, they were obliged to take an oath, that they would act impar- 
tially, would receive no bribes, and would not discover the reason for 
which they disliked or approved of any of the contenders. At the solem- 
nity they sat naked, having the crown of victory before them till the exer- 
cises were finished, and then it was presented to whomsoever they adjudged 
it. Nevertheless there lay an appeal from the hellenodicce to the Olym- 
pian senate. Thus, whe n two of the hellenodicce adjudged the prize to 

4, and to the product add the which., if 3 be added for the sin- ads, let the year before Christ be 

single years that are over and gle years of the Olympiad, the subtracted from 776, and let 775 

above the Olympiads; then, if whole sum is 451; then 776 — be added to the year after, divide 

the whole sum be Jess than 776, 451 =325, the vear before Christ, the remainder or sum by 4, and 

Bnbtract it from 776; but if it be Let the first year of the 195th that number increased by unity 

le^s than it, or equal to it, then Olympiad be given to find the will give the Olympiad required, 

subtract 775 completed Olympi- year after Christ, then 195 — 1 If there be any remainder, it 

nets from it, and the remainder mult, by 4 = 776, and 776 — will be the year of the Olympiad 

will be the year after Christ. 775 = 1, the first year of the reckoned from the first year. 

i/V l !'r! et the first year of the vul S ar xrii - Let the fourth year Thus, let it be required to find 

J 14th O yrnpiad be given to find of the 202d Olympiad be given the year of the Olympiad corres- 

fhe year before the vulgar sera, to find the year after Christ, ponding to 578 before Christ, 

lit ~ \ mult - h y 4 — 452 '' then ^ then 202 — 1 mult- by 4 = 804, then 776 — 578 plus 1 divide by 

/ /6 — 452 =324, the year before plus 3 *= 807, — 775 = 32, the 4 =» 50, the Olympiad, and a re- 

S-tia ,he ,0 " rth year of year ? ' fter the ™h* r sera. On mainder 2, the third year of the 

ine lldth Olympiad be given the other hand, to reduce the Olympiad.— CrabVs Tick. Diet. 

to find the yar before Christ, years before and after the vulgar vol. i. 

113 — 1 mult, by 4 = 448, to asra to the years of the Olympi- 



420 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Eupolemus the Elean, and the third (they being then only three in num- 
ber) to Leon the Ambraeian, the latter of these appealed to the Olympian 
senate, who condemned the two judges to pay a considerable fine. 1 

To preserve peace and good order, there were certain officers appointed 
called by the Eleans aXvrat ; by the rest of the Greeks paf&oQoga, or ^ac- 
TiyeQogct, and by the Romans lictores. Over these was a president, to 
whom the rest were subject, called aXvrolg%9i$. 2 

Women were not allowed to be present at these games ; nay, so severe 
were the Elean laws, that if any woman was found so much as to have 
passed the river Alpheus during the time of the solemnity, she was to be 
tin-own headlong from a rock : 3 but it is reported, that none was ever taken 
thus offending, except Callipatera, whom others call Pherenice, who ven- 
tured to usher her son Pisidorus, called by some Eucleus, into the exer- 
cises, and, being discovered, was apprehended and brought before the 
presidents, who, notwithstanding the severity of the laws, acquitted her, 
out of respect to her father, brethren, and son, who had all won prizes in 
the Olympian games. But my author reports, in another place, 4 that 
Cynisca, the daughter of Archidamus, with manly courage and bravery, 
contended in the Olympian games, and was the first of her sex that kept 
horses and won a prize there ; and that afterwards several others, especially 
some of the Macedonian women, followed her example and were crowned 
at Olympia. Perhaps neither of these reports may be altogether ground- 
less, since innumerable alterations were made in these games, according 
to the exigencies of times and change of circumstances. 

All such as designed to contend, were obliged to repair to the public 
gymnasium at Elis, ten months before the solemnity, where they prepared 
themselves by continual exercises: we are told, indeed, by Phavorinus, 
that the preparatory exercises were only performed thirty days before the 
games ; but this must be understood of the performance of the whole and 
entire exercises in the same manner they were practised at the games, 
which seems to have been only enjoined in the last month, whereas the 
nine antecedent months were spent in more light and easy preparations. 
No man that had omitted to present himself in this manner was allowed to 
put in for any of the prizes ; nor were the accustomed rewards of victory 
given to such persons, if by any means they insinuated themselves, and 
overcame their antagonist ; nor would any apology, though seemingly ever 
so reasonable, serve to excuse their absence. In the 208th Olympiad, 
Apollonius was rejected, and not suffered to contend, because he had not 
presented himself in due time, though he was detained by contrary winds 
in the islands called Cyclades; and the crown was given to Heraclides 
without performing any exercise, because no just and duly qualified ad- 
versary appeared to oppose him. No person that was himself a notorious 
criminal, or nearly related to any such, was permitted to contend. Farther, 



1 Pausanifs Eliac. /3'. pp. 457, 2 JEtymol. Auctor. 
4a8, edit. Lips. o Pausanias. 



4 Laconicis. 



OF THE RELIGION OP GREECE. 



421 



to prevent underhand dealings, if any person was convicted of bribing his 
adversary, a severe fine was laid upon him: nor was this alone thought a 
sufficient guard against evil and dishonourable contracts and unjust prac- 
tices, but the contenders were obliged to swear they had spent ten whole 
months in preparatory exercises : and farther yet, both they, their fathers, 
and brethren, took a solemn oath, that they would not, by any sinister or 
unlawful means, endeavour to stop the fair and just proceedings of the 
games. 

The order of wrestlers was appointed by lots, in this manner: a silver 
urn, called K<x.\*t§, being placed, into it were put little pellets, in size 
about the bigness of beans, upon every one of which was inscribed a letter, 
and the same letter belonged to every pair ; now those whose fortune it 
was to have the same letters, wrestled together; if the number of the 
wrestlers was not even, he that happened to light upon the odd pellet 
wrestled last of all with him that had the mastery ; wherefore he was called 
zQih^oi, as coming after the rest; this was accounted the most fortunate 
chance that could be, because the person that obtained it was to encounter 
one already wearied, and spent with conquering his former antagonist, 
himself being fresh, and in full strength. 1 

The most successful in his undertakings, and magnificent in his ex- 
penses, of all that ever contended in these games, was Alcibiades the 
Athenian, says Plutarch: ' his expenses was very great in horses kept for 
the public games, and in the number of his chariots, was very magnificent ; 
for never any one besides, either private person or king, sent seven 
chariots to the Olympian games. He obtained at one solemnity, the first, 
second, and fourth prizes, as Thucydides, or third, as Euripides reports; 
wherein he surpassed all that ever pretended in that kind.' 2 

1 Caelius Rhodiginus Antiq. to the mind of those who came concerned in the success of the 
Lect. xxii. 17. Alexand. ab Al- from the more distant regions, individual competitors. Among 
exandro Genial. Dier. v. 8. thr- most peculiar features of the the indications of this spirit of 

2 To estimate the importance of religion, the arts, and manners of emulation, which so easily de- 
the Olympic festival, which may his countrymen. There was generated among the Greeks in- 
bs taken as the representative of perhaps no other occasion on to envy and jealousy, may be 
all the rest, we must consider it which the Greek was so forcibly numbered the separate treasuries, 
in more than one point of view, impressed with the conscious- built at Olympia, as at Delphi, 
Its value must depend, partly on ness of the distinctions which by several states, for the recep- 
the degree in which it answered separated him from the barbari- tion of their offerings, which 
the purpose of a bond of national ans - , none therefore which so were often monuments of their 
union, and partly on the share it much tended to strengthen the mutual enmity. At every step, 
had in forming the natiunal char- feelings which bound him to his there was as much to recall the 
acter. Viewed in the former race. All foreigners were ex- political disunion of the Greeks 
light, it appears to have pos- eluded from competition at Olym- to their remembrance as their 
sessed so little efficacy, that it pia, and the kings of Macedonia national affinity. 

can scarcely be looked upon as were only admitted after strict The remote and contingent ef- 
any thing more than an oppor- proof of their Hellenic origin: it fects produced by the institution 
tunity, which, for want of a dis- is even probable, that the final were probably much more im- 
position to use it, was destined prevalence of the name of Hellen portant than any which were con- 
to lie for ever barren. The short was mainly determined by the templated by its founders. The 
periodical interruption of hostili- use made of it there, But,onthe scene of the Olympic festival 
ties hardly lessened the effusion other hand, there was no place was, during the holy season, a 
of blood, and did not at all allay where the Greek was less able to mart of busy commerce, where 
the animosity of warring tribes, bury his local and domestic pa- productions, not only of manual 
The contrast indeed between triotism in a more comprehen- but of intellectual labour, were 
Greeks > and foreigners, was sive sentiment. The business of exhibited and exchanged. In 
placed in a stronger light by a the festival itself ministered con- this respect it served many of 
scene in which the spectator saw stant fuel to the selfish and ma- the same purposes which, in 
himself surrounded with objects lignant passions of rival cities, modern times, are, more eftectu- 
which recalled, more especially each of which felt its honour ally indeed, answered by the 
2 N 



422 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XXIII. 



OF THE PYTHIAN GAMES. 



The Pythian games were celebrated near Delphi, and are by some thought 
to have been first instituted by Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion, or by 
the council of amphictyones. Others refer the first institution of them to 
Agamemnon; 1 Pausanias 2 to Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, who having 
escaped a dangerous tempest as he returned from Troy, dedicated a temple 
at Troezen to Apollo, surnamed ''E&ifiarf.gios, and instituted the Pythian 
games to his honour: but the most common opinion, is, that Apollo him- 
self was the first author of them, when he had overcome Python, 3 a ser- 
pent, or cruel tyrant. 4 

At their first institution, they were only celebrated once in nine years, 
but afterwards every fifth year, according to the number of the Parnassian 
nymphs that came to congratulate Apollo, and brought him presents after 
his victory. 

The rewards were certain apples consecrated to Apollo, according to 
Ister, 5 and the epigram of Archias, already quoted, in which he thus 
enumerates the prizes in this, and the other three sacred games : 



press, in the communication of 
thoughts, inventions, and dis- 
coveries, and the more equable 
diffusion of knowledge. The 
story that Herodotus read his 
history at Olympia has been dis- 
puted on grounds which certainly 
render it doubtful ; but that lit- 
erary works were not un fre- 
quently thus published, is un- 
questionable. Such effects were 
independent of the declared ob- 
ject of the festival, and must 
have resulted from any occasion 
which drew Greeks from all 
parts of the world together in 
periodical meetings. The im- 
pulse given to poetry and statu- 
ary, by the events of the contest, 
was more closely connected with 
the nature of the institution, 
though still only an accidental 
consequence, and one which did 
not depend on its particular 
form. The most material ques- 
tion, with a view to the effects 
■which it produced on the nation- 
al character, is whether the ar- 
dent emulation, excited by the 
honours of an Olympic victor*, 
was wisely directed. It must be 
owned that the merit of such ex- 
ertions as those which earned the 
prize at Olympia was greatly 
rverrated in the popular opinion ; 
and that no religious sanction, 
no charms of art, can ever really 
ennoble a mere display of man's 
animal powers. Some philoso- 
phical Greeks however not only 
refused their respect to the exhi- 
bitions which the vulgar admired, 
but condemned them as pernici- 



ous. It was observed, that the 
training which enabled the com- 
petitors at the games to perform 
their extraordinary feats" tended 
to unfit them for the common 
duties of a citizen. This remark 
was perhaps more particularly 
applicable to the preparation for 
the pugilistic contests, and the 
jiancratium, in which boxing and 
wrestling were combined ; and it 
was probably on this account, 
more than on any other, that 
Sparta forbade her citizens to en- 
gage in either. For, though one 
or two instances of savage fero- 
city are recorded, andothers may 
have ocenned in these conflicts, 
this cannot have been the motive 
which caused them to be prohi- 
bited at Sparta, where battles of 
a like nature were among the ha- 
bitual exercises of the young. 
On the other hand, there were 
intelligent and thoughtful ob- 
servers among the Greeks, who 
believed that the gymnastic 
games were intimately connected 
with the whole system of national 
education; and that, though the 
training of the competitors might 
be useless, or even mischievous, 
in other prospects, still the hon- 
ours conferred on them were well 
applied, as they encouraged the 
cultivation of the manly exercises 
to rfhich the Greek youth devot- 
ed the greatest part of his time. 
And it cannot be denied, that 
these exercises were not only an 
important part of education, 
where every citizen was a sol- 
dier, but that they contributed to 



the healthiness, freshness, and 
vigour of the Greek intellect it- 
self. But, instead of holding 
that the alacrity with which they 
were prosecuted in the private 
schools was a result of the hon- 
ours bes owed on the victorious 
masters of the gymnastic art at 
the public games, we should be 
inclined to consider the former as 
the cause, the latter as a natural, 
perhaps inevitable, but not very 
desirable, effect; which however 
may have reacted on its cause, 
and have strengthened the at- 
tachment of the Greeks to that 
part of their ancient usages out 
of which it arose. — Thirlwall, 
vol i. pp. 3.90— 393. 

1 Etymol. Auctor. Phavorin. 

2 Corinthiacis. 

3 Ovid. Metam. i. 

4 Dodwell supposes that the 
true explanation of the allegori- 
cal fiction relating to Apollo and 
Python, is. that the serpent was 
the river Cephissus, which, after 
the deluge of Deucalion had over- 
flowed the plains, surrounded 
Parnassus with its serpentine 
involutions, and was reduced by 
the rays of the sun within its due 
limits. {Tour, vol. i. p. 180.) 
It is, however, very evident, that 
the fiction was of exotic origin; 
and the learned traveller admits 
that it may have been copied 
from the Egyptian story of Horus 
and Ob. (Modern Traveller.— 
Greece, vol. it. p 291. 

5 Libro de Coronis, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



423 



AdXot, hi tuv xoTtvog, /u.r,\cc t riXtva., virv;* 

Where Brodaeus will have (wXa, to signify the Delphian laurel, which, he 
tells us, brought forth berries streaked with red and green, and almost as 
large as apples ; but this interpretation is by no means genuine or natural, 
since the word pyjXec is never used in that sense: however that be, it is 
certain the victors were rewarded with garlands of laurel, as appears from 
the express words of Pindar, who tells us that Aristc-menes was crowned 
with cra/a Uccoveuria, or laurel that flourished upon mount Parnassus:* 
whence some imagine that the reward was double, consisting both of the 
sacred apples and garlands of laurel. But at the first institution of these 
games, the victors were crowned with garlands of palm, or, according to 
seme, of beech leaves. 2 

It is said, 3 that in the first Pythian solemnity, the gods contended, that 
Castor obtained the victory by horse-races, Pollux at boxing, Calais at 
running, Zetes at fighting in armour, Peleus at throwing the discus, Te- 
lamon at wrestling, Hercules in the Pancratium ; and that all of them 
were honoured by Apollo with crowns of laurel. But others again tell us,* 
that at first there was nothing but a musical contention, in which he who 
sung best the praises of Apollo obtained the prize, which at first was either 
silver or gold, or something of value, but was afterwards changed into a 
garland. Where the prize was money, the games were called ayoon; k^- 
yvotToct ; where only a garland, kyuva cri^uvtTon, QvXXlvxi, &c. The 
first that obtained victory by singing was Chrysothemis, a Cretan, by 
whom Apollo was purified after he had killed Python ; the next prize was 
won by Philemon ; the next after that, by his son Thamyris. Orpheus 
having raised himself to a pitch of honour almost equal to the gods, by 
instructing the profane and ignorant world in all the mysteries of religion 
and ceremonies of divine worship ; and Musreus, who took Orpheus for 
bis example, thought it too great a condescension, and inconsistent with 
the high characters they bore, to enter into the contention. Eleutherus 
is reported to have gained a victory purely on account of his voice, his 
song being the composition of another person: Hesiod was repulsed, be- 
cause he could not play upon the harp, which all the candidates were 
obliged to do. 

There was also aset song, called Uvhzcs vopos, to which a dance was 
performed. It consisted of these five parts, in which the contest of Apollo 
and Python was represented: 1. 'Avxxgovcnt, which contained the prepara- 
tion to the fight; 2. "Apvrugx, or the first essay towards it; 3. K«<ra*«- 
XiviTfzo;, the action itself, and the god's exhortation to himself to stand 
out with courage; 4. y Ia t ufioi xcc) ^oIktvXoi, the insulting sarcasms of 
Apollo over the vanquished Python ; 5. 'Svgiyyi;, in imitation of the ser- 
pent's hissing as he expired under the blows of Apollo. Others make this 
song to consist of the six following parts: 1. Tl-7gct, the preparation; 2. 



I Pvthion. Od. via. 23. 
- Ovid. Melam. 1. 



3 Natalis Comes, Mythol. v. 2. 

4 Strabo, vi, Pausan. Phocicis. 



424 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

"lccpficg, in which Apollo dared Python to engage him by reproaches: for 
ixfcfi'tguv signifies to reproach, iambic verses being the common form of 
invectives ; 3. Adxrvko;, which was sung in honour of Bacchus, to whom 
those numbers were thought most acceptable : this part belonged to him, 
because he had, as some say, a share in the Delphian oracle, or possessed 
it before Apollo ; 4. JL^atikos, in honour of Jupiter, because he was 
Apollo's father, and thought to delight most in such feet, as being edu- 
cated in Crete, where they were used ; 5. Mjjr^f ov, in honour of mother 
Earth, because the Delphian oracle belonged to her before it came into 
Apollo's hand ; 6. Iv^ypis, or the serpent's hissing. 

By others it is thus described: 1 1. Uzloex., an imitation of Apollo pre- 
paring himself for the fight with all the circumspection of a prudent and 
cautious warrior ; 2. a challenge given to the enemy; 3. 

'ixpfaxos, a representation of the fight, during which the trumpets sound- 
ed a point of war ; it was so called from iambic verses, which are the most 
proper to express passion and rage ; 4. 2*ovh7os, so called from the feet of 
that name, or from ffyrivbuv, to offer a libation, because it was the celebra- 
tion of victory; after which it was always customary to return thanks to 
the gods, and offer sacrifices ; 5. Karet%oQtv(ris, a representation of Apollo's 
dancing after his victory. 2 

In the third year of the 48th Olympiad the Amphictyones, who were 
presidents of these games, introduced flutes, which till that time had not 
been used at this solemnity ; the first that won the prize was Sacadas of 
Argos: but because they were more proper for funeral songs and lamen- 
tations than the merry and jocund airs at festivals, they were in a short 
time laid aside. They added likewise all the gymnical exercises used in 
the Olympian games, and made a law, that none should contend in run- 
ning but boys. At or near the same time, they changed the prizes, 
which had before been of value, into crowns or 
garlands ; and gave these games the name of 
Pythia, from Pythian Apollo, whereas, till 
that time, as some say, they had either an- 
other name, or no peculiar name at all. Horse- 
races also, or chariot-races, were introduced 
about the time of Clisthenes, king of Argos, 
who obtained the first victory in them, riding 
in a chariot drawn by four horses ; and several 
other changes were, by degrees, made in 
these games, with which I shall not trouble you. 




The adjoining cut represents a Pythian crown. 
1 Julius Scaliger Pocticis, i. 23. 2 Julius Pollux Onom. iv. 10. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



425 



CHAP. XXIV. 

OF THE NEMEAN GAMES. 

The Nemean games 1 were so called from Nemea, a village, and grove, 
between the cities Cleome and Phlius, where they were celebrated every 
third year, on the twelfth of the Corinthian month Ilavs^?, sometimes 
called 'liocfzyiv'ict, which is the same with the Athenian Boedromion. The 
exercises were chariot-races, and all the parts of the pentathlum. The 
presidents were elected from Corinth, Argos, and Cleonse, and were 
dressed in black clothes, the habit of mourners, because these games were 
a funereal solemnity, instituted in memory of Opheltes, who was also 
called Archemorus, from ag%b, a beginning, and pogos, fate, or death, 
because Amphiaraus foretold his death soon after he began to live; or, 2 
because that misfortune was a prelude to all the bad success that befell the 
Theban champions : for Archemorus was the son of Euphetes and Creusa, 
or of Lycurgus, a king of Nemea, or Thrace, and Euiydice, and was 
nursed by Hypsipyle, who, leaving the child in a meadow, whilst she 
went to show the besiegers of Thebes a fountain, at her return found him 
dead, and a serpent folded about his neck ; whence the fountain, before 
called Langia, was named Archemorus; and the captains, to comfort 
Hypsipyle for her loss, instituted these games. 3 

Others are of opinion, that these games were instituted by Hercules, 
after his victory over the Nemean lion, 4 in honour of Jupiter, who had a 
magnificent temple at Nemea, where he was honoured with solemn games, 
in which men ran races in armour: but perhaps these might be distinct 
from the solemnity I am now speaking of. Lastly, others grant that they 
were first instituted in memory of Archemorus, but allege that after being 
intermitted they were revived by Hercules, and consecrated to Jupiter. 

The victors were crowned with parsley, which was an herb used at 
funerals, and fabled to have sprung from the blood of Archemorus: con- 
cerning it, Plutarch 5 relates a remarkable story, with which it will not be 
improper to conclude this chapter. ' As Timoleou/ says he, 6 was ascend- 
ing a hill, at the top of which the enemy's camp, and all their vast forces, 
would be in sight, he met some mules loaded with parsley; and his men 
took it into their heads that it was a bad omen, because we usually crown 
the sepulchres with parsley, and thence the proverb with respect to one that 
is dangerously ill, h:<r&cct <n\lvcv, He has need of parsley. To deli- 
ver them from this superstition, and to remove the panic, Timoleon 
ordered the troops to halt, and making a speech suitable to the occasion, 
observed, among other things, " That crowns were brought them before 



1 Strabo, viii. Pausanias Co- 
nnlh Eliac. /S'. Pindar; Schul. 



% Stat. Thebaid. v. 
3 Stat. Thebaid. iv. 
-1 Pindari Srhol. 



b Timoleonte. 



426 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the victory, and offered themselves of their own accord." For the Corin- 
thians from all antiquity having looked upon a wreath of parsley as sacred, 
crowned the victors with it at the Isthmian games: in Timoleon's time 
it was still in use at those games, as it is now at the Nemean, and it is 
but lately that the pine-branch has taken its place. The general having 
addressed his army, as we have said, took a chaplet of parsley, and 
crowned himself with it first, and then his officers and the common sol- 
diers did the same.' 



CHAP. XXV. 

OF THE ISTHMIAN GAMES. 

The Isthmian games were so called from the place where they were cele- 
brated, namely, the Corinthian Isthmus, a neck of land by which Peloponne- 
sus is joined to the continent. They were instituted in honour of Palaemon 
or Melicertes, the son of Athamas, king of Thebes, and Ino, who, for fear 
of her husband, who had killed her own son Learchus in a fit of madness, 
cast herself, with Melicertes in her arms, into the sea, where they were 
received by Neptune into the number of the divinities of his train, out of 
compliment to Bacchus, nursed by Ino. At the change of their condition 
they altered their names ; Ino was called Leucothea, and her son Palte- 
mon : however, Palsemon's divinity could not preserve his body from being 
tossed about the sea, till at length it was taken up by a dolphin, and car- 
ried to the Corinthian shore, where it was found by Sisyphus, at that time 
king of Corinth, who gave it an honourable interment, and instituted these 
funeral games to his memory. 1 Others report, that Melicertes' body was 
cast upon the Isthmus, and lay there some time unburied, whereupon a 
grievous pestilence began to rage in those parts, and the oracles gave out, 
that the only remedy for it was to inter the body with the usual solemni- 
ties, and celebrate games in memory of the boy : upon the performance of 
these commands the distemper ceased ; but afterwards, when the games 
were neglected, broke out again; and the oracles being consulted, gave 
answer that they must pay perpetual honours to the memory of Melicertes, 
which they did accordingly, erecting an altar to him, and enacting a law, 
for the perpetual celebration of these games. 

Some report, that they were instituted by Theseus in honour of Nep- 
tune ; others are of opinion, that there were two distinct solemnities 
observed in the Isthmus, one to Melicertes, and another to Neptune ; 
which report is grounded upon the authority of Musseus, who wrote a 
treatise about the Isthmian games. Phavorinus reports, that these games 
were first instituted, in honour of Neptune, and afterwards celebrated in 



1 Pausan. Initio Corinthiac. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



427 



memory of Pakemon. Plutarch, on the contrary, tells us, tnat the first 
institution of them was in honour of Melicertes, but that they were after- 
wards altered, enlarged, and reinstituted to Neptune by Theseus: he 
gives also several other opinions concerning their origin: 1 Theseus,' says 
he, ' instituted games in imitation of Hercules, being ambitious, that as 
the Greeks, in pursuance of that hero's appointment, celebrated the Olym- 
pic games in honour of Jupiter, so they should celebrate the Isthmian in 
honour of Neptune : for the rites performed there before, in memory of 
Melicertes, were observed in the night, and had more the air of mysteries 
than of a public spectacle and assembly. But some say the Isthmian 
games were dedicated to Sciron, Theseus inclining to expiate his untimely 
fate, by reason of their being so nearly related ; for Sciron was the son of 
Canethus and Henioche, the daughter of Pittheus. Others will have it, 
that Sinnis was their son, and that to him, and not to Sciron, the games 
were dedicated. He made an agreement, too, with the Corinthians, that 
they should give the place of honour to the Athenians who came to the 
Isthmian games, as far as the ground could be covered with the sail of the 
public ship that brought them, when stretched to its full extent. This 
particular we learn from Hellanicus and Andron of Halicamassus.' 

The Eleans were the only nation of Greece that absented themselves 
from this solemnity, which they did for the following reason. 1 The 
Corinthians having appointed the Isthmian games, the sons of Actor came 
to the celebration of them, but were surprised and slain by Hercules, near 
the city Cleonse. The author of the murder was at first unknown ; but 
being at length discovered by the industry of Molione, the wife of Actor, 
the Eleans went to Argos, and demanded satisfaction, because Hercules 
at that time dwelt at Tiryus, a village in the Argian territories. Being 
repulsed at Argos, they applied to the Corinthians, desiring of them that 
all the inhabitants and subjects of Argos might be forbidden the Isthmian 
games, as disturbers of the public peace ; but meeting with no better suc- 
cess in this place than they had done at Argos, Molione forbade them to 
go to the Isthmian games, and denounced a dreadful execration against 
any of the Eleans that should ever be present at the celebration of them ; 
which command was so religiously observed, that none of the Eleans dare 
venture to go to the Isthmian games to this day, says my author, lest 
Moliorie's curses should fall heavy upon them. 

These games 2 were observed every third, or rather every fifth year, 
and held so sacred and inviolable, that when they had been intermitted 
for some time, through the oppression and tyranny of Cypselus, king of 
Corinth, after the tyrant's death, the Corinthians, to renew the memory 
of them, which was almost decayed, employed the utmost power and in- 
dustry they were able in reviving them, and celebrated them with such 
splendour and magnificence as was never practised in former ages. When 
Corinth was sacked and totally demolished by Mummius, the Roman 



1 Pausan. Eliac. <*'. 



2 Alex, ab Alejandro, Gen. Dier. v. & 



428 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



general, these games were not discontinued ; but the care of them- was 
committed to the Sicyonians, till the rebuilding of Corinth, and then re- 
stored to the inhabitants of that city. 1 

The victors were rewarded with garlands of 
pine-leaves ; afterwards parsley was given 
them, which w r as also the reward of the Ne- 
mean conquerors, but with this difference, that 
there it was fresh and green, whereas in the 
Isthmian games it was dry and withered. 
Afterwards the use of parsley was left off, and 
the pine-tree came again into request, which 
alterations Plutarch has accounted for in the 
fifth book of his Symposiacs. 2 

CHAP. XXVI. 

OF THE GREEK YEAR. 

The writers of ancient fables report, that Ougxvo;, whom the Latins call 
Coelus, king of the Atlantic islands, was reputed the father of all the gods, 
and gave his name to the heavens, which from him, were by the Greeks 
termed ovgxvos, and by the Latins coelum, because he invented astrology, 
which was unknown till his time. 3 Others ascribe the invention both of 
astrology, and the whole Xoyos <r(pa,tpizos y science of the celestial bodies, to 
Atlas: from him these discoveries were communicated to Hercules, who 
first imparted them to the Greeks. Whence the authors of fables took 
occasion to report that both these heroes supported the heavens with their 
shoulders. 4 The Cretans pretended that Hyperion first observed the mo- 
tions of the sun, moon, and stars. 5 He was son to the primitive god 
Uranus, and from his knowledge of the celestial motions is sometimes 
taken by the poets and other fabulous authors for the father of the sun, 
sometimes for the sun himself. The Arcadians reported, that their coun- 
tryman Endymion first discovered the motion of the moon: 6 which gave 
occasion to those early ages to feign that he was beloved by that goddess. 
Lastly, others report that Actis, by some called Actseus, who flourished 
in the isle of Rhodes about the time of Cecrops, king of Athens, invented 
the science of astrology, which he communicated to the Egyptians. 7 

But to pass from fabulous to more authentic histories, the first improve- 
ment and study of astronomy is generally ascribed to the Grecian colonies 
which inhabited Asia. And it is thought to have been first learned from 

The above cut represents an Isthmian crown. 

1 Pausan. Initio Corinthiac. 4 Diodorus Siculus, iii. 135, et 6 Lucianus in Comment, de 

2 Ouaest. 3. iv. 163. Clemens Alexanurinus Astrologiii, Apollonii Schui. ia 

3 Diodorus Siculus, iii. 132, et Strom, i. 306. Piinius, vii. 56. iv. 

Scriptures Mytholoeiei. 5 Diodoms Siuuius, v. 331. 7 Diodorus Siculus. v. 227. 




OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



429 



the Babylonians or Egyptians, and communicated to the Greeks either 
by Thales of Miletus, Pythagoras of Samos, Anaximander of Miletus, 
Anaximenes the scholar and fellow-citizen of Anaximander, Cleostratus 
of Tenedos, CEnopidas of Chios, or Anaxagoras of Clazomenaj, the master 
of Pericles, who was the first that taught the Ionic philosophy at Athens, 
where he opened his school in the same year that Xerxes invaded Greece. 
Every one of these seems to have cultivated and improved this science, 
and on that account by different men to have been reputed the inventor, 
or first master of it in Greece. 1 Before the time of these philosophers, it 
is certain that the Greeks were entirely ignorant of the motions of the 
heavenly bodies ; insomuch that Thales first observed a solar eclipse in the 
fourth year of the 48th Olympiad. A long time after that, in the fourth 
year of the 90th Olympiad, an eclipse of the moon proved fatal to Nicias, 
the Athenian general, and the army under his command, chiefly because 
the reason of it was not understood. 2 And Herodotus seems to have been 
wholly unacquainted with this part of learning ; whence he describes the 
solar eclipses after the poetical manner, by the disappearance of the sun, 
and his leaving his accustomed seat in the heaven, 3 never mentioning the 
moon's interposition. 

From the fore-mentioned instances, it appears that the Greeks had no 
knowledge of astronomy, and by consequence no certain measure of time, 
till they began to converse with the Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, or 
other eastern nations. For though it be easy, from the returns of the 
several seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, to discover that a 
year is already past ; yet to determine the exact number of days wherein 
these vicissitudes happen, and again to divide them into months, answer- 
ing the motion of the moon, requires much study and observation. Hence 
in the heroical ages, the years were numbered by the returns of seed-time 
and harvest, and the several seasons of labouring and resting. The day 
itself was not then distinguished into certain and equal portions but mea- 
sured rn rov Yi"kUv cikXu; ccxXovcrrigov xivneti, rudely and inaccurately, by 
the access and recess of the sun. 4 

Neither were they more accurate in distinguishing the several parts of 
time, till, vroXov, xai yvcoftovoi, kcc) tk ^VM^izsc fjuigiix. nrni 'hftspns tfccpci, Bafiu- 
k&jviiuv ipaflov, they learned the use of the pole, and the sun-dial, and the 
twelve parts of the day, from the Babylonians . 5 

Yet, in Homer's time, lunar months seem to have been in use, as also 
a certain form of years comprehending several months, which appears from 
the following verses, wherein it is foretold that Ulysses should return to 
Ithaca in one of the months of the then present year: 6 

To5 <5" cvtov \ v «u$avros sXeujerat IvdaV '0&vaoev S , That all my words shall surely be fulfilled, 
Tov fi.lv (peivovros (i^oy, rov <5' lora^gvoto. In this saine month Ulysses shall arrive. 



Be witness 



COW PER. 



1 Suidas. Diogenes Laertius in 3 Lib. i. 7*. 
Vitis Philosophorum, Plinius, ii. Lib. ix. 10. 



76. 

2 Plutarch. Nicia. 




74. Lib. vii. 37. 



Horn. Iliad. X'. 



5 Kerodot. ii. 109. 

6 Odyss. 161. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



But that the Grecians had then no settled form of years and month?, 
wherein the solar and lunar revolutions were regularly fitted to each other, 
appears from what is reported concerning Thales the Milesian, that hav- 
ing spent a considerable time in the observation of the celestial bodies, 
and observing that the lunar revolution never exceeded thirty days, he 
appointed twelve months of thirty days each, whereby the year was made 
to consist of 360 days. Then, in order to reduce these months to an 
agreement with the revolution of the sun, he intercalated thirty days at 
the end of every two years, of the above said months. Whence id tempus 
T^iiT^'iba, appellahant, quod tertio quoque anno intercalalatur, quamvis 
biennii circuities, et revera yo)§ esset : 6 that space of time was termed 
a period of three years, because the intercalation was not made till after 
the expiration of full two years, though really it was only a period of two 
years;' as we are informed by Censorinus. 1 So that this period of two 
years contained no less than 750 days, and exceeded the same number of 
years as measured by the true motion of the sun, twenty days ; which dif- 
ference is so very great, that Scaliger was of opinion this cycle was never 
received in any town of Greece. 

Afterwards, Solon observing that the course of the moon was not finished 
in thirty days, as Thales had computed it, but in twenty -nine days and 
half a day, he appointed that the months should, in their turns, consist of 
twenty-nine and of thirty days, so that a month of twenty-nine days should 
constantly succeed one of thirty days ; whereby an entire year of twelve 
months was reduced to 354 days, which fell short of the solar year, that 
is, the time of the sun's revolution, eleven days and one-fourth part of a 
day, or thereabouts. In order, therefore, to reconcile this difference, 
rt7gcc&ryo)s, a cycle of four years, was invented. Herein, after the first 
two years, they seem to have added an intercalated month of twenty -two 
days. And again, after the expiration of two years more, another month 
was intercalated, which consisted of twenty-three days, the fourth part of 
one day in every year, arising to a whole day in a period of four years. 
And thus Solon prevented the lunar years from exceeding those which are 
measured by the revolution of the sun, and so avoided the mistake so 
manifest in the cycle of Thales. 

But afterwards it was considered, that the forty-five days added by Solon 
to his period of four years, and containing a {yrXr^i) full lunar month 
and a half, would occasion the cycle to end in the midst of a lunar month; 
to remedy which inconvenience, hy.Tairno)$, a term of eight years was in- 
stituted instead of the former cycle of four years, to which three entire 
lunar months were added at several times .2 

After the cycle of eight years, no change was made in the kalendar till 
the time of Meton, who, having observed that the motions of the sun and 
moon fell short of one another by some hours, which disagreement, though 



] Lihro de Die Nata^i, cap. 18. Conf. Herodot. 
32, ei ii. 4. Geui'n us, cap. 6. 



2 Conf. Censorious, 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE, 



at first scarcely perceivable, would quite invert the seasons in the compass 
of a few ages, invented a cycle of nineteen years, termed ivvsaxetd&xasrr,- 
o):, iu which term the sun having finished nineteen periods, and the moon 
:t'd5, both returned to the same place of the heavens in which they had 
been nineteen years before. 

Afterwards it was observed, that in the revolution of every cycle^ the 
moon outwent the sun about seven hours. To prevent this inconveni • 
ence, Calippus contrived a new cycle, which contained four of Meton's, 
that is, seventy-six years. And upon the observation of some small dis- 
agreement between the sun and moon at the end of this term, Hipparchus 
devised another cycle, which contained four of those instituted by Calip- 
pus. According to other accounts, one of Meton's cycles contained eight 
lvvia.Kcc3izcci<rr,c3s: , i. e. 152 years. This was afterwards divided into 
two equal parts, and from each part one day, which was found to be super- 
fluous in Meton's cycle, was taken away. 1 

From the Grecian years let us now proceed to their months. In the 
computation of these, they seem neither to have agreed with other nations, 
nor amongst themselves. In the authors of those times we fund different 
months often set against, and made to answer one another: and learned 
men have hitherto in vain attempted to reconcile these contradictions. 
Plutarch, in his life of Romulus, owns, that no agreement was to be found 
between the Grecian and Roman new moons: and in the life of Aristides, 
discoursing of the day upon which the Persians were vanquished at Pla- 
tc-ea, he professes, that even in his own time, when the celestial motions 
were far better understood than they had been in former ages, the begin- 
nings of their months could not be adjusted. These disagreements seem 
to have been occasioned by some of these, or the like causes: 

1. That the years of different nations were not begun at the same time. 
The Roman January, which was the first month, fell in the depth of win- 
ter. The Arabians and others began their year in the spring.2 The 
Macedonians reckoned Dius, their first month, from the autumnal equinox. 
The ancient Athenian year began after the winter solstice; the more 
modern Athenians computed their years from the first new moon after the 
summer solstice. Hence those men will be exceedingly mistaken, who 
made the Roman January to answer the Attic Gamelion, or the Macedo- 
nian Dius, which are the first months of those nations; or that measure 
the primitive Attic year by that which was used after the time of Meton. 

2. That the number of months was not the same in all places. The 
Romans had at first only ten months, the last of which was for that reason 
termed December. Afterwards they were increased to twelve by Numa 
Pom pi li us. The Egyptians had at first only one month, which was after- 
wards divided into four, according to the seasons of the year: some of the 
barbarous nations divided their year into three months. The same num- 



1 Conf. Henr. Dodwelli 15 brum de A rr.o Wren Greecorum. 

2 Conf. Simplicius in lib. t. Physic* Anslotelis. 



432 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ber of the months was received by the ancient Arcadians. Afterwards 
the Arcadians parted their year into four months; the Acarnanians 
reckoned six months to their year ; but most of the Greeks of latter ages, 
when the science of astronomy had been brought to some perfection, gave 
twelve months to every year, besides those which were intercalated to 
adjust the solar and lunar periods. 

3. That the months were not constantly of the same length. Some 
contained thirty days, others a different number. Some nations computed 
their months by the lunar motions, others by the motion of the sun. The 
Athenians, and irXuarai rav vuv 'Ekkyvtouv snsAsa/v, most of the present 
Grecian cities, says Galen, make use of lunar months: but the Macedonians 
and all the u^etToi, ancient Greeks, or, as some rather choose to read, 
'Ao-iU'jo), the Asiatics, with many other nations, measure their months by 
the motion of the sun. 1 

4. That the months of the same nations, partly through their ignorance 
of the celestial motions, and partly by reason of the intercalated days, 
weeks, and months, did not constantly maintain the same places, but hap- 
pened at very different seasons of the year. 

However that be, the Athenians, whose year is chiefly followed by the 
ancient authors, after their kalendar was reformed by Meton, began their 
year upon the first new moon after the summer solstice.2 Hence the fol- 
lowing verses of Festus Avienus: 

Sed primceva Meton exordia suinsit ah anno^ 
Torreret rutilo Phcebus cum sidere Cancrum. 

Their year was divided into twelve months, which contained thirty and 
twenty-nine days alternately, so as the months of thirty days always went 
before those ^>f twenty-nine. The months which contained thirty days were 
termed full, and ^ixutpQivo), as ending upon the tenth day: those 

which consisted of twenty-nine days were called kqIXoi, hollow, and from 
their concluding upon the ninth day, hvioiq>0ivo'i. 3 

Every month was divided into voice ^i%ypi£ct, three decades of days. 
The first was pnvos u^oyAvov, or tcrrocpzvou. The second, j&nvos fizerovvro;. 
The third, /zyjvo; (pOivovro;, Tra.voyX'nov, or X^yovra?. 4 

1. The first day of the first decade was termed vioy/i/ta, as falling upon 
the new moon ; the second, tivri^u, ttrrupivou' the third, t^t'a ttrroifAzvou* 
and so forward to the larccpUov. 

2. The first day of the second decade, which was the eleventh day of 
the month, was called <pto6utyi yia-ovvroc, or ct^tjj \<7ti Wina,. The second, 
^iurzoa, [tiffovvros, or t^ityi Ivt 1'i.Ku; and so forward to the ilxas, or twen- 
tieth, which was the last day of the second decade. 

3. The first day of the third decade was termed rf^utn tv' zixadi* the 
second, livri^a. 1st' tlzudr the third, r^rvj \vf zlzdh' and so forward. 
Sometimes they inverted the numbers in this manner: the first of the last 



1 Galen, primo ad i. Epidem. Simpl- in v. Phys. Aristot. bus Decret. Item Gram. 
Hippoc. lib. comment. 3 Conf. Galen, in. iv. de Die- 4 Cdnf. Julius Pollux. 

2 Conf. Plato initio vi. de Leg. 



OF THE RELIGION OF GREECE. 



433 



decade was (p^ivovro; ^»aV»' the second <p0tvovro; lu&rn* the third <p$'tvovro; 
oyh'ov and so forward to the last day of the month, which was termed 
o'/iu'/iroix;, from Demetrius Poliorcetes. 1 Before the time of Demetrius, 
it was called by Solon's order, %vn xou via, the old and new ; because the 
new moon fell out on some part of that day ; whereby it came to pass, that 
the former part belonged to the old moon, the latter to the new. 2 The 
same was also named rgtaxx;, the thirtieth ; and that not only in the 
months which consisted of thirty days, but in the rest of twenty-nine: for 
in these, according to some accounts, the twenty -second day was omitted ; 
according to others, the twenty-ninth. 3 But which day soever was 
omitted in the computation, the thirtieth was constantly retained. Hence, 
according to Thales' first scheme, all the months were called months of 
thirty days, though, by Solon's regulation, half of them contained only 
twenty-nine ; and the lunar year of Athens was called a year of three 
hundred and sixty days ; though really, after the time of Solon, it con- 
sisted of no more than three hundred and fifty-four days. Whence the 
Athenians erected three hundred and sixty of Demetrius the Phalerean's 
statues, designing for every day in the year one; as we are informed by 
Pliny, 4 and the following verses cited by Nonius from Varro's Hebdo- 
mades: 

Hie Demetrius ceneis tot apUC esi, 
iluot lucis habet annus absoluius. 

The names and order of the Athenian months were these which follow. 

1. 'Ezcirofzficcicuv, which was srX^;, or ^yizoupfavog, a month of thirty 
days. It began upon the first new moon after the summer solstice, and 
so corresponded to the latter part of the Roman June, and the first part of 
July. The name was derived a.vro rod vrXiitrrus Ipcxrofificcs $vzo-0cu <r&J 
/u'/ivt rouraj, 5 from the great number of hecatombs which were usually sacri- 
ficed in this month. But the ancient name was Koovio;, or Kgoviuv, which 
was derived from Kgovia, the festival of Cronus or Saturn, which was kept 
in this month. The days of this month, which may serve as a pattern 
for the rest, were thus computed : 

1. TXouf/vivicc, (tTTCCfjcivov, or a^O" 10. 'iffrupivov 

/uivoit wgeor'/i. 11. Hourn ivrt Vix.ex,, OX ^ocoryj 

2. Icr~a.p,ivou ^iuriou. rouvros. 

3. 'irrccuivou re'irq. 12. A-vrz^so (tztrovvro; , or \<7rt 

4. 'lo-ra/xivou nru^TYi. 13. To'irq /mctouvto; , &C. 

5. 'irrccftUov TTipTr-Tr,) sometimes 14. Tsra^rj? fjtarovvToi. 
termed sr-vra;. 15. Il^^rjj {/.ztrovvro;. 

6. Itrrc&jz'ivou ixry], or 16. "~Ex,r'/i [tiffovvros. 

8. 'lerrctfiivov oyhoi). 18. 'Oyh'ovi ftzcouvros. 

9. 'itrrayAvov Xnocrn, 19. ; Evvar»j piffovvTos. 

1 P'.ut. Demet. 3 Proc. Tzet. Mosch. in Hesi- 

2 Pint. Sol. AristopTi. Schol odi Dies, ver. 2. 



ad Nub. ouid. voc. ''Er» 



2 o 



431 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



20. E<xaj, or ufcoffTYi, 

21. $0ivevro;, tfuvofjiivou, or Xn- 



26. <£0tvovrog tfifAvrrn 

27. 'SDiVCVTOS TiToi^rii. 

28. <P0tVOVTOg 



25. $6ivovro; zxrtj. 



yovro; ^zxdiry, sometimes termed 



*gcor'/j ivr' tlxuh, or (Air* zixa^oc, or 



22. <l?0tvov<ro$ Ivvo&r'/ij &C. 

23. <P01vovros oybbvi. 



r^uxu.;, and ^'Af^r,r^icis. 



29. $>0'ivavro; 'Siur'tgix. 



30. "Ev>7 »ai vsa, sometimes called 



24. ^ivovro; ififioftvi, 

2. MzTctyurvicov, a month of twenty-nine days, so called from Meta- 
geitnia, which was one of Apollo's festivals, celebrated in this season. 

3. Bord^ofjuuv, a month of thirty days, so named from the festival Boe- 
dromia. 

4. MaifActxryiMav, a month of twenty-nine days, so termed from the fes- 
tival Mremacteria. 

5. Tluxviypiaiv, a month of thirty days, in which the Pyanepsia were 
celebrated. 

6. ' 'Avk<rrngiuv, a month of twenty-nine days, so named from the festival 
Anthesteria. 

7. UocrsdztoVj a month of thirty days, in which the festival Posidonia was 
observed. 

S. Ta.(jt,viXiuv, a month of twenty-nine days, which was held sacred to 
Juno ya^Xios, the goddess of marriage. 

9. 'EXaQnfioXiuv, a month of thirty days, so termed from the festival 
Elaphebolia. 

10. Mowv^Vj a month of twenty-nine days, wherein the Munychia 
were kept. 

11. Gu£yv\iuv, a month of thirty days, so called from the festival Thar- 
gelia. 

12. 2%tppo(po£iuVf a month of twenty-nine days, so termed from the feast 
Scirrhophoria. 



ARCHiEOLOGIA GR^CA; 

OK, THE 

ANTIQUITIES OF GREECE. 



BOOK III CHAP, h 

OF THE WARS, VALOUR, MILITARY GLORY, &C. OF THE ANCIENT GRECIANS. 

The ancient Grecians were a rude and unpolished race of mortals, wholly 
unacquainted with the modem, and more refined arts of war and peace. 
Persons of the highest birth and quality, and whom they fancied to be 
descended from the race of the immortal gods, had little other business to 
employ their hours, besides tilling the earth, or feeding their flocks and 
herds ; and the rapine of these, or some other petty concerns, which was 
looked on as a generous and heroic exploit, occasioned most of the wars 
so famous in their story. Thus Achilles, in Homer, tells Agamemnon, 
that it was purely to oblige him he had engaged himself in so long and so 
dangerous a war against the Trojans, from whom he had never received 
any just cause of quarrel, having never been despoiled of his oxen or 
horses, or had the fruits of his ground destroyed by them. 1 

And the simplicity of their conduct may be sufficiently evinced, as from 
several other instances, so by those especially where Achilles, Hector, or 
Ajax, are introduced opposing themselves to vast numbers, and, by the 
force of their own valour, putting to flight whole squadrons of their ene- 
mies. Nor is the poet to be thought blameworthy, or to have transgressed 
the rules of probability in such relations: which though perhaps strange 
and incredible in our days, were no doubt, accommodated to the manners 
of the times of which he wrote. For even in sacred histoiy, we find it 
recorded, that a single Goliah defied all the armies of Israel, 2 and with 
a big look, and a few arrogant words struck so great a terror into them, 
that they fled before him. 

Notwithstanding this, in the revolution of a few ages, Greece became 
the celebrated mother of the bravest and most experienced soldiers in the 
world. For being cantoned into a great number of little independent 
states, all of which, though bordering upon one another, were governed by 
different laws, and prosecuted contrary interests, it became the seat of 
continual wars ; every hamlet being ambitious of enlarging its territory, 
by encroaching upon its neighbour-village, and contending for the addition 



1 Iliad, a', ver. 152. 2 1 Sam. xvii. 11. 24. 

2 o 2 



436 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



of a few lands, with no less heat and fury than if whole kingdoms had been 
the prize. The consequence whereof was, that the Grecians being from 
their childhood inured to martial affairs, and having to their native bravery- 
added long and constant experience, were rendered, as well in good order 
and discipline, as true courage and valour, superior to most other nations. 
They became a terror to all the countries round about them, and with 
.small numbers often put to flight vast multitudes of the barbarians; the 
Persians frequently experienced the sad effects of it in the loss of numerous 
armies, and at length of the greatest empire in the world. And, to 
enumerate no more instances in a thing so well known, the Carthaginians, 
though men of great courage, and excellently skilled in the art of war, 
being worsted in Sicily by Timoleon the Corinthian, in several encounters, 
and by unequal numbers of men, were driven into an admiration of the 
Grecian valour, and forced to confess, that they were the most pugnacious 
and insupportable of mankind, and forthwith made it their business to 
entertain as many of them as they could procure, in their service. 1 

But though almost all the Grecians had their share in military glory, 
yet were the rest far inferior to the Lacedaemonians, who, by the laws of 
their country, were under an obligation to make war their profession ; they 
never applied themselves to any art or employment, or the exercise of 
trades, which they accounted unworthy of generous and freeborn souls ; 
but committing all such cares to the Helots, who were a genteeler sort of 
slaves, spent their time in manly exercises, to render their bodies strong 
and active. They were also accustomed by hard diet, by stripes, and 
other severities, patiently to undergo hardships, to endure wounds, to 
encounter dangers, and, if the honour of their country so required, to 
throw themselves into the arms of death without fear or regret. Yet were 
they not so imprudent or foolhardy, as to court dangers or death; but were 
taught from their childhood to be always prepared either to live or die, 
and equally willing to do either: as appears from those verses cited by 
Plutarch to this purpose: 2 

Oi 6e 3\£foi>, ov X\v K/iei/ot ko.\ov, ovie rh SvyB/ceiv, Or thinking death itself was simply good, 

A\Xd to ravra *aAuij antyoTsp e«reXto-at. Or lite; both these the strictest virtue tried, 

They died, but not as lavish of their blood, And, as that call'd, they gladly liv'd or died. 

Nor was this indifference to life or death only discoursed of amongst 
them as a point of mere speculation, but carefully and seriously instilled 
in their tender years, and always embraced as one of the first principles of 
their actions; which begot in them such an undaunted courage, and so 
firm and unmoveable a resolution that scarce any other nation was able to 
stand before them. This extraordinary and unparalleled bravery, being 
adorned and strengthened by the wisest conduct, and the most perfect 
skill in all the stratagems of war those times were capable of, has rendered 
them famous in story, and examples of military virtue to all succeeding 
ages: 'For,' (these are Plutarch's words), 3 'the Lacedaemonians were 



1 Plntarchus Timoleonte. 



2 Pelopida. 



3 Pelopida. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



437 



most expert and cunning in the art of war, being trained up and accus- 
tomed to nothing more than to keep themselves from confusion, when 
their order should be broken; to follow any leader, or right-hand man, so 
rallying themselves into order, and to fight on what part soever dangers 
press/ 

It is therefore by no means to be wondered at, that foreign and vastly 
remote nations should be desirous to entertain the Lacedemonians in their 
service ; that Cyrus the Younger should think it the readiest and most 
effectual method to advance himself to the empire of Persia ; that Croesus, 
the wealthy king of Lydia, and several of the Egyptian monarchs, though 
surrounded with numerous forces of their own, should never esteem them- 
selves secure without assistance from Sparta ; or that the Sicilians, Thra- 
cians, Carthaginians, with the Cyreneans, and many others, were beholden 
to it for protection, and deliverance from powerful enemies. And for the 
Grecians themselves, whenever any of their little states were in danger of 
being swallowed up by their more powerful neighbours, we find them 
having recourse for aid to the Spartans, who were a common refuge to 
the oppressed, and restrained the ambitious invaders of other men's 
rights. 

Hence, likewise, it came to pass, that in all confederacies they were 
looked on as the principal associates ; and in all wars carried on by public 
contributions, they challenged the chief command as their right and pecu- 
liar. Nor could any exigency prevail with them to depart from that 
claim, or resign it to the greatest of princes. Gelon, king of Sicily, 
though promising to furnish them with large supplies against the barbari- 
ans, on condition that he should be declared captain-general of the Grecian 
forces, was rejected. 1 Yet we find, that after the victory over Mardonius 
at Platsea, Pausanias, the Lacedemonian general, having, by his excessive 
severity, and tyrannical behaviour to the rest of the soldiers, rendered the 
Spartans very odious, in the end they revolted to the Athenians, the 
gentle and courteous carriage of whose commanders, Aristides and Cimon, 
had endeared them to all the rest of the Grecians: and here the magnani- 
mity of the Lacedemonians was wonderful ; for when they perceived that 
their generals were corrupted, and their minds too much elevated and 
puffed up by the greatness of their authority, they left off sending any more 
of them to the wars, choosing rather to have citizens of moderation, and 
that persevered in their ancient mamiers and customs, than to be honoured 
with the superiority of all Greece. 2 But this misfortune did not put an 
end to the Lacedaemonian greatness ; for we find them in a little time 
re-assuming their ancient spirits, and disdaining even Alexander himself 
for their superior, though submitted to by the rest of the Grecians, and de- 
clared their general against Persia : which is the reason, that in the monu- 
ments erected after the Persian victories, and bearing the names of Alex- 



2 Plutarchus Aristide. 

2 o 3 



438 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ander and the Grecians, the Lacedaemonians were excepted by name, as 
having no share in that honour. 1 

The Athenians alone were able to dispute this prerogative with the 
Lacedaemonians, some few junctures excepted, when some unusual success 
raised any other of the states beyond their ordinary grandeur, as happened 
to the Thebans, who, from a mean and despicable people, were, by the 
conduct of Epaminondas and Pelopidas, advanced to an equality, if not a 
superiority, over the most flourishing cities in Greece. 

Notwithstanding these, and some other obstacles, the Lacedaemonians, 
for the most part, made good their pretensions, and, in most wars carried 
on by a confederacy, were generals of all the land forces ; but were at 
length constrained to leave the dominion of the sea to the Athenians, who 
having laid out their whole strength in fitting out a navy against Xerxes, 
for a long time reigned sole lords of the liquid element; during which 
season, we find a decree put forth by their senate ; in which it was ordered, 
that the command of all the naval forces of Greece should belong to 
Athens ; but that the land armies should obey a general from Sparta. 2 
But the rival cities could not be long content with this equal distribution 
of power, each being jealous of the other's greatness, and thinking herself 
best able to govern the whole jurisdiction; till at length, the Athenians, 
having their whole fleet, except twelve trireme galleys, destroyed at once 
by Lysander the Spartan admiral, in the famous battle at iEgos Potamus, 
were constrained to own the Lacedaemonians for sovereigns both by sea 
and land. 3 

But the Lacedaemonians were not long able to maintain this command ; 
for the Athenians having recruited their naval forces, and engaged Eva- 
goras the king of Cyprus, and Pharnabasus the Persian emperor's lieuten- 
ant, to their interest, by their assistance, and the singular conduct of their 
own admiral, Conon, gave the Spartans so great an overthrow at Cnidus, 4 
that they never after pretended to contest the sovereignty of the seas, but 
contented themselves with the chief command at land, which the Athenians 
suffered them to enjoy, without further molestation, both cities being 
weary of the contention, and convinced at length of the truth of what had 
been commonly observed, that fortune was most favourable to the Lace- 
daemonians by land, but in sea engagements sided with the Athenians. 5 
This seems not to have been without reason; the Athenians, through the 
commodiousness of their situation, being disposed, and, as it were, invited 
by nature to apply themselves to naval affairs ; whereas the Lacedaemonians 
were placed at a greater distance from the sea, and more inclined to land- 
service (to which they were inured from their tender years), than to ven- 
ture themselves on the ocean, to which they had never been accustomed ; 
for Lycurgus, their lawgiver, expressly forbade them to visit foreign 



1 Plut. Alex. Arrian. de Ges- 3 Xenoph. -rrepi Kvpov 'Av^eit, lip. Panath. Xenoph. 'kAAtkucSi 
t\$ Alex. i. vi. Pint. Lys. vi. Pint. Artax. 

2 Xenoph. '■e.WnvtKwv, vi. 4 loccr. pro Evagora, in Phi- 5 Xenoph. 'EXA^urS*. vii. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



439 



countries,i out of a well-grounded fear, lest his citizens should be corrupted 
by the conversation of strangers, and forsake that excellent platform of 
government he contrived for them. And it happened to them as he had 
wisely foreseen; for no sooner had Lysander rendered them sovereigns of 
the seas, but they began by degrees to leave on" their ancient customs, and 
to degenerate from the virtue and glory of their ancestors. 2 



CHAP. II. 

OF THE LEVIES, PAY, &C OF SOLDIERS. 

The Grecian armies consisted, for the most part, of free denizens, whom 
the laws of their country obliged, when arrived at a certain age, to appear 
in arms, upon the summons of the magistrate, or commissioned officer. 
In some places they were more early admitted to the wars, in others 
later. 

The Athenians, when arrived at eighteen years of age, were appointed 
to guard the city, with the forts belonging to it: from their going about to 
visit which, they were called cn^^oXoi ; 3 but were not sent to foreign wars 
till twenty; the Spartans seldom till thirty. The younger men in both 
cities, with those who, by reason of their age, were discharged from mili- 
tary service, were left at home to defend their habitations. 

Some persons were excused by reason of their age ; for, having spent 
their youth and strength in serving their country, it was but reasonable 
to discharge them from farther service, that they might end their days in 
peace. After threescore years, it seems to have been usual in most places 
to allow them the liberty of retiring. At Athens, no man above forty was 
pressed to serve in the wars, except in times of extreme danger. 4 Others 
were exempt on account of their functions ; such were, at Athens, o\ r&ko; 
vroixftivoi, the farmers of the public customs, 5 whose presence was required 
in the city during the whole time of their employment, and several of the 
holy orders, as also the persons appointed to dance at Bacchus' festival. 

Others were excluded from serving in the wars : such were the slaves, 
and such others as lived amongst them, but were not honoured with the 
freedom of their cities. These were never admitted except in cases ot 
extreme danger, when there remained no other means of preserving the 
commonwealth. Of this custom I have already given a large account in 
one of the foregoing books. 7 

All that served were entered into a public roll; whence the levy was 
called zccraygcKp'h, zartzXoyos, ffroo^ToXoyia. ; and to make a levy, kcitczXc- 

1 Pint. Institut. Laron. 4 UIp. in Olynth. iii. (5 Demosth. Midiana* 

2 Drmosth. Orat. in Philip, iii. 5 Demosth. in Near. 7 Lib. i. 10. 

3 Ulp. in Olynth. iii. 



440 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



yov, or %arccyQoc<phv rfonlfffai. Amongst the primitive Grecians, it seems 
to have been frequently made by lots, every family being obliged to furnish 
out a certain number, and filling up their proportion by the chance of lots: 
whence Mercury, in Homer, 1 pretending to be one of the sons of Polyctor 
the Myrmidon, adds, that he was appointed by lot to follow Achilles to the 
Trojan war: 

Taif, ^6T<nruAA<fy»8voj, xXripa, Xi-xov h9ad' sireoOai.. 'Twas I, who, when the lots were drawn, 

Was doom'd to follow Peleus' mighty son. 

For the appointment of all persons of a certain age to be ready to serve in 
the wars, seems only to be an institution of latter ages: whereas all such 
like things were formerly managed at the pleasure of the supreme magis- 
trate. 

The soldiers were all maintained at their own expenses ; no name was 
more opprobrious than that of a mercenary, it being looked upon as a dis- 
grace for any person of ingenuous birth and education to serve for wages. 
For all this, it was not permitted any person to absent himself, except 
upon reasons allowed by the law; and whoever was found thus to have 
transgressed, was at Athens deprived of his voice in all public business, 
and iii a manner, of all other rights of citizens, and was forbidden to enter 
into any of the public temples. 2 And lest any of the persons appointed to 
serve should make their escape, we find they were branded with certain 
marks, called crty^arcx,. These are mentioned by Vegetius, 3 who, speak- 
ing of the military oath, and the muster-roll, wherein the soldiers' names 
were registered, mentions also, that they were victuris in cute punctis 
scripti, 'branded with lasting marks in their flesh.' These marks com- 
monly contained the name or proper ensign of their general. To dis- 
tinguish soldiers from slaves, who were commonly marked in the forehead, 
as has been elsewhere observed, they had ffriyfjcara, h tcc?s XH a ^ their 
characters impressed upon their hands, as we are informed by iElian. By 
the same ceremony, it was customaiy for men to dedicate themselves to 
certain deities. Whence is that question mentioned in Zechariah, 4 where 
he speaks of the prophets and votaries of the pagan gods: 'And one shall 
say unto him, what are these wounds in thy hands?' And the beast who 
requires all men to worship him in the book of Revelation, 5 is there said 
to i cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to re- 
ceive a mark in their right hands, or in their foreheads.'" 6 And to the 
same custom St Paul is thought to allude, in his Epistle to the Galatians, 7 
where, speaking of the wounds he had received in his Christian warfare, 
he tells us, that he bore in his body the o-rty puree, or marks, of the Lord 
Jesus. 

The Carians were the first that served in Greece for pay, 8 and have 
thereby rendered their names infamous to posterity, being represented by 

1 Iliad. •'. ver. 400. 4 Cap. sriii. 6. 7 Cap. vi. 17. 

2 iEschin. Ctesiph. DemosUi. 5 Cap. xiii. 16. 8 Strab. Hesych. Etyraolog. 
Timocr. 6 Conf. Archaeologke hujus, i. Auctor. 

3 De Re Militari, ii. 5. cap. de Sei vis. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



441 



all the writers of those times as a base and servile nation: insomuch that 
r.aoiKo), and Kaoifzoiooi, are proverbial epithets for persons of abject and 
pusillanimous tempers, or servile condition; 1 and Kacsg is a synonymous 
term for slaves, as in that proclamation at the end of the Athenian festival 
Anthesteria, whereby the slaves were commanded to be gone out of 
doors: 

e{-pa^s, K«3»j, ovu Ir' ' kvQtarnoi*. Begone, ye slaves, the Anthesteria are ended. 

Thus the Carians were reproached for introducing a custom, which, in a 
few a^es after, was so far from being looked upon as unworthy their birth 
or education, that we find it practised by the whole nation of the Greeks, 
who not only received pay for serving their own commonwealth, but listed 
themselves under foreign kings, and fought their battles for hire; their 
chief magistrates not disdaining to accompany them in such expeditions. 
Several instances of this might be produced, were not that famous one of 
the great Agesilaus' condescending to serve Ptolemy, king of Egypt, in- 
stead of many others. 

The first that introduced the custom of paying soldiers at Athens was 
Pericles, who, to ingratiate himself with the commonalty, represented how 
unreasonable it was, that men of small estates, and scarce able to provide 
for their families, should be obliged to neglect their business, and spend 
what their industry had laid up, in the public service ; and thereupon pre- 
ferred a decree, that all of them should have subsistence-money out of the 
exchequer ;2 which seems to have been received with general applause. 
What sum they daily received cannot be easily determined, it being in- 
creased or diminished as occasion required. At first we find the foot- 
soldiers had two oboli a-day, which in a month amounted to ten drachms. 3 
What we read in Thucydides 4 of the soldiers that garrisoned Potidcea, to 
every one of vshom was allotted a drachm a-day, with another to a servant 
for attending upon him, must not be understood as if their ordinary pay 
was of that value, that being only to the common seamen of Athens. 
Three oboli to those that manned the sacred vessel, called TlxoccXo;, and 
the foot-soldiers, four; whence -rir^focXov fi'io; is a proverbial expression 
for a soldier's life; 5 and nro&jfooXi^uv, for serving in the war. The 
horsemen's pay was for the most part thirty drachms a-month, that is, a 
drachm a-day ; this we find to have been termed v,aru.<T<:a.ffi$$ 

The ordinary method of raising this money, was by imposing a tax on 
the whole commonwealth, whereby all persons were obliged to contribute 
according to the value of their estates. But this was done only when the 
public treasury was exhausted, and the constant revenues from tributary 
cities, public lands, woods, mines, or from fines and amercements, were 
not sufficient to defray the charges of the war. In cases of great necessity, 
the richer citizens at Athens were obliged to extraordinary contributions ; 
and there appears to have been a generous and laudable emulation amongst 



1 Hesychins. 3 Demosthenes Philipp. i. 

2 U. : pianus in Glut, de Syntaxi. 4 Lib. Hi. 



b Eustath. Odyss. a', 
li Suidas. in voc. 



442 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the men of quality in that city, who voluntarily offered more than was 
required of them, and contended which of them should most largely con- 
tribute towards the honour and preservation of their native country. 

Confederate wars were maintained at the common charge of all the 
allies, every one being obliged to send a proportion of men, as we find 
practised in the Trojan war, which was the first wherein the whole 
country of Greece united against a foreign enemy. Sometimes they were 
carried on by public contributions of money, levied by persons delegated 
by the common consent of the confederates, which was only the practice 
of later ages ; the primitive wars, wherein the soldiers served at their own 
expense, and supplied their necessities out of the spoils of their enemies, 
being managed with less charge to the public. The first tax, or tribute, 
of this nature, that we find paid by the Grecians, was after the expulsion 
of Xerxes out of Greece, when they agreed to make an invasion upon 
their common enemy, under the conduct of the Athenians ; for then Aris- 
tides, the Athenian, at the general desire of the Greeks, surveyed the 
whole country and revenue, and assessed all particular persons, town by 
town, according to every mans ability. Thus he taxed them four hun- 
dred talents, to which Pericles added about a third part more ; for we find 
in Thucydides, that in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war the Athe- 
nians had coming in from their confederates six hundred talents. After 
Pericles' death, being increased by little and little, it was at length raised 
to the sum of thirteen hundred talents j 1 all which was managed at the 
discretion of the Athenians. 



CHAP. III. 

OF THE DIFFERENT SORTS OF SOLDIERS. 

The armies were composed of various sorts of soldiers: their ^ro>s or 
main body usually consisted of footmen ; the rest rode, some in chariots, 
some on horseback, others upon elephants. 

The foot-soldiers we find distinguished into three sorts ; the first and 
principal of which were termed 'Ovkirnt, 2 being such as bore heavy 
armour, engaging with broad shields and long spears. 

2 Wiko), were light-armed men, who fought with arrows and darts, or 
stones and slings, annoying their enemies at a distance, but were unfit for 
close fight. They were in honour and dignity inferior to the heavy-armed 
soldiers ; and therefore, when Teucer, in Sophocles, quarrels with Mene- 
laus, he is scofnngly reproved by him in this manners 

O toZotvs Ioikkv o\ ofLiKpa QoowZv. This archer seems to think himself somebody. 



1 Piut. Aristide. 



2 Suidas, v. inXirai 



3 Sophocl. Ajac. ver. 114]. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



443 



It seems to have been frequent for them, having shot their arrows, to re- 
tire behind the shields of the heavy-armed for protection^ 

3. U-krcurra), 2 though frequently comprehended under the $1X0), as 
opposed to the oz-xlrai, were a middle sort between both, being armed with 
shields and spears, but far inferior in bigness to those of the heavy-aimed 
men. The name is taken from their narrow shields, called x'zXrcct. 

The horsemen amongst the ancient Grecians were not very numerous, 
being only such as were possessed of estates, and able to furnish out horses 
at their own charge. Hence, both at Athens and Sparta, we find l<r<n7g, 
or horsemen, to have composed the second order hi the commonwealth, 
being placed above the commonalty, and next to those of the highest qua- 
lity and fortune: the same is recorded of the Roman equites> and, to 
mention no more, we are told by Herodotus, 3 that among the Chalcidians, 
none but rich men were admitted into that order. Afterwards, when men 
of estates began to court ease and pleasure, and thought it more advisable 
to furnish out a horseman, and maintain him at their proper expenses, 
than to venture their own persons, they retained indeed their former 
name, but the honour of serving on horseback was lost. 4 

Who it was that first instructed mankind in the art of horsemanship, is 
not agreed by the ancient writers of fables ; some attribute it to the Ama- 
zons, 5 others to the Centaurs, 6 others to Bellerophon, 7 others, lastly, to 
trouble you with no more, ascribe the honour of it to Neptune, 8 the first 
creator of this animal ; for which reason we find the various epithets, 
"Ircr^j^^lsrcra^a/, 10 'irTvyirn;, 11 'It^okv^o;, &c. conferred upon him by 
the poets and mythologists. 

Whoever obliged mankind with the first invention of this art, seems to 
have left it very imperfect ; for in those early ages it is probable they un- 
derstood not the method of governing horses with reins and bits, but 
managed them only with a rope or switch, and the accent of their voice ; 
this we find to have been the practice of several other nations, as the 
Numidians, 12 Getulians, 13 Lybians, 14 and Massylians. 13 

Afterwards bridles came into fashion, of winch the most remarkable 
were those called lupata, having bits of iron, not unlike wolves' teeth, and 
therefore called in Greek Xvkoi, in Latin htpL 16 The first invention of 
them is by Statius attributed to Neptune ; by others to the Lapithce, or 
Centaurs, who inhabited a town in Thessaly, called Peletlironium : thus 
Virgil,* 7 

Frcena Peiethronii Lapithce, gyrosque dedere The Pelethronlan Lapithai first rode 

Impotiti dorso. With bridles, and the circling curvet show'd 

Of the gay courser, mounted on his back. 

Though some are of opinion that the poet speaks of bridles, as invented 
not by the Lapithte, but by a man of that nation, whose name was Pele- 



1 Iliad, y. ver. 266- 

2 Suidas, loc. cit. .Elianus. 

3 Lib. v. 

4Xenophon, 'EXA^t***, vi. 

5 Lysias Orator. 

6 Palaephatus. i. 



7 Plinius, vii. 56. 
S Horn, in Hym. Soph. (Edip. 
9 Pausan. Achaicis. 
30 Pindar. Pyth. 

11 Lycoph. Cassard. 

12 Sihus, 



23 Id. ii. 

14 Strabo, rvii. 

15 Lucan. iv. 
16Hor. i. S. 

17 Georgic. iii. 115. 



444 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



thronius, to whom we find Pliny also attributing the invention of bridles 
and harness: 1 the last of these the Greeks term ^a^aTa, and I^Vsna, 
which were made of various sorts of stuffs, as leather, cloth, or the skins of 
wild beasts. Parthenopasus' horse is covered with ihe skin of a lynx in 
Statius ; iEneas' in Virgil, with a lion's f 

quern fulva leouis Covered with lion's skin. 

Pellis obit. . 

Sometimes we find them adorned with rich and costly clothing. 3 

Of the saddles in use amongst us we find no mention in ancient writers ; 
nor of the stapia, or more properly subex pedaneus, or stirrup, which does 
not appear to have been used till these latter ages ; there being no notice 
taken of any such thing in any author, that I know of, before Eustathius, 
who flourished five hundred years ago, and in his commentaries upon 
Homer, hath mentioned an instrument of this sort. In former ages they 
supplied the want of such helps by their art or agility of body; being able 
tG leap on horseback ; 4 or, for their greater convenience, the horses were 
taught submissively to bow their bodies to the ground, and receive their 
riders upon their backs, 5 as we find practised as well in Greece as by the 
ancient Spaniards, 6 and other nations. 7 

Sometimes we find them leaping up by the help of their spears, or other 
things. Several other methods were used by men of weak and inactive 
bodies: some getting up on the backs of their slaves; 8 others by the help 
of short ladders; both which supports were termed kvafioXus. Lastly, we 
find the highways filled with stones erected for this purpose; which is said 
to have been done in Italy by Gracchus, 9 and in Greece was always one 
part of the business of the overseers of the roads. 10 

It is disputed whether the warriors of primitive ages were carried to the 
field in chariots or on horseback. Lucretius indeed tells us, that the first 
heroes were mounted upon horses, and that chariots were only a later in- 
vention. 11 But we are informed by Palsephatus that chariots were first in 
use ; the Lapithae, who flourished about the time of Hercules, being the 
first that attempted to ride upon horses, a thing strange and unheard of 
by the Grecians in those days, who viewed them not without amazement, 
imagining them to be monsters compounded of the different shapes of men 
and horses, or bulls, which they frequently backed instead of horses-, whence 
we have the fables of the Centaurs and Kippocentaurs. And it is more 
than probable, that at the time of the Trojan war the custom of riding and 
fighting upon horses was not commonly received by the Grecians: since 
the heroes of Homer, whose authority must in such cases ever be held 
sacred, are always introduced into the battle in chariots, never on horse- 
back. 

The chariots of princes and heroes were not only contrived for service. 



1 Strabo. vii. 56. 

2 JEn. viii. 

3 Virtr. Mn. vA. 273. 

4 Ma. xii. 



5 Pollux, i. 11. 

6 Strabo, iii. 

7 Silins,x. 

6 Vcl&ten^rus, E- it Iten. 



9 Plutarch. Grscchis. 
13 Xenophon Hipparcho. 
11 Lib. v. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



445 



but for ornament, being richly embossed with gold and other metals, 1 and 
likewise adorned with curious hangings; whence we read of Lycaon's 
chariot: 2 

&t*$l <!* *ix) n Like wing's its hangings are expanded wide. 

TlUravTa,. 

And the poet calls that of Achilles aouara. iZ vri<z , vz.cctrp,ivci. 3 

The chariots in Homer are drawn, for the most part, by two horses 
coupled together ; that of Achilles had no more, the names of his horses 
being only Xanthus and Balius. 4 To these two was sometimes added a 
third, which was not coupled with the other two, but governed with reins, 
and was therefore called <ruocc7o§ t a- no 0.^00^, Taoesitnioo;, &c. (but in Homer 
usually vragriogos), and the rein KctMoplu.. The same custom was practised 
by the Romans till the time of Dionysius the Halicarnassean, 5 though 
left off in Greece long before. In the eighth Iliad, Hector's chariot seems 
to be drawn by four horses; for there the hero thus bespeaks them: 

And however some ancient critics will have the two former to be no more 
than epithets of the latter, because Hector afterwards speaks to them in 
the dual number ; yet it is evident, from other places, that even in Homer's 
time it was customary to have chariots drawn by four horses.6 




Every chariot carried two men, whence it was termed Yi$oo;, g. ViQoco? ; T 
though that word does not, in its strict and proper acceptation, denote the 
whole chariot, but only that part in which the men were placed. One of 
these was called because he governed the reins, which in those 

days was not a servile or ignoble office, but was frequently undertaken by 



lCnrthisx. Hom. Iliad. *'. 3 Iliad. > r . 
ver 433. Iliad, v\ 4 Iliad. Virg. JEr.sid. vii. 

2 Iliad. » 2S0. 



5 Antiquit. Rom. vii. 

6 Orlvss. 

7 Eustath. 



446 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



men of high rank ; for we find Nestor, 1 Hector, 2 and several others of 
note, employed in it ; and that not on extraordinary occasions, but fre- 
quently some of them making it their profession. Yet the charioteer was 
inferior, if not always in dignity, at least in strength and valour, to the 
warrior, who was called Tra^at^arns, and had command of the other, and 
directed him which way to drive. 3 When he came to encounter in close 
fight, he alighted from the chariot, as we find everywhere in Homer, and 
the rest of the poets.4 

When they were weary, which often happened by reason of their 
armour being heavier than that of any other, they retired into their cha- 
riots, and thence annoyed their enemies with darts and missive weapons. 

Besides these, we find frequent mention in historians of chariots called 




currus falcati, and fytvetvviQogot, because armed with hooks or scythes, 
with which whole ranks of soldiers were cut down. But afterwards, it 
being considered they were never of any use but in plain and open ground, 
and were frequently turned back by affrighted and ungovernable horses, 
upon their own party, to its confusion and ruin, several methods also 
being contrived to defeat or elude their force, these and all other chariots 
were wholly laid aside. Accordingly, when military discipline was car- 
ried to its height, though sometimes they were brought into battles by 
barbarians, as may be observed of the Persians in Curtius ; yet we never 
find the Grecians making any use of them, or much damaged by them; 
but, contemning that old and unskilful method of fighting, they chose 
rather to ride on horseback ; which custom seems to have been adopted 
soon after the heroic wars. 

Of all the Grecians, the Thessalians have the greatest name for horse- 
manship; and in all wars we find their cavalry most esteemed. The 
Colophonians had once, by many remarkable actions, arrived to such a 
pitch of glory, as to be esteemed invincible. In all long and tedious 
wars, their assistance was courted, and the party that obtained supplies 



1 Iliad, y. 

2 Iliad. P \ 



3 Eustath. ad Iliad. S-'. 

4 Hesiodns Scuto. JEaeii. x, 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



447 



from them was certain of success and victory ; insomuch that xoXoQojva, 
vrf'ivcct, colophonem imponere, was proverbially used for putting a conclu- 
sion to any affair. 1 The Lacedaemonians were but meanly furnished with 
cavalry ; and, till the Messenian wars, it does not appear that either they, 
or the rest of the Peloponnesians, employed themselves in horsemanship, 
but reposed their chief confidence in foot ; 2 Peloponnesus being a moun- 
tainous and craggy country, and therefore unfit for horsemen, 3 who in such 
places become almost useless in fight. But when the Messenians were 
subdued, the Spartans, carrying their arms into other countries, soon 
found the great occasion they had of cavalry to support and cover their 
foot ; and in a short time supplied that defect, by instructing their youth 
in horsemanship ; to which end we find they had masters in that art, 
called MioxaodTat* But the greatest part of their cavalry was furnished 
by Sciros, 5 a town not far distant from Sparta, the inhabitants of which 
claimed, as their proper post, the left wing in the Lacedcemonian armies. 7 
Attica was likewise a hilly country, and therefore not designed by nature 
for breeding horses; we find, accordingly, that the Athenian cavalry were 
very few in number, consisting only of ninety-six horsemen; for the 
whole Athenian nation being anciently divided into forty-eight naucratia?, 
we are told by Pollux that the number of horses each of these was obliged 
to furnish to the war, was no more than two. And, therefore, it is not 
wonderful that the Medes thought them deprived of reason, when at the 
battle of Marathon they had courage to encounter a strong and numerous 
army with so small, and apparently contemptible, a force. 7 Having after- 
wards expelled the Medes and Persians out of Greece, and raised them- 
selves to a flourishing condition, they increased the number of their 
cavalry to three hundred ; and, not long after, having once more restored 
peace to their city, and established it in greater power and splendour than 
before, they augmented them to twelve hundred, and armed, at the same 
time, an equal number of men with bows and arrows, 8 of which they had 
before no greater plenty than of horses ; for both then and afterwards the 
strength of most of the Grecian armies consisted in their heavy-armed 
foot. 

The Athenians admitted none to serve on horseback, till they had un- 
dergone a strict probation ; and if any person was found to have fraudu- 
lently insinuated himself into the roll, upon conviction he was declared 
centos, and disfranchised. 9 Tins consisted, with respect to the men, in a 
search after their estates, and observation of their strength and vigour of 
body ; for no persons were entered into the roll, but such as had plentiful 
possessions, and were in good plight of body. This pr >bation was per- 
formed by the <W«£;£*s, or general of the horse, who, if occasion required, 



1 Mrabo, xiv. 5 Xenoph. Kvpova^. iv. gatione.Andoeldes Orat. de Pace. 

2 Fausanias, ir. 6 Thucydides, v. 9 Lysias Orat. de Ordine de- 
i £ lu «»- 7 Herodotus, serto. 

4 Hesychius. 8 ^schiiies Orat. de Falsa Le- 

2p2 



448 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



was assisted by the phylarchi, and senate of five hundred. 1 In horses 
they observed their obedience to their riders ; and such as they found un- 
governable, or fearful, were rejected. This examination was performed 
rov x.ubcti\>oz ypotpcti, by the sound of a bell, or some other instrument of 
that nature: whence xuhmi^uv is expounded vruguguv, to try, or prove, 
and a.7Udb&>vi<T<rov is the same with atfuoeurrov, unproved? Such horses, 
likewise, as were worn out with long service, they branded upon the jaw 
with a mark, frequently termed rgo%o$, 3 being the figure of a wheel or 
circle ; and sometimes r^iVsnav, whereby the beast was released from 
farther service. Hence IntfiiiXXuv r^/Vsr^y, is to excuse. Thus in the 
following verse of Eupolis: 

Which was thus expressed by Crates in his comedy, entitled, The Sami- 
ans: 

We meet with several titles and appellations of horsemen, most of 
which were derived from the variety of their armour, or from their dif- 
ferent manner of fighting, as that of axoofioXurTcu, who annoyed their 
enemies with missive weapons at some distance, to^u.ro<po^oi, %v<rro<ptgoi, 
viruxovritrra,), i7rvroTo\ortct, zovroiQogoi, Svoictyoooi, with others, the distinc- 
tion of all which is sufficiently intimated in their names. 

" ApQirfTToi, sometimes by mistake, or corruption, called ituirvroi* were 
such as had two horses, on which they rode by turns. They were some- 
times termed \<x>7ra.yct>yo), to ayuv 'I<r<zrov, because they led one of their 
horses, which was not a late contrivance, but practised soon after the 
heroic times. 5 

Atf*u%ai, first instituted by Alexander the Great, were a sort of dra- 
goons, and were accommodated with armour something heavier than that 
of ordinary horsemen, but not quite so weighty as that of the foot-soldiers, 
that they might be ready to serve either on horseback or on foot; for 
which reason they had servants attending to take their horses, whenever 
the general commanded them to alight. 6 

Horsemen were also distinguished into xxrxQooizroi and pr, ko&t&IQoc&z- 
rot, heavy and light-armed. The %,a.ra(p^a.x.Toi, or cuirassiers, were not 
only fortified with armour themselves, but had their horses guarded with 
solid plates of brass, or other metal ; (which, from the members defended 
by them, received different names, being called wgofAiranrftia, na^rux., 
vrug'/iice, T/toffrigvtliix, Trccnccrkiu/t^iGt, •z'ccg'zju.yigfiioc, <z , a.t>ax.vyi{t'tb > iu, r ' &c.) 01" 
with skins, fortified with plates of metal curiously wrought into plumes, 
or other forms. 8 

They were likewise bedecked with various ornaments, namely, with 
bells, as we find Rhesus' horses in Euripides, with clothing of tapestry, 



1 Aristoph. Schol. in Ranis. 
Xenoph. Hipparch. Hesych. v. 

2 Hesychius. 



3 Conf. Zenobius Cent. iv. 41. 

4 Suid?s, Poliux, i. 10, n. v. 
. r > Horn. Iliad, o'. 6S4. 

6 Pollux, loc. cit. 



7 Idem, eodem cap. 

8 Virg. ten. xi. vcr. 770. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 449 



embroidery, and other curious work; with rich collars and trappings, or 
what the Latins call phalerce, the Greeks <p&\cc£x, which some will have 
to be an ornament for the forehead, others for the jaws ; nor are there 
wanting, who think them to signify all the ornaments belonging to horses. 

Of camels and elephants, which are so much talked of in the wars of 
some countries, we have no mention in the Grecian story before the times 
of Alexander, when we find a great number of elephants transported from 
the eastern parts of the world. These were wont to carry into the battle 
large towers, in which ten, fifteen, and, as some aflirm, thirty, soldiers 
were contained, who annoyed their enemies with missive weapons, them- 
selves being secure and out of danger. 1 Nor were the beasts idle or use- 
less in engagements: for besides that, with their smell, their vast and 




amazing bulk, and their strange and terrible noise, both horses and sol- 
diers were struck with terror and astonishment ; they acted their parts 
courageously, trampling underfoot all opposers, or catching them in their 
trunks, and tossing them into the air, or delivering them to their riders." 2 
Nor was it unusual for them to engage with one another with great ftuy, 



1 Philostrat. Vita Apoll. i. 6. 

2 p 3 



2 Curtius, viii. 



450 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



which they always doubled after they had received wounds, tearing their 
adversaries in pieces with their teeth. 1 But in a short time they we/e 
wholly laid aside, their service not being able to compensate the great 
mischiefs frequently done by them: for though they were endued with 
great sagacity, and approached nearer to human reason than any other 
animal, whereby they became more tractable to their governors, and capa- 
ble of yielding obedience to their instructions ; yet, when severely wounded, 
and pressed upon by their enemies, they became ungovernable, and fre- 
quently turned all their rage upon their own party, put them into confu- 
sion, committed terrible slaughters, and delivered the victory to their 
enemies ; of which several remarkable instances are recorded in the histo- 
rians of both languages. 



CHAP. IV. 

OF THE GRECIAN ARMS AND WEAPONS, WITH THEIR MILITARY APPAREL. 

The authors of fables tell us, the first person that put on armour was 
Mars, who, perhaps for no other reason, was honoured with the title of 
God of War : it being very frequent with the ancient heathens gratefully 
to acknowledge their obligations to the first contrivers of any profitable 
invention, by enrolling them amongst their deities, and decreeing to them 
the perpetual care and sovereignty of those useful and ingenious arts or 
contrivances of which they were the inventors. The workman employed 
by Mars was Vulcan, at that time a master-smith in the isle of Lemnos, 
and so eminent in his profession, that posterity enrolled him among the 
gods, and honoured him with the superintendency and protection of his 
own trade ; but his countrymen, the Lemnians, were not so fortunate, 
for they stand represented to all ages as common enemies of mankind, 
and branded with characters of infamy for that execrable and pernicious 
device. Whence the poets have fixed upon them the name of jfrfjeg, to 
perpetuate the remembrance of the harm they did to mankind.* Their 
country was likewise called 2/v<r>ji*s. 3 

From the same origin are derived the common proverbs, Anfj^ia aaxA, 
great and intolerable evils j A'/ipt'ia, a fatal or mischievous hand ; and 
Ar.pviov fiXifiiv, to have a cruel and bloody look} Though some will by 
no means allow this character to have been given to the Lemnians for 
their invention of arms, but rather for the frequent piracies and outrages 
committed oy them upon foreigners, or for other reasons: whereas, they 
tell us, that Liber, or Bacchus, was the first that introduced the use of 
weapons. 5 



J I olybius, v. 3 Apollon. Argon, ii. Basil. 

2 Ko/ii. Liad. a', prope f nsc;. 4 Eust. Iliad, a', p. 119, ^dit, 5 Isidorus, Ori£. ix. 3. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



451 



The arras of the primitive heroes were composed of brass, as appears 
from Homer, who is herein followed as well by the ancient poets both 
Greek and Latin, as by all other writers that give account of those times, 
tausanias has endeavoured to prove this by a great number of instances: 1 
it is reported in Plutarch, 2 that when Cimon, the son of Miltiades, con- 
veyed the bones of Theseus from the isle of Scyros to Athens, he found 
interred with him a sword of brasr, and a spear with a head of the same 
metal. More examples would be superfluous, since we are expressly told 
1. 2. 3. 




by Hesiod, that there was no such thing as iron in those ages; but that 
their arms, all sorts of instruments, and their very houses, were made of 
brass. 3 

And in later ages, when the world became acquainted with the use of 
iron, the artificers and their occupation retained their old names ; 4 ^aX- 
kvj; denotes an iron smith, and 5 l^a.XKivffa.-ro is applied to the making of 
iron helmets. 

Some of their arms were composed of tin, especially their boots. 6 This 
metal was likewise frequently used in other parts of their armour. 7 

Several other metals were made use of; gold and silver were in great 
esteem among them ; yet the most illustrious heroes used them only as 
graceful ornaments: they whose whole armour was ^omposed of them are 
usually represented as more addicted to effeminate and delicate arts than 
manly courage and bravery. The arms of Glaucus were indeed made of 
gold, but the great Diomedes was content with brass. Amphimachus, who 
entered into the war with golden weapons, is compared by Homer to a 
trim virgin ; 8 



Fig. 1. is a light-armed mar, tfitXaf. 
Fig. 2 is a ojtAit^s. or heavy-am ed man. 

F a 3. exhibits the shoulder pieces, leathern cuirass with plates, and the boots «c*iy«£B| of Horner. 
— Lard. Cyclo. 

1 Lac- uicis. 4 Aristoph. P^etica. 6 Horn. Iliad. <r'. 

2The S po. 5 Plut. Camillo, ;,< a >«.6rcro 7 Ilisd. X'. lb.*'. 

3 Htsicd. Oper. et Dieb. * P dv>i toTj irXs^roij &oir<$gp*. 8 Iliad. prope fiiiem. 



452 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



'Oy Kal xpvaov %x<° v vSXeit6v6' ley, rjvre kovqtji 



Amphimachus the vain, 



Who trick'd with gold, and glittering on his car, 
Rode like a woman to the field of war j 
Fool that he was ! POPK. 



In like manner the Persians, having given themselves over to softness 
and pleasure, engaged with the rough Grecians, richly adorned with gold 
and jewels, and became an easy prey. The Grecian heroes, though not 
so unpolished as to debar themselves the use of these ornaments, yet were 
not so excessively profuse of them, and did not apply them to the same 
ends and purposes. The shield of Achilles, so curiously engraved by 
Vulcan, is a lecture of philosophy, and contains a description of almost all 
the works of nature. The arms of other valiant princes are frequently 
adorned with representations of their noble exploits, the history of the 
actions of their ancestors, or blessings received from the gods; or filled 
with terrible images of lions or dragons, and rendered bright and shining, 
to strike terror and amazement into their enemies. 1 So it is reported of 
our British ancestors, that they painted themselves with divers forms of 
animals, thinking thereby to appear more terrible to their enemies. 

The ancient Grecians were always armed, thinking it unsafe to venture 
abroad without a sufficient defence against aggressors. Hence Aristotle 
has rationally inferred, that they were a barbarous and uncivilized nation: 
for being educated in the deepest ignorance, and having very little sense 
of that justice and honesty, to which all men are obliged by nature's 
eternal and immutable sanctions ; being also in a great measure without 
the restraint of human laws, all persons thought they had a just title to 
whatever they could by any means take into possession, which they had 
no other method to secure, but that by which they obtained it, and resigned 
their claim whenever a more potent adversary exhibited his pretensions. 
The seas were filled with pirates, the land with robbers, who made a prey 
of whatever came to their hands, and frequently made incursions into 
countries, which they spoiled and depopulated, and if their force was great 
enough, drove out the inhabitants, and compelled them to seek new settle- 
ments. By men of this profession, Io, Europa, Ganymedes, and many 
others, were stolen ; which put Tyndarus in such a fear for his daughter 
Helen, that he caused all the young princes that paid their addresses to 
her, to bind themselves by a solemn oath to recover her, if ever she should 
be conveyed away. The sea, we are informed by Thucydides, 2 was freed 
from piracies by Minos king of Crete, who, with a powerful navy, main- 
tained for many years the sovereignty of it. But the land was still in- 
fested ; and therefore when Theseus proposed to make his first journey 
from Troezen to Athens, Plutarch tells us, that his relations would have 
persuaded him to go by sea. ' For,' says he, 1 it was hazardous, at that 
time, to go by land to Athens, because no part was free from the danger 
of ruffians and robbers. Those times, indeed, produced men of strong and 
indefatigable powers of body, of extraordinary swiftness and agility; but 



1 Horn. Iliad. v \ ver. 340. 



2 Lib. 1. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



453 



they applied those powers to nothing just or useful. On the contrary, 
their genius, their disposition, their pleasures, tended only to insolence, to 
violence, and to rapine. As for modesty, justice, equity, and humanity, 
they looked upon them as qualities in which those who had it in their 
power to add to their possessions, had no manner of concern; virtues 
praised only by such as were afraid of being injured, and who abstained 
from injuring others out of the same principle of fear.' 1 Of these, indeed, 
Hercules and Theseus, and other generous and public-spirited princes, in 
a great measure, freed the country: but before that, it was not wonderful 
if the Grecians always wore arms, standing upon their guard ; especially 
since, in those days, few of them were united into large towns, but lived 
retiredly in country seats, or, at the best, in small and defenceless ham- 
lets. This custom was first laid aside at Athens, the occasion and neces- 
sity thereof being first moved in that city: 2 for historians generally agree, 
that the Athenians entertained the decent rules of civility and humanity, 
were modelled into a regular form of government, and enjoyed the happi- 
ness of wholesome and useful laws before the rest of the Greeks. After- 
wards a penalty was laid by Solon upon those who wore arms in the city 
without necessity ; 3 that having in former times been the occasion of fre- 
quent murders, robberies, and duels. On the same account was made the 
following law of Zaleucus, M^sva Qogti* otrXcc Iv too fiovXivryi^'ico, that no 
person should bear arms in the senate. 

The Grecian arms are distinguished into two sorts, some of them being 
contrived for their own defence, others to annoy their enemies. The pri- 
mitive Greeks, we are told, 4 were better furnished with the former, where- 
as the barbarians were most industrious in providing the latter: the gener- 
als of these being most concerned how to destroy their enemies, whilst 
the Greeks thought it more agreeable to the dictates of human nature to 
study how to preserve their friends: for which reason Homer always takes 
care to introduce his brave and valiant heroes well armed into the battle ; 
and the Greciau lawgivers decreed punishments for those that threw away 
their shields, but excused those that lost their swords or spears : intimat- 
ing hereby, that their soldiers ought to be more careful to defend them- 
selves than to offend their enemies. 5 

First, let us take an account of their Defensive arms, as fitted to the 
several members of the body, beginning at the head, which was guarded 
with a helmet, called in Greek tfzgiKsQaXuicc, xgolvo;, xogvs, &c. This 
was sometimes composed of brass or other metal, and very frequently of 
the skins of beasts, which gave occasion to those different appellations, 
derived from the names of animals, as Ur&'i*, ruv^uv, kXuvikU, Xtovr'w, 
aiym, and others, of which none is more common than xuv'i'/i, which was 
composed of a dog's skin: Eustathius tells us it was vordptos Kvm, a 
water-dog, and was so frequently used by the ancients, that we find it 



1 Plutarch. Theseo.. 

2 Thuryd. i. 



3 Lucian. Anaehar. 

4 Euripid. Schol. 



5 Plutarch. Pelopida, 



454 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

sometimes taken for the name of a helmet, though consisting of another 
sort of matter. Thus Homer: 1 

iptpi ii i KVV i nv Ki-paX-^iv 'drjKe He put on 's helmet, of a bull's hide made. 

These skins were always worn with their hair on ; and to render them 
more terrible and frightful, the teeth were frequently placed grinning 
on their enemies. 2 

The forepart of the helmet was open; for the heroes all entered into the 




battle with faces uncovered; to the side was fixed a string, by which it 
was tied to the warriors neck. This was termed o%>b;. 3 Some of its 
parts received their names from the members guarded by them, as otpovz;, 
that part which covered the eyebrows, and the rest in like manner. The 
little lappet erected over the brow was, by a metaphorical term, called 
yucrov, the pent-house. But the most remarkable of all the parts in the 
helmet was its crest, termed (pdkog, and Xotpos, 4 " which was first used by 
the Carians, and thence called by Alcaeus KaotyJg Xo<pos ; 5 for the Carians 
were once famous for military exploits, and obliged the world with this 
and several other inventions : hence we are told 6 that it was customary 
for them to reposit a little shield and a helmet in the graves of their 
dead. Some will have <pdko; to be distinguished from Xo(pos, that signi- 
fying the conus, this the plume fixed to it ; 7 but others allow no difference 
between them. The former was composed of various materials, most of 
which were rich and costly, being designed as ornaments to the helmet. 
The latter likewise was adorned with divers sorts of paint ; whence it 
obtained the epithets of ey«v#?;, uotxivfrvo&cx,<prig. Q Homer has enriched it 
with gold. 9 One of Virgil's heroes has his whole helmet of gold, and his 
crest painted red. 10 

The crest was for the most part of feathers, or of the hair of horses' 
tails or manes ; whence we read of XoQos i<r-7ro%a.lrog, xogv<; Itf'xohix.vuu., and 
"vrvrovpts. 11 The common soldiers had small crests; officers, and persons 

1 Iliad, k'. 4 Hesychius, &o. 8 Pollux, i. 10. 

2 Virg. iEneid. vii. 666. 5 Herodot. Clio, Strabo, xiv. 9 Iliad. V. 610. 
Horn. Iliad K '. 261. 6 Thucyd. i. 10 ;Eneid. ix. 49. 

a Horn. Iliad. y '. 371. 7 Suidas, &c. 11 Horn. Iliad- r'. 382. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



455 




of quality, were distinguished by plumes of a larger size, and frequently 
took a pride in wearing two, three, or four together. Suidas will have 
Geryon to have been famous in poetry for three heads, on no other account 
but because his helmet was adorned with three crests. Virgil describes 
the head -piece of Turnus after the same manner, 1 adding also to it the 
figure of a chimsera. This helmet was called vgyqu.'kuu, ; when it was 
surrounded with plumes, ufiQ'tQaXo; ; and when adorned with four, <rsr^a- 
cpa\o;2 The design of these was to strike terror into their enemies. 3 For 
the same reason, Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, besides a lofty crest, wore 
goats' horns upon his helmet. 4 We are told indeed by Suidas, that the 
rglfcuffit, or crest itself, was sometimes termed xtgxs. Nevertheless, 
some of the ancient helmets had no crest or cone at all. This sort was 
called Kex.ra,lrv\. b Other sorts of ornaments were 
used in helmets, as in that called crstpdvy, which 
name signifies the ridge of a mountain, and was on 
that account applied to helmets, having several 
eminences, or parts jutting out. 6 

Of all the Grecian helmets, the Boeotian is said 
to have been the best. 7 The Macedonians had a pe- 
culiar one, termed xccvalyi, which was ccmposed of 
hides, and served instead of a cap to defend them 
from the cold. Pliny attributes the invention of 
helmets to the Lacedemonians, 8 as likewise of the 

* Nos. 1 and 2 are Grecian warriors in different styles of armour. No. 3, a Grecian warrior in a tra- 
velling dress. _ „ . ,„ 

1 .Eneid. vii. 785. 4 Plut. Pyrrho. 7 Pollux, i. 10. 

2 Apollon. iii. 5 Horn. Iliad. 8 Lib. vii. 56. 

3 Ham. Iliad, iii. Hesych. Horn. Iliai. X'. 96. 




456 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



sword and spear ; but this must be understood only of the peculiar sorts 
of those weapons used at Sparta ; other kinds of them being known before 
the first foundation of the Spartan government, or nation. 

The heroes prided themselves in wearing for their defence the skins of 
wild beasts, which they esteemed badges of their prowess. 1 The lion's skin 
of Hercules is very famous in story, and Homer's great princes are fre- 
quently introduced in the same habit; in imitation of whom the other 
Greek and Latin poets have armed their heroes. 2 But we find they were 
not ashamed of using better and stronger armour for their defence, the 
ordinary sorts of which were these that follow: 

M/rgsj, made of brass, but lined with wool, and worn next to the skin, 
underneath the coat of mail. This we learn from Homer, speaking of a 
dart that pierced through the rest of the hero's armour, but w r as so blunted 
by the ^/r^, 3 that it only rased his skin. 

Zupa, or ^Mtrrh^ reached from the knees to the belly, where it was 
joined to the brigandine. 4 But the latter of these names is more fre- 
quently taken for the belt surrounding the rest of the armour ; 5 and this 
was so essential to a warrior, that came to be a general name for 

putting on armour: 6 

'ArptldTif ie /Jo'^aev, lie favwaOai 8.va>ysv. Atrides straight commands them all to arm. 

When Homer makes Agamemnon resemble the god of war in his £<wv>7, 
he is supposed 7 to mean his whole armour. The Romans had the same 
custom-. 8 and it prevailed also amongst the Persians, whence Herodotus 
relates, how Xerxes having reached Abdera, when he fled from Athens, 
and thinking himself out of danger, did Xvuv <rh ^vjjv, or disarm himself? 
But ^cuvvi is a more general name than |&xr<r^, and signifies the fiir^. 

®uga% consisted of two parts, one 
of which was a defence to the back, 
the other to the breast ; the extreme 
parts of it were termed *rt£»yts 9 
the middle yvaAa. 10 The sides were 
coupled together with a sort of but- 
tons. 11 The same may be observed 
in Silius of the Roman lorica^ 2 which 
differed not much from the Grecian 
thorax, whence 3*yg«| is by Hesychius expounded Xwgtxiov. 

qua fibula morsus 

Loriccs crebrn laxata resolverat ictu. 

t H{M§cooa.x.iov, was a half thorax or breast- plate invented by Jason ; and 
very much esteemed by Alexander, who, 13 considering that the entire 
itoOttj^i which guarded the back equally with the breast, might be a temp- 




1 Theocrit. Aioovcovpoiy. 

2 Vir$. iEneid. v. 36. 

3 Iliad. &'. et Eustath. ibid. p. 
845, edit. Basil. 

4 Euatathius, ibid. 



5 Horn. Iliad. <5'. 

6 Pausanias Bceoticis. Horn. 
Iliad. X'. 

7 Pausan. loco citato. 

8 Plui, Coriolano. 



9 Urania, 120. 

10 Poliux. Pausan. Atticis. 

11 Pausaji. ibid. 

12 Lib. vii. 

13 Polyaen. Strateg. ir» 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



457 



tation to his soldiers to turn their backs upon their enemies, commanded 
them to lay aside their back pieces and arm themselves with hftriaQcixtM, 
breast-plates ; that so, whenever they were put to flight, their backs might 
be exposed naked to their enemies. The thoraces were not all composed 
of the same stun 7 ; some were made of lint, or hemp twisted into small 
cords, and close set together; whence we read of thoraces bilices, and 
trilices, from the number of cords fixed one upon another. These were 
frequently used in hunting, because the teeth of lions, and other wild 
beasts were unable to pierce through them, sticking in the cords ; but were 
not so often carried into battle: 1 yet there are not wanting instances of 
this sort ; for Ajax the son of Oileus has the epithet of XivoQuprfe? Alex- 
ander, likewise, is reported 3 to have worn S-agaxa Xivov ^i^Xodv, a double- 
twisted linen thorax: and Iphicrates caused Ins soldiers to lay aside their 
heavy and unwieldy brigandines of iron, and go to the field in hempen 
armour. 4 Thoraces were commonly made of brass, iron, or other metal, 
which was sometimes so exquisitely hardened, as to be proof against the 
greatest force. 5 Zoilus an artificer having made a present of two iron 
brigandines to Demetrius Poliorcetes, for an experiment of their hardness,, 
caused an arrow to be shot out of an engine called catapulta, placed about 
twenty-six paces off; which was so far from piercing the iron, that it 
scarcely rased, or made the least impression on it. This armour was of 
two sorts; one of which,. because it consisted of one piece of metal, or of 
two continued pieces, and was inflexible, and able to stand upright, was 
termed arabus, or e-ruro;. 6 The other was composed of a beast's 

hide, according to the poet: 

' 7M 3-UlgCCZC$ fffiVTii. 

Whence the Latin word lorica is thought to be derived from lorum. This 
was set with plates of metal in various forms; sometimes in hooks, or 
rings, not unlike a chain ; sometimes resembling feathers, or the scales of 
serpents, or fishes; to which plates or studs of gold were often added: 
whence we read of S-ugccz&s aXifftbaro), X&tfiSeoroi, <po\3aro), &c. And 
the Greek and Latin poets frequently mention them. Thus Silius, speak- 
ing of the consul Flaminius: 7 

Loricam induitur, tortos kuic nexilis hamos His coat of mail displays its hooked joints, 

Krru squama rudi, permistoque asperat auro. Studded with gold, and rough with iron points. 

T S. 

V r irgil arms his heroes after the same manner : s 

. Rutulum thoraca indutus, a'enis Dress'd in his glittering breastplate, he appear'd 

Horrebat squamis. Frightful with scales of brass. 

The single plates being sometimes pierced through by spears, and mis- 
sive weapons, it was customary to strengthen them by setting two, three, 
or more, upon one another. Thus Statius: 9 

ter insuto servant ingentia ferro With triple plates of iron they defend 

Pectora Their breasts 

1 Pfiusan. Atticis. 4 Cor. Nep. in Iphicrat. 7 Lib. v. 

2 Horn. Iliad, p'. 5 Plut. Demetrio. 8 iEneid. xi. 

3 Piut. loc. cit. 6 Eustathius. 9 Th b. vii. 



45S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 




And in another place: 1 

Multiplicem tenues iterant thoraca catena. The little chains a mighty breastplate join. 

Whence, in the same manner, as from the number of cords, they were 
termed bilices, or trilices ; in Greek, ^ivrXol and t^XoT. Thus Virgil: 2 

Loricam ccnccrtam hamis uuroque trilieem. The threefold coat of mail, beset with hooks and gold. 

Kvj7/k?$«$, ocrece, were greaves of brass, cop- 
per, or other metal, to defend the legs: 3 

°H.<pa.icrTov kXvtcl 6wpo, irepl tcvrjfir/CHV 'e6r]Kei>. 

The greaves of shining brass, which Vulcan gave, 
He round his ancles placed. 

According to Homer they were frequently com- 
posed of tin. 4 The sides were generally closed 
about the ancles with buttons, which were some- 
times of solid gold or silver. 5 

It is probable that this piece of armour was at 
first either peculiar to the Greeks, or at least 
more generally used by them than by other 
nations; because we find them so perpetually 
called by the poet, 

• IvZVr.fJuSlS 'A%OLtoL 

were guards for the hands, which we find also to have been used 
by some of them, with other defences for their arms. 

'AtttU, a buckler. This was first used by Proc- 
tus and Acrisius of Argos. 6 It was sometimes com- 
posed of wickers woven together: 7 hence it is 
termed hia. 8 It was likewise made of wood ; and 
because it was expedient that the warriors should be 
able to wield it with the greatest ease, they usually 
chose the lightest sort of wood for this use, as fig, 
willow, beech, poplar, elder-tree, &c. 9 But it was 
commonly made of hides ; whence we find so frequent mention of ourx-fit; 
fioiiut. These were doubled into several folds, and fortified with plates of 
metal. The buckler of Ajax was composed of seven folds of hide, and 
covered with a single plate of brass. 10 That of Achilles was guarded with 
three folds more, as the poet tells us: 

et cbs, et pro.rima rupit It pierc'd the brass, and through nine hides it 

Terga novenaboum, decimo tamen orbe nioratum est. broke ; 

But could not penetrate the tenth. 

But the same hero's in Homer was more strongly fortified, by two plates 
of brass, two of tin, and a fifth of gold: 11 

trevrt -KTvxat rfkaae KyWottoilwv, Five plates of various metal, various mold, 

Tiy 6vo ^aXxei'aj. 6-jo 6' av&o9t naoonLpoio, Compos'd the shield, of brass each outward fold,. 

T%» ie ulav xpv°vv' Of tin each inward, and the middle gold.— POPE. 




1 Theb. rii. 5 Horn. Iliad, y'. 330. 8 Hesychius. 

2 -Eneid. iii. 467. 6 Faus- Corinth. /?'. p. 131, ed, 9 Plin. Nat. Hist. xv\. 40. 

3 Hpsiod. Scuto. H:in. 10 Horn. Iliad. v '. 

4 Horn. Iliad. '. 612. 7 Virg. iEneid. vii. 632. II Iliad. 270. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



459 



The principal parts of the buckler were these: 

"Avrv^, trug, vrzgap'igucc, or kvx\o;, the utmost round or circumference. 

'Of*(poiXo; and pirt/fy&lLi&v, (Lat., umbo,) a boss jutting out in the mid- 
dle of the buckler, upon which was fixed another protuberant part, termed 
ivop(pocXto>j. This was of great service to them, not only in glancing off, 
and repelling missive weapons, but in bearing down their enemies. 
Whence Martial has this allusion: 

In turbam incident, cunctos umbane repellet. Should you be in a crowd, your slave 

Would with his boes repel them all. 

TzXxfiav was a thong of leather, and 
sometimes a rod of metal, reaching across 
the buckler, by which they hung it upon 
their shoulders, according to the primitive 
fashion. i 

It was sometimes called zcuitov, unless 
this may be understood of the rod to which 
the <rz\ccpuv was fastened, which seems most 
probable ; and that xavovz; were rods where- 
by the bucklers were held, (as Homer's 
scholiast reports), but nXapuvz; were the thongs affixed to them, and hung 
upon the warrior's shoulders, though Eustathius will have them to have 
been put to the former use, and to be the same with zxvovzg. 2 Sometimes 
the bucklers were held by little rings, called ^o^a,xi; ; but at length most 
of the Greeks used a handle called o^ccvov y or which, though 

sometimes spoken of with the former names, and explained by them, was 
•eally different from both, being invented by the Carians, 3 and, as it is 
jcmmonly thought, composed for the most part of small iron bars, placed 
across each other, and resembling the letter When the wars were 
ended, and the bucklers, as was customaiy, were hung up in the temples 
of the gods, they took off the handles, thereby to render them unfit to 
serve in any sudden insurrection: whence Aristophanes introduces a per- 
son affrighted, when he saw bucklers hanging up with handles: 

0% not raXas, s i ovat yap 7rdp7ro«aj. O sad ! the bucklers handles have. 

Which another had also found fault with a little before: 

Oy EJCgfJVj £< *H Q^'S 7 $ v Sriftov, \%, KQOvoiccs 
Ta&vTc&s zccv ctvTOts TO^'ra^iv ocvccTi6yjiiai, 

iEschylus speaks of little bells hung upon bucklers, to strike terror into the 
enemy: 

■ k-J UffKTihcS hi tea 

Most of the bucklers were curiously adorned with figures of birds and 
beasts, especially such as were of generous natures, as eagles, lions, &c. 
Nor of these only, but of the gods, of the celestial bodies, and all the 




1 Eust. II. p. p. 184, ed. Bas. 
Horn. Iliad. 8U3. 



2 Eustath. loco, citato. 4 Eustalh. loco citato. 

3 Etym. Auc. Horn. Schol. &c. 

2q2 



460 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 




works of nature; which custom 
was derived from the heroic ages, 
and continued in later times, be- 
ing 1 first introduced by the Ca- 
rians, and from them communi- 
cated to the Greeks, Romans, and 
Barbarians. 



The Greeks had several sorts of 
bucklers, the most remarkable of 
which seem to have been those of 
Argos, which are thought to have 
been larger than the rest ; hence 



Virgil compares them to Polyphemus' monstrous eye, which he tells us 
was, 2 



Most, indeed, of the ancient bucklers seem to have covered the whole 
body; whence Virgil: 3 



Tyrtseus enumerates the members protected thereby: 

Mvpois re, Kv^ay Kara, koX arlpva, koX wuov S Thighs, legs, and breast, belly and shoulders all, 



This farther appears from the custom of carrying dead soldiers out of 
the field upon their bucklers ; hence we read of the famous command of 
the Spartan mothers to their sons, *H <rav, % rccv, Either bring this 
(meaning the buckler), or be brought upon it ; meaning they should either 
secure their bucklers, or lose their lives in defending them. 4 And Homer, 
for the same reason, calls them, ao-vrfias af&<pi{bo'orus, and fohwtzzls, 
which Eustathius interprets avfyofAmxiiSj of the same size with a man? 

Their form was usually round, whence Virgil's clypei orbis, and the 
frequent mention of otervrihs ivzvxXot, w&vtotz t<rcct } &c. Hence the ut- 
most circumference was called xuaXos. 

There were likewise shields of less size, and other forms, the use of 
several of which was later than the heroic ages. 

Ttopov, or yippa, was squared like the figure rhombus, and was first used 
by the Persians. 6 

®ugio$ was oblong, and usually bending inward : it seems to have been 
the same as that which is called ufftfU xol*'/i iTioopwKm. 7 

Aaiffviiov seems to have been shaped like the former, and composed of 
hides with the hair, whence grammarians derive it from Xxtrto;, hairy. 
It was very light, whence Homer gives it the epithet vrtg'o<v. 8 

UiXr'/i was a small and light buckler in the form of a half-moon, 9 or, 
according to Xenophon, of an ivy-leaf, and was first used by the Amazons. 

! Herodot. i. 4 Plut. Apoph. Laconic. 1 Pollux, i. 10. 

2 /Knei.l. ii. 5 Iliad, f. 8 Eustuth. ad Iliad, t. ver. 453. 

3 JSneld. iii, 6 Strabo, xv. 9 Isidorus Hispal. Orig. xviiu 



Argolici clypei, aut Phcebece lampadis instar. 



Like an Argolic buckler, or the sun. 



clypeigue sub orbe ieguntur. 



Under their bucklers, covered close, they stand. 




The mighty bucklers cover'd. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



431 



But Suidas will have it to be a kind of four-square buckler, wanting the 
7rv;, or exterior ring. 

This was the chief of all their arms ; the regard they had for it appears 
both from what has been already observed concerning their care in adorn- 
ing and preserving it, and from the common story of Epaminondas, who, 
when he had received a mortal wound, and was lying under the agonies 
of death, with great concern inquired whether his buckler was safe. 1 Cha- 
brias, the famous Athenian, when his ship was sunk, rather chose honour- 
ably to resign his life with his buckler, than leaving it, to escape to another 
vessel.2 Militaiy glory indeed being esteemed the greatest of which 
human nature was capable, they had a profound regard for all sorts of 
arms, which were the instruments whereby they attained it; whence, to 
leave them to their enemies, to give them for a pledge, or to dispose of 
them in any dishonourable way, was an indelible disgrace, both in Greece, 3 
and at Rome, and scarce ever to be atoned for. 

Thus have I endeavoured to give you a description of the principal of 
the Grecian defensive arms, which are in general termed aXz^nrn^x, 
ffx,i<xa.(r~'/i6icc., and vroofikriftctrei. 

The only offensive arms used by the ancients were stones or clubs, and 
such as rude nature furnished them with. They were wholly ignorant of 



all those arts and contrivances to destroy their enemies, which necessity 
and thirst of glory afterwards introduced into the world. 4 These clubs 
were called <pdXayyz$ and (paXciyyia, ; whence grammarians 5 conjecture 
that squadrons of soldiers were termed (pxXccyys;, and by the Latins pha- 
langes, from this primitive way of fighting. 

The principal of their offensive weapons in later ages, was 'iy%og and 
Voov, a spear, or pike, the body of which was composed of wood, in the 
heroic times most commonly of ash ; whence we have so frequent mention 
in Homer of pelta. 6 The head, ai%fw, was of metal. So was also the 
ffauotorrxQ which is so called either q. ffretvguvfig, from o-ravoo;, a cross; or 
from cccvoo;, a lizard, which it is said to have resembled, being hollow at 
one end, where it was fixed into the bottom of the spear, and sharp at the 
other, 7 and, being thrust into the ground, held the spear erect, when the 
soldiers rested from the toil of war. 8 Aristotle observes, that this custom 



1 A mmianus, xxv. 
- ^nnKas Frobus in Chsbria. 
o Aristoph. Schol. Pluto. 
4 HoraU Sat. i. 3. 101. Lu- 



cret. v. 12S2. 

5 Eustath. 
Basil, &c. 

6 Iliad, n'. 



7 Eustath. Pollux, i. 

8 Iliad. 151. 



Z g o 



462 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 




2 



/ \ And it seems to nave Deen common jh uluci 

I I A <3o>> nations, as may appear from the first Book oi 
V U Samuel, 4 where Saul is said to have slept with 



Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air; 
But with protended spear>, in fighting fields _ 
Pierce the tousrh corselets and the brazen shields. 

POVI. 



was practised among the Illyrians in his days. 3 
And it seems to have been common in other 

of 

th 

his spear fixed in the earth, close by his head. In times of peace they 
reared their spears against pillars, in a long wooden case called ItovooVoxnP 
There were two sorts of spears ;6 the former was used in close fight, and 
was called Vo^u ogzxrov ; for the use and excellent management of which 
the Abantes are celebrated in Homer: 7 

T<jJ i' a'ju.' "A^avres sttovzo 5ool, UnriOev ko/m6cov7$s, 
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair, 

Where may be observed the signification of the word foi%xff6at, which, as 
the scholiast remarks, is applied to arms used in close fight ; whereas 
vretkXuv belongs rather to missive weapons, which are called by the 
general names of vraXra. and fitXti, of which kind was the other sort of 
spears. This was frequently used in the heroic duels, where the comba- 
tants first threw their spears, and then made use of their swords. Thus 
Hector and Achilles,s Menelaus and Paris, 9 and the rest of the heroes 
attack one another: thus also Castor and Lynceus. 10 

The Macedonians had a peculiar sort of spear called jra^wa, which 
was fourteen or sixteen cubits in length. 

H<0o$, a sword, which, according to ancient custom, was hung in a belt 
put round the shoulder, 11 and reached down to the thighs. 12 

It may be inquired whether the sword was hung upon the right side or 
the left ; to which some reply, that foot-soldiers wore it on the left, horse- 
men on the right: and Josephus 13 expressly mentions horsemen with their 
swords on their right sides: but whether this was constantly observed, or 
frequently varied, as Lipsius has observed of the Roman sword, 14 cannot 
ea c ily be determined. The scabbard was called xoXios: close to it was 



1 Hunting Spear. — Ithadsali- horse, ascended. 

eitt parts to prevent the advance The other spear heads are of 
of the woundeH animal. It ap- various kinds, taken from Slcur- 
pears on the coins of JEtolia. art's Athens. 

2 Mountain Spear.— It had a 
step annexed to the staff, by 
which the horseman, having 
leiiiic-d the spear against the 



liad. , 



Iliad. 



3 De Arte Poetica. 

4 Gap. xxvi 7. 

5 Horn. Odyss. a'. 12S. 

6 Strap, x. 7 Iliad. fi\ 543 



8 Horn. 

10 Thercrit. Idyll. 167. 

11 Horn. Iliad. 45. Hesiod. 
sen to Hercuiis ver. 221. 

12 Horn. Odyss. X'. Virg. 
ttne'xa.. x. 7&A. 

13 Rxcidii Hierosolym. iii. 

14 Militia Rorr.sn3. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OK GREECE. 



463 



hung a dagger or poniard, called to vctou. fiwoov, <recooc/x-/ioiov, or zrugaZuvtait 
Jtipioisv, according to Eustathius iruga%i$fiiov, or ly^uo'i} t ov, 1 and in Homer 




/u.a%xioc&. This was seldom used in fight, but on all occasions supplied 
the want of a knife, as appears from the poet, out of whom I shall only- 
set down this instance : 8 



ol trap'' %lq,ta% y-h a *uv\e'av alev aogro, 
'ApvZy kit Kt<p*\Zv JO.fj.vB -pi'^ay. ■ 



- Then draws the Grecian lord 



His cutlass, sheath'd beside his pond'rous sword; 
From the sign'd victims crops the curling hair; 
The heralds part it, &c. POPE. 

The same custom was practised by the ancient Gauls. 7 Close by this, 
or rather instead of it, the soldiers of later ages used a dagger called uxivd- 
xw;, which was borrowed from the Persians. 8 They had sometimes 
another sword called xovts, which was the same with the Roman ensis 
falcatus, and our falchion, or scimitar, and was chiefly used by the inha- 
bitants of Argos. Not much unlike this were the Lacedsemonian swords,, 
called \u'i\a.t, or %vyXcit, and by the Athenians xr4<rrn;.$ They were bent 
like falchions, and were much shorter than those commonly used in other 
parts of Greece : when the reason of this circumstance was demanded of 
Antalcidas ; it is, said he, because we encounter our enemies hand to hand; 10 
and when another person told Agesilaus in derision, that a juggler on a 
stage would make nothing of swallowing their swords: well, replied the 
king, yet, with these little weapons, we are able to reach our enemies. 11 The 
only thing farther remarkable in the old Grecian sword is the hilt, which 
they took great pride in adorning, not so much with silver and gold, and 
precious stones, as with figures of lions' heads, &c. to make them appear 
more terrible to their enemies. 

'.A|/m», a sort of pole-axe. With this weapon Agamemnon was encoun- 
tered by Pisander. 12 



1 Iliad. y '. 

2 The ? 4 0o f , worn at the left 
hip, suspended from, a leathern 
strap, which passed over the 
right shoulder. It was straight, 
intended for cutting and thrust- 
ing, with a leaf-shaped blade, 
and not above twenty inches 
long. It therefore reached only 
to the thigh. It had no guard 
hut a cross-b.ir, which, with the 
*oX«of, or scabbard, was beauti- 
fully ornamented. The hilts of 
Greek swords were sometimes 
of ivory and gold. Inlaying 



;word blades and hilts with gold 
s mentioned by Herodotus; and 
Caesar encouraged the adorn- 



rnen 



at the sold 



might be more rrJsirous ot pre- 
serving them. 3 The Argive *o- 
vii, from the name, seemingly 
intended for cutting, had its edge 
in ihe inner curve of the blade, 
as had also the acinaces, or sci- 
mitars, borrowed from the Per- 
sians at a later period of Greek 
hstory. 4 The ?wvai, or ^Xai, 
Lacedaemonian swords, were all 
ol the short cutting kind, and 



crooked like a. sabre. 5 The ma- 
ckaira, or dagger, was more fre — 
quently used for a knife, but 
worn, says Homer, in the sGab» 
bard of the sword.— Dr. Mey- 

U 6 Iliad. y '. 270. 

7 Athenae. &tcir*o<To<p. xiv. 

8 Moschop. in voc. Attic is, 
Pollux. &c. 

9Suidas, Eustath. Iliad. X'. 
Hesvch, &c. 

10 Plut. Apophthegm. 

11 Idem, loc. citat. et Lycur£. 

12 Hem. Iliad. 612, 



464 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 




HiXixv;, was not 
much different from this 
last, and is sometimes 
joined with it. 1 

Several other wea- 
pons of less note may 
occur in authors, of 
which I shall mention 
only one, and then pro- 



ceed to the missive weapons: it is xo^vvvj, a baton of wood or iron; from 
the use of which, the famous robber Periphetes, slain by Theseus, was 
named Koguvfcns ; 2 this title was likewise conferred upon Areithous, who, 
as Homer tells the story, used to break through whole squadrons of ene- 
mies with his iron club. 3 

Tagflv, the bow ; the invention of this instrument some ascribe to Apollo, 
who, from his dexterity in the management of it, has obtained divers 
Bow and quivers. r — , appellations, as iky&Xos, iKmrn^U 

yv^oro^o; , ivQctgiroTiSf &c. All which, 
though moral interpreters force to 
other applications, yet the ancient 
authors of fables refer to this origin. 
This new contrivance the god commu- 
nicated to the primitive inhabitants of 
Crete, 4 who are reported to have been 
the first of mortals who understood the 
use of bows and arrows: 5 and even in later ages the Cretan bows 
were famous, and preferred to all others in Greece. 6 Some rather 
chose to honour Perses, the son of Perseus, with this invention ; and 
others father it upon Scythes, the son of Jupiter, and progenitor of 
the Scythians, 7 who were excellent at this art, and by some reputed the first 
masters thereof: thence we find it derived to the Grecians, some of whose 
ancient nobility were instructed by the Scythians, winch in those times 
passed for a more princely education. Thus Hercules, to trouble you 
with no more instances, was taught by Teutarus, a Scythian swain, from 
whom he received a bow and arrows of Scythian make : 8 and though The- 
ocritus hath changed his tutor's name into Eurytus, yet he also was of 
Scythian origin: and we find the hero in that poet armed with a Mceo- 
tian, i. e. a Scythian bow. 9 

Lycophron arms Minerva with Mai&irr,; tXoko;, a Mceotian bow, and 
in the same place speaks of Hercules' Scythian dragon, whereby he means 




1 Horn. Iliad, o'. 710. 4 Diodorus Siculus. 6 Lycophr. Cassand. ver. 56. 

2 Plutarch. Theseo, Diodor. 5 Hsidurus. Item Tzetzae Scholia ibid, et 
Sic. 6 Pollux, i. 10. Theoc. Schol. Idyll, xiii. 

'<i Iliad, r/'. 136. 7 l'iinius. y Theoc. Idyll, xiii. 56. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



465 



a bow, which he bequeathed to Philoctetes for his care in kindling the pile 
wherein he was burned alive. 1 

Both the poets seem particularly to remark the incurvation of the Scy- 
thian bow, which distinguished it from the bows of Greece and other 
nations, and was so great as to form a half-moon, or semicircle. 2 Whence 
the shepherd in Athenaeus, 3 being to describe the letters in Theseus' 
name, and expressing each of them by some apposite resemblance, com- 
pares the third to the Scythian bow: 

"LxvdtK^ it i61;<i, to rptrov riv v aps^ipepi j. The third was like a Scythian bow. 

Meaning not the more modern character 2, but the ancient, C, which is 
semicircular, and bears the third place in 0HCETC. The Grecian bows 
were frequently beautified with gold, or silver ; whence we have mention 
of aurei arcus, and Apollo is called agyvgoro?og ; but the matter of which 
they were composed seems for the most part to have been wood, though 
they were anciently, Scythian-like, made of horn. 4 Whence Lycophron, 
who affects antiquated customs and expressions, speaks thus of Apollo 
encountering Idas with his bow: 5 

lv xapfiaiat pai^'taas *epay. in battles bent his horn. 

But some ancient glossographers, hy -A^us, would rather understand 
ojin;, or the bowstring, which was composed of horse's hair, and there- 
fore called also ffrsfsia: 6 to which custom Accius alludes: 

Reciproca tendens nervo equino concita Drawing the arrows with a horse's hair. 

Tela. 

Homer's bowstrings are frequently made of hides cut into small thongs: 
hence rota fiona.' 1 One thing more is remarkable in their bows ; it is 
that part to which the string was fixed, being upon the uppermost part of 
the bow, and called xoguvyi, commonly made of gold, and the last thing 
towards finishing a bow; whence Homer, when he has described the 
manner of making a bow, adds after all : 

• ' %°Vtri'/ l l/ iliOY^i XOodlVVV. 

Hence x^vtrnv itfindheu xogvvw signifies to bring any affair to a happy 
conclusion. 

The arrows usually consisted of light wood, and an iron head, which 
was commonly hooked. s 

Sometimes they were armed with two, three, or four hooks. 9 In this 
sense likewise Hippocrates' nr^ayuva (hikn are to be understood. The 



1 Cassand. ver. 914. 4 Horn. Iliad. &'. 105. 

2 Ammianus Marcellinus, xx. 5 C^ssandr. ver. 364. 

3 Lib. x. 6 Kesychius. 



7 Iliad. 6'. 122. 

8 Ovid, rie Amore. 

9 Stati. Thebaid. i*. 



466 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



heads of arrows were sometimes besmeared with poison ; for which piece 
of inhuman skill Virgil's Amycus was famous : l 

. inde ferarum Who dipp'd the envenom'd steel with matchless 

Vastatorem Amycum y quo non felicior alter art, 

Ungere tela mauu^ferrumque armare veneno. And double arm'd \sitli death the pointed dart. 

Then fierce on Amycus the warrior came, PITT. 
Whose fatal arrow pierc*d the savage game; 

This practice was more frequent in barbarous nations, but seldom used 
or understood in Greece ; wherefore Minerva in Homer having assumed 
the form and titles of Mentes, king of the Taphians, and son to Anchialus, 
pretends that her father, out of an extraordinary love to Ulysses, obliged 
Mm with a quantity of this deadly ointment, after he had been at the 
pains of a tedious journey to Ephyra, to furnish himself ; but had been 
denied it by Ilus, the son of Mermerus, who, as the poet tells us, rejected 
Ulysses' request out of a scruple of conscience, being afraid that divine 
vengeance would prosecute so criminal an action: 2 

'Eipvpvs &vi6vt>> nap *i\ov Mrpfxeo^ao, Measur'd a length of seas, a toilsome length, in 

("aA'*ro yap * ? \ £ I<rs Sofy evi V7?oy '0<Woevy vain. 

Vapfiaicov iv6 P o<p6vov UXtihevo^ o<p ? a ol tin For voyaging to learn the direful art 

'loij A - pi '«o-9at x^rnpea.!' a\X 6 nsv ov of To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart ; 



uy ve/jieoil 



Observant of the gods and sternly just, 



'AXXa Trarvp ol 6Zkbv t^toy, <pi\tsa«e. ydp alwZy.J Ilus refus"d to impart the baneful trust ; 

He then from Ephyra the fair domain With friendlier zeal my father's soul was fiVd, 

Of Ilus, sprung from Jason's royal strain, The drugs he knew, and gave the boon desir'd. 

POFE. 

Arrows were usually winged with feathers to increase their speed and 
force; whence Homer's vrnoou; /c?, 3 vrnoou; oia-ro; ; 4 Oppian's oi<r<ro$ <ps- 
££TT£«t>£, 5 and &v9fngo$ ; 6 Sophocles' lis %.op'/irm ; 7 with numerous other epi- 
thets and names to the same purpose. 8 They were carried to the battle 
in a quiver, which was usually closed on all sides; and therefore, as 
Eustathius observes, 9 joined with the epithet a p<p no i<pr,;. This, with the 
bow, the heroes carried upon their backs. 10 

In drawing bows, the primitive Greeks did not pull back their hand 
towards their right ear, according to the fashion of modern ages, and of 
the ancient Persians; 11 but placing their bows directly before them, re- 
turned their hand upon their right breast: 12 which was the custom of the 
Amazonian women, who are reported to have cut off their right breasts 
lest they should be an impediment in shooting; on which account their 
name is commonly thought to have been derived from the privative par- 
ticle «, and pa^o;, i. e. from their want of a breast. Thus Homer of 
Pandarus: 13 

nsvph* nev paty 7ri\*ee», t6Z v 6i au^pov. Up to the head the mortal shaft he drew, 

The bowstring touch'd his breast. 

There were several sorts of darts, or javelins, as yooo-Qos, called in 



1 JEneid. \x. 777. 7 Trachiniis. ^Eneid. vi. 652. 

2 Odyss. a'. 259. 8 Vide Commentarium meum 11 Procopius deBell. Persic, u 

3 Iliad. <5'. 116, &c. in Lycophron. ver. 56. 12 Eustathius. Iliad. 6'. p. 344, 

4 Iliad. J7I. 9 Iliad, a '. p. 29, edit. Basil. &c. Iliad. 25S, edit. Basil. 

5 'AXiM.r.K. (3\ 10 Horn. Iliad, «'. Hesind. ]3 Iliad. &\ 123. 

6 Kvwjy. a'. Scuto Herculis, ver. 130. Virg. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



467 




Homer aiyavtq, vereros, 2 and many 
w /i\ |\\ others; some of which were pro- 

i II \W //\\ jected by the help of a strap girt 
round their middle, and called in 
Greek ayxuXn, in Latin, amentum; 
the action is expressed by the word 
ayxuX'uraffOou, which is also used 
sometimes in a more general sense 
for any sort of darting, though with- 
out straps. The javelin thus cast 
was termed ftwdyxoXov ; the custom is mentioned in 
the Roman as well as Greek writers: whence Seneca, 
in his Hippolytus: 

Omentum digitis tende prior ibus, The strap with your fore-finder draw 

Et totis jaculum dirige viribus. Then shoot with all your strength. 

The ancient Greeks were wont to annoy their ene- 
mies with great stones, 3 such as the joint strength of 
several men in our days would be unable so much as to 
lift. With a stone of this bigness Diomedes laid iEneas 
prostrate. 4 Ajax likewise, and Hector, encountered one 
another with the same weapons ; and the latter had his 
buckler broken with a stone scarce inferior in bigness 
to a millstone. 5 The gods themselves did not disdain 
to make use of them, as appears from Homer's Minerva, 
who attacked the god of war with a stone of a prodigious 
size, 6 which had been in former ages placed as a land- 
mark. 7 

But, although the heroic fights were carried on in this 
manner, as most of the ancient poets witness ; yet in 
nearer ages, when they tell us men's strength and 
courage were lessened, but their policy and conduct improved, we 
seldom find any mention of stones, except in sieges, where the de- 
fenders frequently rolled down vast rocks upon their enemies' heads. 
They were likewise cast out of several engines, of which the most com- 
mon in field engagements was, 

20«v2a*»j, a sling; which, we are told by some, was invented by the na- 
tives of the Balearic islands, where it was managed with so great art and 
dexterity, that young children were not allowed any food by their mothers, 
till they could sling it down from the beam, where it was placed aloft ;8 
and when they arrived to be of age to serve in the wars, this was the 
principal of their offensive arms ; it being customary for all of them to 
be furnished with three slings, which either hung about their necks, 9 or 



1 Dart heads. 

2 Eustath. Odyss. &'. 
'd Horn, Iliad. V. 264. 
4 Horn. Iliad. ■'. 402. 



5 Iliad. v '. 270. 16. Lucius Florus, iii. 8. Dio- 

6 Iliad. <p'. 403. dorus Siculus, v. Strabo, iii. 

7 Id. 896. 9 Eustath. Comment, in Dio= 

8 Vegetius de Re Militari, i. nysiuro. 



468 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 




were carried, one on their necks, 
one in their hands, and a third about 
their loins. 1 Hence the Baleari 
slings are famous in ancient writers." 

It was likewise common in Greece, 
especially among the Acamanians/ 
who were well skilled in managing 
it, and are by some thought to have 
invented it: others give that honour 
to the iEtolians. 4 But none of the 
Greeks managed it with so much 
art and dexterity as the Achaians, 
who inhabited iEgium, Dyma, and 
Patrse: they were brought up to this 
exercise from their infancy, 5 and are 
thought by some to have excelled 
the Balearians: whence it became a 
custom to call any thing directly 
levelled at the mark, ' A%a'ixcv (hiXcs.* 
This weapon was used for the most part by the common and light-armed 
soldiers: Cyrus is said to have thought it very unbecoming an officer ;? 
and Alexander, endeavouring to render his enemies as contemptible to his 
own soldiers as he could, tells them, * they were a confused and disorderly 
rabble, some of them having no weapon but a javelin ; others were de- 
signed for no greater service than to cast stones out of a sling; and very 
few were regularly armed. ;S The form of a sling we may learn 
from Dionysius, by whom the earth is said to resemble it, being not ex- 
actly spherical, but extended out in length, and broad in the middle ; for 
slings resemble a platted rope, somewhat broad in the middle, with an 
oval compass, and so by little and little decreasing into two thongs, or 
reins. 9 Its matter seems not to have been always the same ; in Homer 
we find it composed of a sheep's fleece ; and therefore one of the heroes 
being wounded in the hand, Agenor binds it with a sling: 10 

(pa eloy &o)to>, A sling's soft wool, snatch'd from a soldiers side, 
iviXa-Mv. At once the tent and ligature supplied. pope. 

Out of it were cast arrows, stones, and plum- 
mets of lead, called poXvpibitiis, 11 or pokvfioivou 
<r(pcc7g<zi; some of which weighed no less than 
an Attic pound, i. e. a hundred drachms. It 
was distinguished into several sorts : some were 
managed by one, others by two, some by three 
cords. 



At'Tfj* (sc. x*LP a ) 8 e ?vi 
ZftvSoyg, 77 Spa ol Sepa 




1 Ir,-coph. ejusque Schnl. 633. 5 Livius, xxxviii. 

S Ovid. Metaphor, ii. 727. 6 Suidas. 

3 PaUisx. i. 10. 7 Xfcnopta. Cyrcp. ri. 

* Strabo. S CurtiuSj iv. 



9 Utpivyhs< 5. 

10 Iliad, v'. 599. 

11 Represented in the adjoining 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 469 

The manner of slinging was by whirling it twice or thrice about their 
head, and so casting out the bullet. 1 But Vegetius commends those as 
the greatest artists, that cast out the bullet with one turn about the head, 
How far this weapon carried its load is expressed in this verse: 

Fioidum Varro vocat, quern possis mittere funda. 

Its force was so great, that neither head-piece, buckler, or any other 
armour, was a sufficient defence against it ; and so vehement its motion, 
that, as Seneca reports, the plummets were frequently melted. 

Lastly, we find mention of fire-balls, or hand-grenadoes, called <xuor>p>o- 
Xot X'tht, &c. One sort of them are called erzvra.>,tcc, or crzorccxfiz; , which 
were composed of wood, and some of them a foot, others a cubit in length ; 
their heads were armed with spikes of iron, beneath which were placed 
torches, hemp, pitch, or such like combustible matter, which being set on 
fire, they were thrown with great force towards the enemy's first ranks, 
head foremost, whereby the iron spikes being fastened to whatever came 
in their way, they burned down all before them : 2 wherefore they seem to 
have been of the greatest use to leaguers, to demolish the enemy's works ; 
though my author mentions no such thing. 

Concerning military apparel, nothing certain or constant can be related ; 
only it may be observed, that Lycurgus ordered the Lacedaemonians to 
clothe their soldiers with scarlet: the reason of which institution seems 
either to have been, because that colour is both soonest imbibed by cloth, 
and most lasting and durable ; 3 or on account of its brightness and splen- 
dour, which that lawgiver thought conducive to raise men's spirits, and 
most suitable to minds animated with true valour; 4 or lastly, because it 
was most proper to conceal the stains of blood, a sight of which might 
either dispirit the raw and inexperienced soldiers of their own party, or 
inspire their enemies with fresh life and vigour: 5 which Eustathius ob- 
serves to have been well and wisely considered, when he comments on 
that passage of Home:', where the dejected Trojans, upon seeing Ulysses' 
blood flow from his wound, receive new courage, and animating one 
another, rush with united force upon the hero-. 6 

TpcuEj Ik fj.eyd8v/.iot , ettsI X&ov u7u' 'o^vtrijof, Gush from his wounds; then with new life in- 

Ks«Ao>e>/ot xa9' oaiXov, f.-rr' airZ iravTe<; sflr,tTav. Spir'tl 

The Trojans saw Ulysses" blood Each stirr'd the other up, and with joint force 

Piush'd on the hero. 

It is farther remarkable of the Lacedaemonians, that they never engaged 
their enemies but with crowns and garlands upon their heads, 7 though at 
other times they were unaccustomed to such ornaments: hereby making 
sure of success, and, as it were, anticipating their victory, crowns being 
the ordinary rewards presented to conquerors in all parts of Greece. 
So wonderful, indeed, were the old Lacedaemonian courage and fortune, 
that they encountered their enemies fearless and unconcerned, joining 
battle with assurance of victoiy ; which was a thing so common to them, 
that for their greatest successes, they seldom sacrificed to the gods any 

1 Virg. iEneid. ix. 587. 4 Plutarch, institut. Laconic. G Iliad. X'. 459. 

2 Suidss. 5 Plut. loc. cit. iElianus, vi.U. 7 Xenophon. item Pint. Ly 

3 Xenoph. de Rep. Laced. Valerius Maximus, ii. 6. curgo. 

■ 2 R 



470 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



more than a cock: nor were they much elevated when the happy news 
arrived, nor made presents of any value to the messengers thereof, as was 
usual in other cities: for after the famous battle of Mantinea, we find the 
person that carried the express of victory, rewarded only with a piece of 
powdered beef. 1 

The soldiers usually carried their own provisions, which consisted, for 
the most part, of salt meat, cheese, olives, onions, &c. ; for which purpose 
every one had a vessel of wickers, 2 with a long narrow neck, called yv\uv, 
whence men with long necks are by the comedian termed in derision 



CHAP. V. 

OF THE OFFICERS IN THE ATHENIAN AND LACEDAEMONIAN ARMIES. 

The Grecian cities being governed by different laws, the nature and titles 
of their offices, whether in military or civil affairs, must of consequence be 
distinguished. Wherefore, it being an endless undertaking to recount the 
various commands throughout the whole Grecian nation, I shall only pre- 
sent you in this place with a short view of the chief offices in the Athe- 
nian and Lacedaemonian armies. 

In the primitive times, when most states were governed by kings, the 
supreme command belonged to them of course; and it was one principal 
part of their duty towards their subjects, to lead them forth in person 
against their enemies, and in single combat to encounter the bravest of 
them at the head of their armies. And it may be observed, that when 
any prince, through cowardice, or other weakness, was judged unable to 
protect his people, it was customary for them, withdrawing their alle- 
giance, to substitute a person better qualified in his place; a memorable 
instance of which we have in Thymoetes, an Athenian king, who declining 
a challenge sent by Xanthus king of Boeotia, was deposed without farther 
ado, and succeeded by a foreigner, one Melanthius a Messenian, who 
undertook to revenge the quarrel of Athens on the Boeotians. 4 

Yet, on some occasions, it was not impracticable for the king to no- 
minate a person of eminent worth and valour to be his ILjXs^a^oj , or 
general, who either commanded under the king, or, when the emergency 
of other affairs required his absence, supplied his place: which honourable 
post was conferred by king Erechtheus upon Ion, the son of Xuthus, 5 in 
the Eleusinian war. 

But the government being at length devolved upon the people, affairs 
were managed after a new method ; for all the tribes being invested with 



1 Plutarchus Agesi'.ao. 3 Pace. 'Airarovpta. 

2 Aristoph. Schol. Acharnens. 4 Vide Archas. nostr. ii. 20. in 5 Pausan. Atticis. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



471 



&n equal share of power, it was appointed that each of them should nominate 
a commander out of their own body. That this was done in the time of 
Cimon, appears from Plutarch. 1 But whether each of the tribes perpetu- 
ally made choice of one of their own body, or sometimes named men of 
other tribes, is not very certain. No person was appointed to this com- 
mand, unless he had children and land within the territory of Athens. 2 
Those were accounted pledges to the commonwealth. And sometimes 
the children were punished for the treason of their fathers; which though 
seemingly cruel and unjust, was yet antiquum et omnium civitatum, 'an 
ancient custom, and received in all cities,' as Cicero hath observed. 3 He 
gives us in the same place an instance in Themistocles' children, win. 
suffered for the crimes of their father. Hence Sinon in Virgil, pretend- 
ing to have quitted the Greek for the Trojan interest, speaks thus of his 
children : 4 

Qiios ill* fors ad pcenas oh nostra renascent Whom haply Greece to slaughter has decreed, 

Ejfugia, et culpam hanc miseromm morte piabunt. And for my fatal flight condemned to bleed. PITT. 

To return to our subject. The nomination of the generals was made 
in an assembly of the people, which, on this occasion, was convened in 
the pnyx, and frequently lighted upon the same persons, if they behaved 
themselves with courage and prudence, and executed their office for the 
safety and honour of their country ; insomuch that it is reported of Pho- 
cion, that he was a commander five-and-forty times, though he never sued 
or canvassed for that honour, but was always promoted by the free and 
voluntary choice of the people. 5 Before their admission to office, they 
took an oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, in which one thing is more 
peculiarly remarkable, viz. that they obliged themselves to invade the Me- 
garians twice every year: this clause was first inserted in the oath by a 
decree preferred by Charinus, on account of Anthemocritus, an Athenian 
herald, whom the Megarians had barbarously murdered about the begin- 
ning of the Peloponnesian war. 6 This done, the command of all the 
forces, and warlike preparations, was intrusted in their hands to be em- 
ployed and managed as they judged convenient; yet was not their power 
absolute or unlimited, for it was ordered, that upon the expiration of their 
command, they should be liable to render an account of their administra- 
tion: only on some extraordinary occasions, it seemed fit to exempt them 
from this restraint, and send them with full and uncontrollable authority, 
and then they were styled Aurozgu-rogis : 7 which title was conferred on 
Aristides, when he was general, at the famous battle of Platcea; upon 
Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus, in the Sicilian expedition, and several 
others. 8 These commanders were ten, according to the number of the 
Athenian tribes, and were all called ^racc-vyo), being invested with equal 
power, and about the time when they were first created, were frequently 

1 Cimone. _ Ccelius Rhod. xiv. 12. 6 Pint. Pericle. 

'2 Com. Petit. Com. in Leges 4 iEneid. ii. 139. 7 Suidas. 

Attic. D'.narch. in Demosth. 5 Plut. Phocione. 8 Plutarchus Aristide, &c 

-3 Iipist. xvi. ad Brutam. Conf. 

2 R 2 



472 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



despatched all together in expeditions of concern and moment, where 
every one enjoyed the supreme command by days. But lest, in contro- 
verted matters, an equality of voices should retard their proceedings, we 
find an eleventh person joined in commission with them, who was called 
UoXi^c&o^o;, and whose vote, added to either of the contesting parties, 
weighed down the balance, as may appear from Herodotus' account of the 
Athenian affairs in the Median war. To the same person the command 
of the left wing of the army belonged of right. i 

But afterwards, it was looked on as unnecessary, and perhaps not very- 
expedient, that so many generals should be sent with equal power to 
manage military affairs: wherefore, though the ancient number was elected 
every year, they were not all obliged to attend the wars ; but one, two, 
or more, as occasion required, were despatched to that service: the polem- 
archus was diverted to civil business, and became judge of a court, 
where he had cognizance of lawsuits between the natives, or freemen of 
Athens, and foreigners: the rest of the generals had every man his proper 
employment ; yet none were wholly free from military concerns, but de- 
termined all controversies that happened amongst men of that profession^ 
and ordered all the affairs of war that lay in the city. Hence they came 
to be distinguished into two sorts; one they termed rov; Ik) ^lOiK-l,- 
cnus f because they administered the city business ; the other, rovg W\ rZv 
otrkav, from their concern about arms. The latter of these listed and dis- 
banded soldiers, as there was occasion, 3 and, in short, had the whole 
management of war devolved upon them during their continuance in that 
post, which seems not to have been long, it being customary for the 
generals who remained in the city to take their turns of serving in the war. 4 

Ta.%a£%oi were likewise ten, eveiy tribe having the privilege of electing 
one, and commanded next under the Irwrnyoi. They had the care of 
marshalling the army, gave orders for their marches, and what provisions 
every soldier should furnish himself with, which were conveyed to the 
army by public criers. They had also power to cashier any of the common 
soldiers, if convicted of misdemeanours. Their jurisdiction was only over 
the foot. 5 

'lcr^cio^Gij were only two in number, 6 and had the chief command of 
the cavalry next under the 'Sr^ar^yolJ 

^uXao^oi were ten; one being nominated by eveiy tribe. They were 
subordinate officers to the 'Ikkk^o), and invested with authority to dis- 
charge horsemen, and to fill up the vacancies, as occasion required. 8 

Thus much of the general officers. The inferiors usually derived their 
titles from the squadron, or number of men under their command : as 
Xo^uyo), X, l ^' lx ^X°h ixarovrxo^ot, ^zzoi^cco^oi, <ffi^£ha.o^( t oi i &C. Proceed 
we, in the next place, to the commanders of the Spartan army. 

1 Herodotus Erato. 4 Ulpianus in Midianam. 6 Sigonius de Rzp. Athen. 

2 Demosthenes Phiiipp. 5 Lysias Orat. pro Mantith. et 7 Demosthenes .Midiana. 
'3 Idem Orat. de Epiir. Plut. de Ne^l. Mili. Aristoph. Schol. 8 Lysias in locis citatis. 

Phoc. Avibus. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



473 



The supreme command was lodged in one person; for the Lacedaemo- 
nians, however fond of aristocracy in civil affairs, found, by experience, 
that in war, a monarchical government was on several accounts preferable 
to all others: 1 for it happening, that once upon a difference in opinion 
between their two kings, Demaratus and Cleomenes, the former withdrew 
his part of the army, and left his colleague exposed to the enemy, a law 
was hereupon enacted, that, for the future, they should never command 
the army together, as had been usual before that misfortune. 2 Yet upon 
extraordinary occasions, when the safety and honour of the state was in 
dispute, they had so much prudence, as rather, by transgressing the letter 
of the law to secure their country, than, by insisting on niceties, to bring it 
into danger: for we find that, when Agis was engaged in a dangerous 
war with the Argians and Mantineans, Plistonax, his fellow-king, having 
raised an army out of such citizens as by their age were at other times 
excused from military service, went in person to his assistance. 3 

The general's title, as some say, was Bayo?, 4 which others wHl have 
common to all other military officers. He was ordinarily one of the kings 
of Sparta; it being appointed by one of Lycurgus' laws, that this honour 
should belong to the kings: but in cases of necessity, as in their king's 
minority, a protector, or viceroy, called Uoo^iko?, was substituted for the 
management of military, as well as civil affairs. 3 It was under this char- 
acter that Lycurgus reformed and new-modelled the Lacedaemonian polity, 
and commanded their armies, during the infancy of king Charilaus. 6 
Pausanias also was tutor to Plistarchus, when he led the Lacedaemonians, 
and the rest of the Grecians, against Mardonius, Xerxes' lieutenant, at 
Plataea. 7 

This only concerned their land-armies ; for the laws made no provision 
for their fleets, their lawgiver having positively forbidden them to meddle 
with marine affairs. Wherefore, when they became masters of a navy, 
they confined not their elections of admirals to the royal house, but rather 
chose to commit that great trust to their most able and experienced sea- 
men ; as may appear from the instances of Lysander, and several others, 
who commanded the Spartan fleets, though never invested with royal 
power. Nor was it ordinarily permitted their kings, when intrusted with 
land-armies, to undertake the office of admiral. The only person hon- 
oured with these two commands at the same time, was the great Agesilaus. 8 

The king, however limited and restrained when at home, was supreme 
and absolute in the army, it being provided, by a particular precept of the 
law, that all others should be subordinate to him, and ready to obey his 
commands. 9 Notwithstanding this, he was not always left wholly to him- 
self, and the prosecution of his own measures, it being customary for some 
of the magistrates, called ephori, to accompany him and assist him with 

1 Isocrates ad Nieoolem, 5 Xenorli. de Repub. Laced. Nepos, Pausanias. 

2 Herod, v. 5. 6 PluUrchus Lycurso. 8 Plutarchus A^esilao. 

3 Thucyd. v. ? Herod. Thucyd. Piut. Corn. 9 Herod, vi. Thucyd. v. 

4 Hesychius. 

2 K 3 



474 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

their advice. 1 To these, on some occasions, others were joined. When 
Agis had unadvisedly entered into a league with the Argians, at a time 
when it lay in his power to have forced them to accept of terms far more 
honourable to his country, the Spartans highly resented his imprudence, 
and enacted a decree, that he should never again command an army, 
without ten counsellors to go along with him. Whether the succeeding 
kings were hereby obliged, does not fully appear; but it seems probable 
they were not sent to the wars without a council, consisting, if not of the 
same, however of a considerable number of the wisest men in Sparta. 
Agesipolis was attended with no less than thirty; 2 and though the tender- 
ness of his age might occasion that extraordinary provision, yet, in wars 
of great concern or danger, and such as were carried on in remote coun- 
tries, kings of the greatest experience and most eminent for conduct were 
not trusted without a great number of counsellors ; for we are told, that 
Agesilaus himself, when he made his expedition into Asia, was obliged, 
by a decree of the people, to take thirty along with him. 3 

Besides these, the general was guarded by three hundred valiant Spar- 
tans, called ' I-Tr-Trfc;, or horsemen, svho fought about his person, 4 and were 
much of the same nature with Romulus' lifeguards, called celcres, or 
Might-horse,' as Dionysius of Halicarnassus reports. Before him fought, 
all those that had obtained prizes in the sacred game?, which was looked 
upon as one of the most honourable posts in the army, and esteemed equi- 
valent to all the glorious rewards conferred on these victors in other cities. 5 

The chief of the subordinate officers was called Tio\'-f/.a,o^. The titles 
of the rest will easily be understood from the names of the parties under 
their command, being all derived from them ; such as Ao^ayuyoi, Ylivrr,- 

X0tr~?,Oi:, y ~Ev6J/X0TtXO%0ii, &C. 



CHAP. VI. 

OF THE SEVERAL DIVISIONS AND FORMS OF THE GRECIAN ARMV, WITH 
OTHER MILITARY AFFAIRS. 

The whole army, as composed of horse and foot, was called angaria.. The 
front uX-wTfo)), or tfouro; ^vycg' the right-hand man of which, as in other 
places, was <zowrovTu.r'fi$' the wing?, xi^ara, of which some make Pan, 
Bacchus' general in his Indian expedition, to have been the first inventor ; 
the soldiers herein, and their leader, crccoacrrccroii' those in the middle 
ranks, l^crrdrrocr the rear i/r^ccros £uyo;, ob^cc, and the person who brought 
up the rear, ovoayos, or osjWaipi/Aag, which seem to have been common 
names for any others that obtained the like places in smaller bodies. 



1 Xenouh. 'k\\*iviKZv, ii. 3 Plat. AgesUao, et Xenoph. 5 Plut. Lycurg. 

2 Xenoph. 'E.Urj hikes', v. 4 Thucyd. v. 6 Orbicius. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



475 



Tliptfa.; was a party of five soldiers ; its leader, TlifAvrx$u(>%es. 

Aixcts often; its leader, A&%aoag%os. And so of the rest. 

Ao%o;, consisted of eight, or of twelve, or as others say, of sixteen, 
which was a complete Xo%os, though some make that to contain no less 
than twenty-five. It is sometimes termed trr'i^o;, or foxavtat, and its 
leader Ao%ay6;. 

Aiy.ctoia,, or 'Huikofcicc, was a half Xoyjog ; its leader Ai/xoipIt^;, or 'Hpi- 

IvX'ko^KTfAos was a conjunction of several \o%sr sometimes it is termed 
ffvffraffis, which consisted of four half, or two complete *.ox°h consisting 
of thirty-two men. 

Ilivrvzovrccpx'icz, however the name imports only fifty, was usually a 
double ffvffrracris, consisting of four ?LO%ot, or sixty-four men ; whence its 
leader was not only termed Uivrnxovra^og, but Ter^a^*??, and for «tsvt>j- 
xovrap%ia, we sometimes find nroa^ioc. 

'Exctrovragxioc, sometimes called <r«|<?, consisted of two of the former, 
containing a hundred and twenty-eight men. Its commander was an- 
ciently called Tc&%lcc(>%o;, but afterwards the name of 'Bxarovrap^o; gener- 
ally prevailed. To every Ixarovra^ia were assigned five necessary at- 
tendants, called "Exraxroi, as not being reckoned in the ranks with the 
soldiers. These were, 

1. SrgKrozngvZ, the crier, who conveyed by voice the words of com- 
mand. He was usually a man of strong lungs: the most remarkable of 
any in story was Homer's Stentor, who, he tells us, was able to shout as 
loud as any fifty. 1 

2. *2nftuo<po0os, the ensign, remitted by signs the officer's commands to 
the soldiers ; and was of use in conveying things not to be pronounced 
openly, or discovered, and when the noise of war drowned the crier's voice. 

3. laXTiyxTyiit the trumpeter, was necessary, as well to signify to the 
soldiers the will of their commanders, when dust rendered the two former 
useless, as to animate and encourage them, and on several other accounts. 

4. 'Y<r'/)o'i<r'/ig, was a servant that waited on the soldiers, to supply them 
with necessaries. These four were placed next to the foremost rank. 

5. Ov£ayo:, the lieutenant, brought up the rear, and took care that none 
of the soldiers were left behind or deserted. 

2uvray t ua, ^rccodra^t:, -f,aayU, and, according to some, V&vayla, was 
composed of two ra\u$, being made up of two hundred and fifty-six men. 
The commander *2,uvr ay paragons. 

Hivraxocria^ia, or '^ivayiu, contained two euvraypara, i. e. five hun- 
dred and twelve men. The commander's name was XtmrHxwt&gpiS) or 

^.ivayog. 

XiXta^ia, ffuffrgsfAfta, and, as some think, %ivayia, was the former 
doubled, and consisted of a thousand and twenty-four. The commander 
XtXicco^og, XiXioffrog, or IvtrrpifJcfAa-Tao^g. 



1 Iliad. «'. 7S4> 



476 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

Ms^a^'a, by some called riXos, by others, W^mym, contained two of 
the former, i. e. two thousand and forty-eight. The commander, Mtoug- 

%'IS, TiXugfcris, 01* 'Evr i% Ma.y-6s. 

^aXayya^U, sometimes called plgo;, ocvrorop/i Ki^ocro^ cr'npos, and by 
the ancients ffrootrnyioc., was composed of two tea*?, and contained four 
thousand fourscore and sixteen ; or four thousand and thirty-six, accord- 
ing to others. The officer, ^ocXocyyd^x^h anc ^ ^rpccrnyos. 

AtQaXotyyioi Kigas, Wira.yfjc.cc, and, as some think, (jcioo:, was almost a 
duplicate of the former; for it consisted of eight thousand one hundred and 
thirty-two. The commander's title was Ks^a^jj*. 

TiToottpocXayyac^ia, contained about two c^itpaXxyyica, or sixteen thou- 
sand three hundred fourscore and four. The commander, Tir^atpaXay- 
ydp^m* 

1 $zXuy? is sometimes taken for a party of twenty-eight men, sometimes 
of eight thousand ; but a complete &dXay% is said to be the same with 
TiT^a(paXayya.^ia. Several other numbers are signified by this name, 
it being frequently taken for the whole body of foot, and as often in gene- 
ral for any company of soldiers. Indeed the Grecian battles were usually 
ranged into an order peculiarly termed phalanx; which was of such 
strength, that it was able to bear any shock, with what violence soever 
charged upon them. The Macedonians were the most famous for this 
way of embattling; their phalanx is described by Polybius to be a square 
battalia of pikemen, consisting of sixteen in flank and five hundred in 
front; the soldiers standing so close together, that the pikes of the fifth 
rank were extended three feet beyond the front of the battalia: the rest, 
whose pikes were not serviceable by reason of their distance from the 
front, couched them upon the shoulders of those that stood before them ; 
and so locking them together in file, pressed forward to support and push 
on the former ranks, whereby the assault was rendered more violent and 
irresistible. The commander was called ^xXccyyd^yis. 

Mwos <pd.Xa.yyos, was the length or first rank of the phalanx, reaching 



1 The phalanx was a body of 
sixteen thousand men, formed 
into a square fifteen deep, 
when the Romans first carried 
their arms into Macedon. ' It 
-was invincible,' says Polybius, 
•as long as it remained united: 
but it seldom happened that a 
body which occupied the space of 
twenty stadia, or a league, could 
find a proper field lor action. 
The intervention of a hill, a 
ditch, a river, or a morass, de- 
stroyed its ordnance, and its ene- 
mies could so much the more 
easily ruin it, that is to say, pe- 
netrate into those openings, the 
unavoidable consequents of in- 
equality of ground; because the 
soldier could make no evolution, 
nor fight man to man. Supposing 
it even without any foreign ob- 
stacles, it was very difficult that 



the phalanx, from its own move* 
ments, should not suffer some 
fluctuation in its march: and 
■whether in pursuit of a flying 
enemy, or pursued itself in its 
flight, it certainly lost its 
strength.' From these remarks 
of Polybius, we are led to con- 
clude, that the capital defect in 
the phalanx was, its being com- 
posed of too great a number of 
soldiers; and that the successors 
of Philip were injudicious in al- 
tering the original institution, 
from six or seven thousand men 
to more than double that number. 
The more such a mass was aug- 
mented, the more must it be em- 
barrassed in the choice of ground, 
and its marches must be slow, 
difficult, and dangerous. The 
reader may see in Polybius a 
parallel between the Macedo- 



nian manoeuvres, and those of 
the Romans. He gives the pre- 
ference to the last. It must, 
however, be allowed, that with 
regard to the particular juncture 
when Philip instituted the phal- 
anx, it was the happiest disposi- 
tion that could have been con- 
trived. The manner in which 
the Romans ranged their troops, 
in three lines, and in small divi- 
sions, with intervals between, is 
only proper for troops well ex- 
ercised, and accustomed to brave 
dangers ; and the Macedonians 
were not such when Philip as- 
cended the throne. He was then 
obliged to form a plan, which by 
its nature could inspire them 
with confidence, and required 
but very little experience in the 
management of arms.— Mubly's 
Greece, p. 155. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



477 



from the farthest extremity of one wing to that of another. It is the same 
with ftirnoTTov, ^^oacocT'ov, <r<r6{Acc, rtct^tira^i; , vrgcdTolofc'tci, vrgeoroo'Tccrccij 
vt£u>7o; Z,vyo;, &c. The ranks behind were called, according to their or- 
der, ^zunoos, rg'iTo; Z,vyh, &c. 

Bxfog, or vra^a; (pakayyo;, sometimes called ro7%o;, was the depth, 
consisting in the number of ranks from front to rear. 

Zvyo) (pxXc&yyo; were the ranks taken according to the length of the 
phalanx. 

St/^a/, or Xo%ot, were the files measured according to the depth. 

At%orofAla Qxkeiyyos, the distribution of the phalanx into two equal por- 
tions, which were termed aXio^a), Ki£u.<ra,> &c, or wings: the left of these 
was p&'igx; zvaivvfAov, and ovooi' the right, xt^as li^th, xiQccXh, Ssfyov K%g&>~ 
rrioiov, ^zZia a.o%h, &C. 

"Aoet£os 9 oft(pa?.c;, (Two^n QaXccyyos, the body, or middle part between 
the wings. 

Aivrruo-pos (paXayyog, the lessening the depth of the phalanx, by cutting 
off some of its files. 

'Q^loi, irzoopyjKris, or vraoet/n'/ixiis (pocXay?, acies recta, or the herse > 
wherein the depth exceeded the length. 

YlXaytcc QuXayV, differed from the former, being broad in front, and 
narrow in flank ; whereas the other was narrow in front, and broad in 
flank. 1 

Aol'/j (ptzX*y%, or acies obliqua, when one wing was advanced near the 
enemy's, to begin the battle, the other holding off at a convenient distance. 

'A/xtplo-Topos QaXayZ, when the soldiers were placed back to back that 
they might everyway face their enemies; which form of battalia was 
used when they were in danger of being surrounded. * AvriffrofAos <pxXay% 
differed herein from the former, that it was formed lengthwise, and en- 
gaged at both flanks ; whereas the former engaged at front and rear. 

' AfMpIrrofAos ^KpaXayyla, when the leaders were placed in both fronts, 
but the Ovgayo), who followed the rear, transplanted into the middle, so 
that their enemies were confronted on all sides. 

' Avr'urrof&os ^iQctXuyyia was contrary to the former, having the Ov^ayo) 
and their rear on the two sides, and the rest of the commanders who were 
placed at other times in the front, in the midst, facing one another; in 
which form, the front opening in two parts, so closed again, that the wings 
succeeded in its place, and the last ranks were transplanted into the former 
place of the wings. 

'Opoiovropo; ^upaXccyyia was, when both the phalanxes had their officers 
on the same side, one marching behind the other in the same form. 

'ETiootrropo; 2i(paXuyyia, when the commanders of one phalanx were 
placed on the right flank, in the other on the left. 

Ui-7rXiy/xiv7] <pa,Xuy%, when its form was changed, as the ways required 
through which it marched. 



I iElian. Tacticis. 



478 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



'EnxufAtfiis QaZ.x'yl represented a half-moon, the wings turned back- 
wards, and the main body advanced towards the enemy, or on the con- 
trary. The same was called xv^rr, and xoiXn, being convex and hollow. 

'E<r<ra^£v>7 paXayg, when the parts of the battalia stood at an unequal 
distance from the enemy, some jutting out before others. 

'T<7rip$u.\a.yyuri;, when both wings were extended beyond the adverse 
army's front; when only one, vvrt(>xif>w<rt;. 

'FoftfionP/i? (pa,X*<y%, called likewise <r(P'/ivonV/};, a battalia with four 
equal, but not rectangular, sides, representing the figure of a diamond. 
This figure was used by the Thessalians, being first contrived by their 
countryman Jason. Indeed most of the common forms of battalia in 
Greece, in Sicily also, and Persia, seem to have been devised after this, 
or some other square. 1 

"Eftfiokov, rostrum, or cuneus, was a rhombus divided in the middle, 
having three sides, and representing the figure of a wedge, or the letter 
A. The design of this form was to pierce, and enter forcibly into the 
enemy's body. 

Koi\ifjt,(hoXov, or forfex, was the cuneus transversed, and wanting the 
basis ; it represented a pair of sheers, or the letter V ; and seems to have 
been designed to receive the cuneus. 

JJXtvftov Ukivtia, laterculus, an army drawn up in the figure of a brick 
or tile, with four unequal sides; its length was extended towards the 
enemy, and exceeded the depth. 

Hvgyos, turris, was the brick inverted, being an oblong square, after 
the fashion of a tower, with the small end towards the enemy. 2 

Tl\a.i<riov had an oblong figure, but approaching nearer to a circle than a 
quadrangle. 

TiQvidcbv was an army extended at length, with a very few men in a 
rank, when the ways they marched through could not be passed in broader 
ranks: the name is taken from a worm that insinuates itself into little 
holes in wood. On the same account, we find mention of q>u.\a.y\ h<pou~ 
V/i:, so ranged, as it were, to pierce through the passages. 

UuzvMcrt; (puXayyos, was the ranging soldiers close together, so that, 
whereas in other battalias every man was allowed four cubits space on 
each side, in this he took up only two. 

?uvei<r<z'i(r/uc; was closer than the former, one cubit's room being allowed 
to every soldier: it is so called from bucklers, which were all joined close 
to one another. 

Several other forms of battalia may occur in authors, as those drawn in 
all the sorts of spherical figures. One of these was called 7kn, first in- 
vented by Ilion of Thessaly, representing the figure of an egg, into which 
the Thessalians commonly ranged their horse. 3 It is commonly taken for 
any party of horse, of what number soever, but sometimes in a more 
limited sense for a troop of sixty-four. 

] JE.Ua.ri. Tacticis, qui ubique in hoc consulendus. 2 Horn. II. 43. 3 .Elian, loc. cit. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



479 



'EtriXetgx'ttt, contained two faeu, i. e. one hundred and twenty-eight. 

Tot^xvrivoco-^'iex, was a duplicate of the former, consisting of two hundred 
and fifty-six; for they commonly used a sort of horsemen called Tagavr?- 
voif or IcF'z'oi'ycovKrrai, who annoyed their enemies with missive weapons, 
being unable to sustain a close fight by reason of their light armour. 
There was likewise another sort of Tarentine horsemen, who, having dis- 
charged their missive weapons, engaged their enemies in close fight. 
Their name was derived from Tarentum in Italy, which used to furnish 
out horsemen of these sorts: but whether the name of this troop was taken 
from the sort of horsemen, or the numbers being the same with that used 
by the Tarentines, is not certain. 

'I«r«r«*;£<« contained two of the former, i. e. five hundred and twelve. 

'EQura'eigxia was a double tvr9reto%ta 9 being made up of one thousand 
and twenty-four. 

Tzkos was the former doubled, containing two thousand and forty-eight. 
'Etfvray/^a was equal to two rik'/i, being composed of four thousand and 
ninety-six. 

The Lacedsemonian divisions of their army had peculiar names. The 
whole army was divided into Mogeu, or regiments. What numbers of 
soldiers were ranged in each is uncertain. Some make them five hun- 
dred, others seven, and some nine ; J but at the first reformation of the 
commonwealth, they seem not to have exceeded four hundred, who were 
all footmen. The commander was called JJok'ifiug%os f to whom was 
added a subordinate officer, called Iv&qogibs f the former was colonel, the 
latter his lieutenant. 

Ao%o; was the fourth part of a Mo^a, ; and though some affirm there 
were five Ao%oi in eveiy Mw«, 4 yet the former account seems more agree- 
able to the ancient state of the Spartan army ; for we are assured by Xeno- 
phon, that in every Ma'ga there were four Ao^aycoyol. 

Tlivrmcoffrhs was the fourth part, or, as others say, the half of a Ao%o;, 
and contained fifty men, as appears from the name. The commander 
hereof was Styled ITsi/r^avr^, Tlivr'/ixovrxrho, or Il&vr'/ixo<rr'/ig. Of these 
there were eight in every Mfyet, as the forementioned author reports. 

'EvuftoT'uz was the fourth part, or, as others, the half of ^riVT^zoo-Tvs, 
contained twenty-five men, and was so called, because all the soldiers 
therein were huporoi l>iu, otyuy'im? or bound by a solemn oath upon a 
sacrifice, to be faithful and loyal to their country. The commander was 
termed 'Evapora^'/is, or 'Evco^qtoco^o^. Of these Xenophon affirms there 
were sixteen in every Mogoc; which, together with his account of the 
Aoxoi and UivrtiKoffrvsg, makes it evident that the primitive Mogoct con- 
sisted only of four hundred : the disagreement of authors herein seems to 
have been occasioned by the increase of the Lacedemonian army ; for, in 
succeeding ages, the Spartans having augmented their forces, still retained 



1 Plutarchus Pelopida. 3 Idem, 'EX\r,v. vi. 

2 Xenoph. de Rep. Laced, 4 Hesych. 



5 Idem. 



480 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

their ancient names, so that the eighth part of a Moga, though perhaps 
containing several fifties, was still termed Ylivrnxwrvs. The Roman 
battalions, in like manner, however increased by new additions, were still 
called legiones / which, though at first they contained no more than three 
thousand, were afterwards varied as necessity required, and consisted of 
four, five, or six thousand. The same may be observed of their cohortes, 
rnanipuli, or dines, &c. 

There are several other military terms, an explication of some of which 
may be expected in this place. 

Wpora\n is the placing of any company of soldiers before the front of the 
army, as vgorufys iptkuv, when the light-armed men are drawn out before 
the rest of the army, to begin the fight at a distance with missive wea- 
pons. 

'Ertvafys., is contrary to the former, and signifies the ranging of soldiers 
in the rear. 

Hooffrahsi when to one, or both flanks of the battle, part of the rear is 
added, the front of those that are added being placed in the same line with 
the front of the battle. 

'Ttforali;, when the wings are doubled, by bestowing the light-armed 
men under them in an embowed form ; so that the whole figure resembles 
a threefold door. 

"Ev-r«|/?, tfugivrafys, or vaoffivrufys , the placing together of different 
sorts of soldiers, as when light-armed men are ordered to fill up void 
spaces between the heavy-armed companies. 

UaoipfioXri is distinguished from the former, as denoting the completion 
of vacant spaces in the files by soldiers of the same sort. 

'ETaya/y*? is a continued series of battalions in marches, drawn up after 
the same form behind one another, so that the front of the latter is ex- 
tended to the rear of the former: whence this term is sometimes taken for 
the rhetorical figure inductio, where certain consequences are inferred, 
in a plain and evident method, from the concession of some antecedents. 1 

Uagxywyh differs herein from ivrayuyh, that the phalanx proceeds in a 
wing, not by file, but by rank, the leaders marching, not directly in the 
front, but on one side; when towards the left, it was called simv/xog <r«£«- 
yeayy; when towards the right, vraooLywyri. 

''Etfa.yuyvt and Kapaywyh are distinguished into four sorts; for when 
they expected the enemy, and marched on prepared for him only on one 
side, they were called iirayuyh, or vrxpozyuyh ju,ovo-7rX&upo$' when on two 
sides, $i*?Lto0o$' when on three, r^icrktuaos' when every side was ready for 
an assault, titpo.<^x%uoo5. 

The motions of the soldiers at their officers' command were termed 

TCXlffUg. 

KXtffis \ri Yoou, to the right; because they managed their spears with 
their right hands. 



) Aristot. Topic, i- Quintif. v. 10. Cicero. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



481 



! E^a.votzXitrt; 9 the retrograde motion. 

KXia-is W a.fftf'ihc/,, to the left, for their bucklers were held in their left 
hands. 

MsrajSaXw is a double turn to the same hand, whereby their backs were 
turned on what before lay to their faces. There were two sorts of it: 

1. MivafioXh W OVDU.V, whereby they turned from front to rear, which 
is termed ol^a, so that their backs were toward their enemies ; whence it 
is called pzrotfioXyi u.7ro tcov TToXspicov. It was always effected by turning 
to the right. 

2. MzrccfioXr, aor' oboocg, or \<ff\ vroXifttcov, from rear to front, whereby 
they turned their faces to their enemies, by moving twice to the left. 

'EvrtffrgoQ*!, when the whole battalion, close joined man to man, made 
one turn either to the right or left. 

'AvarrgoQh is opposed to itntrrgcxph, being the return of such a battalion 
to its former station. 

YltQiff'xa.o-fjt.o;, a double iirtffr£6<pn, whereby their backs were turned to 
the place of their faces, the front being transferred to the place of the 
rear. 

'Exfrs^ftraf/Ko?, a treble \tfiffr^o(pY\, or three wheelings. 

E/? o^ov GLtfobouvtzi, or Itf h^Qov tt.<xoxo!,ra.<rrn<r<x.ij to turn about to the 
places they were in at first. 

'EgsA/y^aV, 'E'^iXta-ju.o:, or 'E%iXi%i;, countermarch, whereby every 
soldier, one marching after another, changed the front for the rear, or one 
flank for another; whence there are two sorts of countermarches, x«<ra 
Xo%ov$ f and Hu.ro. ^vyu, one by files, the other by ranks ; both are farther 
divided into three sorts : 

1. 'EfyXtypo; Mxz^mv zxroc, >J%ovs, invented by the Macedonians, was 
thus: first, the leaders of the files turned to the right or left about; then 
the next rank passed through by them on the same hand, and being come 
into the distant spaces, placed themselves behind the leaders of their files, 
then turned about their faces the same way. In like manner the third 
rank after them, with the fourth, and all the rest, till the bringers up were 
last, and had turned about their faces, and again taken the rear of the 
battle. Hereby the army was removed into the ground before the front, 
and the faces of the soldiers turned backward. This appeared like a re- 
treat, and was for that reason laid aside by Philip of Macedon, who used 
the following motion in its stead: 

2. 'E^tXiyfAos Aazwv zocrk Xo%ovg, invented by the Lacedaemonians, w r as 
contrary to the former ; that took up the ground before the phalanx, this 
the ground behind it, and the soldiers' faces turned the contrary way : in 
that the motion was from rear to front, in this from front to rear. iElian' 
describes it two ways: one was, when the bringers up first turned about 
their faces, the next rank likewise turning their faces, began the counter- 
march, every man placing himself directly before his bringer up; the 



1 Tact xxviii. cum Binghamii notis, 

2 s 



482 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



third did the like, and so the rest, till the rank and file leaders were 
first. The other method was when the leaders of files began the counter- 
march, every one in their files following them orderly ; hereby they were 
brought nearer to their enemies, and represented a charge. 

3. '~E£ ) i\i r yph Uigo-izog, or Konrizo;> Kara. Xo%ov$, was used by the Per- 
sians and Cretans; it was sometimes termed x°i l " ilai '> because managed 
like the Grecian Chori, which, being ordered into files and ranks, like 
soldiers in battle-array, and moving forward towards the brink of the stage, 
when they could pass no further, retired, one through the ranks of another; 
the whole chorus all the time maintaining the same space of ground they 
were before possessed of; wherein this countermarch differed from the two 
former, in both which the phalanx changed its place. 

'EliXtypo; Kara Quyk, countermarch by rank, was contrary to counter- 
march by file : in the countermarch by file, the motion was in the depth 
of the battalia, the front moving toward the rear, or the rear toward the 
front, and succeeding into each other's place: in this the motion was in 
length of the battalia flank-wise, the wing either marching into the midst, 
or quite through to the opposite wing; in doing this, the soldiers that 
stood last in the flank of the wing moved first to the contrary wing, the 
rest of every rank following in their order. It was likewise performed 
three ways: 

1. The Macedonian countermarch began its motion at the corner of the 
wing nearest the enemies, upon their appearing at either flank, and re- 
moved to the ground on the side of the contrary wing, so resembling a 
flight. 

2. The Lacedemonian countermarch, beginning its motions in the wing 
farthest distant from the enemy, seized the ground nearest to them, 
whereby an onset was represented. 

3. The Chorean countermarch maintained its own ground, only remov- 
ing one wing into the other's place. 

AivrXxcr id ecu is to double or increase the battalia, which was effected two 
ways. Sometimes the number of their men was augmented, remaining 
still upon the same space of ground ; sometimes the soldiers, continuing 
the same in number, were so drawn out by thinning their ranks, or files, 
that they took up a much larger space than before. Both these augmen- 
tations of men, or ground, being made either in length or depth, occa- 
sioned four sorts of ^ivrXoMricctrpo), which were made by counter- 
marches : 

1. Ai^Xxa-ixtrfAos ocvh^&iv Ka.ro, (^vya } or xa.ro. pwxos, when fresh men 
were inserted into ranks, the length of the battalia being still the same, 
but the soldiers drawn up closer and thicker than before. 

2. AiTXacrjatrftog avo^ouv Kara Xo%ou;, or Kara $0,605, was when the files 
were doubled, their ground being of no larger extent than before, by rang- 
ing them close to one another. 

3. AtftXao-iao-fAos rovrou Kara. Z,vya, or koto. p.nxof when the length of 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



483 



the battalia was increased, without the accession of new forces, by placing 
the soldiers at greater distances from one another. 

4. AivrXoi<rtatr/u,o$ r'otfov jcotrk Xo%ou$, or scarce @>a.6oc, when the depth of 
ground taken up by an army was rendered greater, not by adding new 
files, but separating the old to a greater distance. 

To conclude this chapter, it may be observed, that the Greeks were 
excellently skilled in the method of embattling armies ; and maintained 
public professors, called Tuktizo), from rd<rtruv, who exercised the youth 
in this art, and rendered them expert in all the forms of battle, before they 
adventured into the field. 



CHAP. VII. 

OF THEIR MANNER OF MAKING PEACE AND DECLARING WAR, THEIR. 
AMBASSADORS, &C. 

Before the Greeks engaged in war, it was usual to publish a declaration 
of the injuries they had received, and to demand satisfaction by ambassa- 
dors ; for, however prepared or excellently skilled they were in the affairs of 
war, yet peace, if to be procured upon honourable terms, was thought more 
eligible. This custom was observed even in the most early ages, as ap- 
pears from the story of Tydeus, when Polynices was sent to compose matters 
with his brother Eteocles, king of Thebes, before he proceeded to invest 
that city. 1 Nor was the Trojan war prosecuted with so great hazard and 
loss to both parties, till these means proved ineffectual; for we learn from 
Homer that Ulysses and Menelaus were despatched on an embassy to 
Troy, to demand restitution. The same poet in another place, acquaints 
us, that their proposal was rejected by the Trojans, overruled by Anti- 
machus, a person of great repute amongst them, whom Paris had engaged 
in his party by a large sum of money.2 

Invasions without notice were looked on rather as robberies than lawful 
wars, as designed rather to spoil and make a prey of persons innocent and 
unprovided, than to repair any losses or damages sustained, which, for 
aught the invaders knew, might have been satisfied for in an easier way. 
It is therefore no wonder that the iEtolians 3 were accounted the common 
outlaws and robbers of Greece ; it being their manner to strike without 
warning, and to make war without any previous and public declaration, 
whenever they had opportunity of enriching themselves with the spoil and 
booty of their neighbours. Yet . there are not wanting instances of. wars 
begun without previous notice, even by nations of better repute for justice 
and humanity ; but this was only done upon provocations so great and ex- 
asperating, that no recompense was thought sufficient to atone for them ; 

1 Stat. Thebaic!, ii. 363. 2 Iliad. X'. 134. 3.. Polyb. iv. 

2 S 2 



484 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



whence it came to pass, that such wars were, of all others, the most bloody 
and pernicious, and were fought with excess of rage and fury ; the con- 
testing parties being resolved, if possible, to extirpate each other. 

Ambassadors were usually persons of great worth or eminent station, 
that, by their quality and deportment, they might command respect and 
'attention from their very enemies: and what injuries or affronts soever 
had been committed, yet ambassadors were held sacred by all sides. Gods 
and men were thought to be concerned to prosecute, with the utmost ven- 
geance, all injuries done to them; whence, to omit several other instances, 
we read, that the Lacedaemonians having inhumanly murdered the ambas- 
sadors of Xerxes, the gods would accept none of their oblations and sacri- 
fices, which were all found polluted with direful omens, till two noblemen 
of Sparta were sent as an expiatory sacrifice to Xerxes, to atone for the 
death of his ambassadors by their own. That emperor, indeed, gave them 
leave to return in safety, without any other ignominy than what they suf- 
fered by a severe reflection on the Spartan nation, whose barbarous cruelty 
he professed he would not imitate, however provoked by them ; yet divine 
vengeance suffered them not to go unpunished, but inflicted, what those men 
had assumed to themselves, upon their sons, who, being sent on an em- 
bassy into Asia, were betrayed into the hands of the Athenians, and by 
them put to death: which my author concludes to have been a just revenge 
from heaven for the Lacedaemonian cruelty. 1 

V/hence this holiness was conferred upon ambassadors, has been matter 
of dispute ; fabulous authors deduce it from the honour paid by the ancients 
to the xhovxic, or heralds, who were either themselves ambassadors, or 
when others were deputed to that service, accompanied them, being held 
sacred on the account of their origin, because descended from Ceryx, the 
son of Mercury, who was honoured with the same employment in heaven 
these obtained upon earth. It is true, that these men were ever had in 
great esteem, and their persons held sacred and inviolable; whence, as 
Eustathius observes, Ulysses in Homer, when cast upon foreign and un- 
known coasts, usually sends a herald to protect the men deputed to make 
discovery of the country and its inhabitants, persons of that character being 
reverenced even in barbarous nations, except some few, such as the Lses- 
trygones, or Cyclopes, in whom all sense of humanity was extinguished. 2 
They were likewise under the care and protection of Mercury, the presid- 
ing god of their occupation, and Jupiter; 3 whence Achilles calls them the 
messengers, not of men only, but of Jupiter. 4 But these honours seem 
to have been conferred upon them not so much because they were de- 
scended from Mercury (several other families to whom no such respect was 
due bearing themselves much higher on account of their origin), as upon 
account of their office, which being common to them with other ambassa- 
dors, seems to have challenged an equal reverence to both. License, 



1 Herodot. Polymn. 134. 

2 Eustati). Iliad, a'- pp. S3, 84, ei Basil. 



3 Eustath. Tlbd. p. 7-'9. 

4 Horn. Iliad, a 1 . 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 4S5 



indeed, being once granted to treat persons of that character injuriously, 
all hopes of peace and reconciliation amongst enemies must be banished 
for ever out of the world ; and therefore, in the most rude and unpolished 
ages, all sorts of ambassadors were civilly entertained, and dismissed with 
safety: whence Tydeus' lady in Statius 1 is prevailed with to let her hus- 
band go ambassador to Thebes, because that title would afford him pro- 
tection in the midst of his enemies. 

The Athenian heralds were all of one family, being descended from 
Ceryx the son of Mercury, and Pandrosus daughter to Cecrops king of 
Athens. 

The LacedEemonian heralds were all descended from Talthybius, 
Agamemnon's herald, who was honoured with a temple, and divine wor- 
ship, at Sparta. 2 

They carried in their hands a staff of laurel or olive, called xriguztov, 
round which two serpents, without their crests erected, were folded, as an 
emblem of peace and concord. 3 Instead of this, the Athenian heralds 
frequently made use of the Et^.o-t&iv/i, which was a token of peace and 
plenty, being an olive branch covered with wool, and adorned with all sorts 
of fruits of the earth. 

Kr.ovxss, heralds, are by some thought to differ from sr^/Ss/.-, ambas- 
sadors, in this ; that ambassadors were employed in treaties of peace, 
whereas heralds were sent to declare war: 4 but this distinction is not con- 
stant or perpetual, the xr^vxz; being frequently taken for persons commis- 
sioned to treat about accommodating differences, which may appear, both 
from some of the fore-cited places of Eustathius, and from several passages 
in Homer and other authors. 

Ambassadors were of two sorts, being either sent with a limited com- 
mission, which they were not to exceed, or invested with full power of 
determining matters according to their own discretion. The former were 
liable to be called in question for their proceedings ; the latter were sub- 
ject to no after-reckoning, but were wholly their own masters, and for that 
reason styled Tlenffhn? aoroxgeerdg&g, plenipotentiaries. 5 

It may be observed, that the Lacedsemonians, as in most other things 
their customs were different from the rest of the Greeks, so likewise in 
their choice of ambassadors, had this peculiarity, that for the most part they 
deputed men between whom there was no very good correspondence; 
supposing it most improbable that such persons should so far trust one an- 
other, as to conspire together against the commonwealth. For the same 
reason, it was thought a piece of policy in that state to raise dissensions 
between their kings. 6 

Their leagues were of three sorts. 1. A bare tr troth*, o-vvffnxn, ilonvy, 
a peace, whereby both parties were obliged to cease from all acts of hos- 
tility, and neither to molest one another, nor the confederates of either. 



1 Thebaid. ii. 371. 3 Plinius, xxix. 3. 

2 Herod. Ice cit. Puns. Lacon. 4 Suidas. 

2 s 3 



5 Vide Archae. nostr. i. 13. 
b Aiist. Politic, ii. 



436 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



2. 'Esr/^a^/a, whereby they obliged themselves to assist one another in 
case they should be invaded. 

3. iv(AfAcc^ia f whereby they covenanted to assist one another as well 
when they made invasions upon others, as when themselves were invaded, 
and to have the same friends and enemies. 1 

All these covenants were solemnly confirmed by mutual oaths: 2 and 
that the parties might lie under a greater obligation to preserve them in- 
violate, we find it customary to engrave them upon tables, which they fixed 
up at places of general concourse, that all the world might be witnesses 
of their justice and fidelity. Thus we find the articles of treaty between 
Athens and Sparta not only published in those cities, but at the places 
where the Olympian, Pythian, and Isthmian games were celebrated. 3 
Others exchanged certain tessera, in Greek avpfioXa., which might be 
produced on any occasion as evidences of the agreement. The covenant 
itself was also called by the same name. 4 Farther, to continue the re- 
membrance of mutual agreements fresh in their minds, it was not uncom- 
mon for states thus united, interchangeably to send ambassadors, who, on 
some appointed day, when the people assembled in great numbers, should 
openly repeat, and by mutual consent confirm their former treaty. This 
we find practised by the Athenians and Spartans after their fore-mentioned 
league, the Spartan ambassadors presenting themselves at Athens upon 
the festival of Bacchus, and the Athenians at Sparta on the festival of 
Hyacinthus. 

Their manner of declaring war was to send a herald, who bade the 
persons who had injured them to prepare for an invasion, and scmetimes, 
in token of defiance, cast a spear towards them. The Athenians fre- 
quently let loose a lamb into their enemies' territories ; signifying there- 
by, that what was then a habitation for men should be laid waste and deso- 
late, and become a pasture for sheep. 3 Hence a*va yrPofiaXXuv came to 
be a proverbial phrase for entering into a state of war. 

This was rarely done without the advice and encouragement of the 
gods ; the soothsayers, and all sorts of diviners were consulted, the oracles 
enriched with presents, and no charge or labour spared to engage heaven 
(so they imagined) to their party: instances of this kind are almost as 
common as the declarations of war, which was never undertaken before 
the gods had been consulted about the issue. Nor was the verdict of a 
single deity thought sufficient ; but in wars of great moment and conse- 
quence, on which the safety of their country and liberties depended, they 
had recourse to the whole train of prophetical divinities, soliciting all with 
earnest prayers lifted up to heaven on the wings of costly offerings and 
magnificent presents, to favour them with wholesome counsel. A remark- 
able example of this we have in Croesus, before he declared war against 
the Persians ; when not content with the answers of his own gods, and all 



1 Sutidas. 

2 Lib. iire. 



3 Thucyd. de Eello Pelopon. 5 Diogenian. Collect. Pior. 

4 Hurj ocriitioms Sv^eXoy. Suidas, &c. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



437 



the celebrated oracles in Greece, in consulting which he had profusely 
lavished vast quantities of treasure, he despatched ambassadors as far as 
Libya laden with wealth, to ask advice of Jupiter Amnion. 1 

When they were resolved to begin the war, it was customary to offer 
sacrifices, and make large vows to be paid upon the success of their enter- 
prise. Thus, when Darius invaded Attica, Callimachus made a vow to 
Minerva, that if she would vouchsafe the Athenians victory, he would 
sacrifice upon her altars as many he-goats as should equal the number of 
the slain among their enemies. Nor was this custom peculiar to Greece, 
but frequently practised in most other countries: many instances occur in 
the histories of Rome, Persia, &c. The Jews used the same method to 
engage the divine favour, as may appear from Jephthah's vow, when he 
undertook to be captain over Israel against the Ammonites. 2 

After all these preparations, though the posture of affairs appeared never 
so inviting, it was held no less impious than dangerous to march against 
their enemies till the season favoured their enterprise ; for being extremely 
superstitious in the observation of omens and days, till those became for- 
tunate, they durst not make any attempts upon their enemies. An eclipse 
of the moon, or any other of those they esteemed unlucky accidents, was 
enough to deter them from marching: and if all other things promised 
success, yet they deferred their expedition till one of the days they looked on 
as fortunate invited them to it. The Athenians could not be persuaded to 
march Ivros ij&epute, before the seventh; 3 which gave occasion to the pro- 
verb, whereby persons who undertook any business unseasonably, and 
before the proper time, were said to do it hrh IjS^???. 4 But the Lace- 
dremonians were of all others the most nice and scrupulous in these obser- 
vations ; their lawgiver having commanded them to pay a critical and in- 
violate obedience to the celestial predictions, and to regulate all their pro- 
ceedings, as well in civil as military aflairs, by the appearance of the hea- 
venly bodies ; amongst the rest they were obliged, by a particular precept, 
never to march before the full moon ; 5 for that planet was believed to have 
a particular influence upon their affairs, to bless them with success, when 
itself was in the height of its splendour, but till it was arrived there, to 
neglect, or suffer them to be blasted for want of power to send assistance. 
So constant a belief of this they had entertained, that the greatest neces- 
sity could not prevail upon them to alter their measures; for, when the 
Athenians were in danger of falling into the hands of Darius, and sent to 
implore their assistance, they agreed indeed to send them a supply of men, 
but, rather than march before full moon, forced them to run the hazard of 
a decisive battle, and with a very small force to encounter a hundred thou- 
sand Medians. 6 



1 Herodotus, i. 

2 A. Ju.ucua 1 , %\. 30. 



3 Aristoph. Sch. Eq. Hesvch. 

4 Zen- b. Cent. iii. Prov. 79. 



5 Luciamis Astro' og. 
(j Herodotus, vi. 



488 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. VIII. 

OF THEIR CAMPS, GUARDS, WATCHES, AND MILITARY COURSE OF LIFE. 

Of the form of the Grecian camps nothing exact and constant can be 
delivered, that beiDg not always the same, but varied, as the custom or 
humour of different states, or the conveniences of place and time required. 
The Lacedaemonians, indeed, are said to have been prescribed a constant 
method of building towns and encamping, by their lawgiver, who thought 
a spherical figure the best fitted for defence which was contrary to the 
custom of the Romans, whose camps were quadrangular: but all forms of 
that sort were rejected by Lycurgus, the angles being neither fit for ser- 
vice, nor defensible, unless guarded by a river, mountain, wall, or some 
such fortification. It is farther observable of the Lacedaemonians, that 
they frequently moved their camps, being accustomed vigorously to prose- 
cute all their enterprises, impatient of delays and tedious procrastinations, 
and utterly averse from passing their time without action: wherefore the 
reason of this being demanded of Lycurgus, he replied, 4 it was that they 
might do greater damage to their enemies.'" 2 To which Xenophon adds 
a second, ' that they might give more early relief to their friends.' 3 

Of the rest of the Grecian camps it may be observed, that the most 
valiant of the soldiers were placed at the extremities, the rest in the mid- 
die; that the stronger might be a guard to the weaker, and sustain the 
first onsets, if the enemy should endeavour to force their entrenchments. 
Thus, we find Achilles and Ajax posted at the ends of the Grecian camp 
before Troy, as bulwarks on each side of the other princes, who had their 
tents in the middle. 4 

When they designed to continue long in their encampments, they con- 
trived a place where altars were erected to the gods, and all parts of divine 
service solemnly performed : in the same place public assemblies were 
called together, when the general had any thing to communicate to Ins 
soldiers; and courts of justice were held, wherein all controversies among 
the soldiers were decided, and criminals sentenced to punishment: this 
custom was as ancient as the Trojan war, and is mentioned by Homer. 5 

When they vy^ere in danger of having their camp attacked, it was usual 
to fortify it with a trench and rampart, or wall, on the sides of which they 
erected turrets not unlike those upon the walls of cities, out of which they 
annoyed their enemies with massive weapons. Thus, the Grecians in 
Homer were forced to defend themselves in the ninth year of the Trojan 
war, when Achilles refused to assist them: whereas, till that time, they had 
wanted no fortifications, but immured the Trojans within their own walls. 

1 Xenoph. de Repub. Laced. 4 Horn. B. 222. Item Soph. 5 Iliad. X'. 806. 

2 Plut. A F ophtheg. Laconic. Ajax, ejus. Schol. Triclinius, 4. 6 Iliad. v '. 436. 

3 Loco citato. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



489 



The manner of living in camps depended upon the disposition of their 
generals, some of which allowed their soldiers all sorts of excess and de- 
bauchery; others obliged them to the strictest rules of temperance and 
sobriety; a remarkable instance whereof we have in Philip of Macedon, 
who, as Polybius reports, condemned two of his soldiers to banishment for 
no other offence, than because he had found them with a singing-woman 
in his camp. But the Grecian discipline was not always so severe and 
and rigid, as may appear from Plutarch, 1 who tells us that the Lacedae- 
monians alone, of all the Greeks, had no stage-players, no jugglers, no 
dancing or singing-women attending them, but were free from all sorts of 
debauchery and looseness, of gaudy pomp and foppery ; the young men, 
when commanded nothing by their general, were always employed in 
some exercise or manly study; the old were busied in giving instructions, 
or receiving them from persons more skilful than themselves; and their 
leisure hours were diverted with their usual drollery, and rallying one an- 
other facetiously after the Laconic fashion: yet their lawgiver allowed 
them greater liberty in the camp than at other times, to invite them to 
serve with delight in the wars; for whilst they were in the field, their 
exercises were more moderate than at home, their fare not so hard, nor so 
strict a hand kept over them by their governors ; so that they were the 
only people in the world to whom war gave repose. They were likewise 
allowed to have costly arms and fine clothes, and frequently perfumed 
themselves and curled their hair: whence we read, that Xerxes was 
struck with admiration, when the scouts brought him word, the Lacedae- 
monian guards were at gymnical sports, and curling their hair. 2 It was 
also customary at Athens for horsemen to nourish their hair. 3 The cus- 
tom seems to have been derived from the primitive times, there being 
scarce any expression so frequent in Homer as that of xccgyxoftocovns 
'A%xtcL Afterwards, Cyneas and Phrynus, besides several other changes 
in the Athenian discipline of soldiers, procured a law to be enacted, 
which forbade them xofjcxv xcci ufioohixirovs iTvur to nourish their hair and 
to live delicately.^ 

Their guards may be distinguished into $vXa.xoii TiyLi^ou and wxr&oivcc'r 
the first were upon duty by day, the other by night. At several hours 
in the night, certain officers called TiotvroXoi, did Ki^wo'kiiv, ivalk round 
the camp, and visit the watch ; to try whether any of them were asleep, 
they had a little bell, termed xcobav, at the sound of which the soldiers 
were to answer: 5 whence, to go this circuit, was called kooSuvi&iv, and 

Hence also xcohajvl^ziv is used for srs^a^/v, to try, or prove y 6 and 

] Cleom. p. 810, ed. Paris, et 3 Aristoph. Nubibus. act. i. sc. 5 Suidas. 
Lyr»irgo. 1, and Equitibus, act. iii. sc. 2. 6 Aristoph. Bjrpajotc. 

2Heroi jt. vu. 208, et 201'. i Aristoph. SchoL ad Equites. 



490 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



^eovia-roi for um'toatrro;, untried, or unproved. 1 This custom furnished 
Brasidas with an advantage against Potidsea in the Peloponnesian war: for 
having observed the sounding of the bell to be over, he took his opportu- 
nity, helbre tin bell's return, to set up ladders in an unguarded place of 
the wall, and so entered the city. 2 

The Laced seinonian watch were not permitted to have their bucklers, 
that, being unable to defend themselves, they might be more cautious how 
they fell asleep. 3 

The rest of the Spartan soldiers were obliged to take their rest armed, 
that they might be prepared for battle upon any alarm. 4 

It may be farther observed of the Spartans, that they kept a double 
watch: one within their camp, to observe their allies, lest they should 
make a sudden defection ; the other upon some eminence, or other place, 
whence there was a good prospect, to watch the motions of their ene- 
mies. 5 

How often the guards were relieved doth not appear ; as neither whether 
it was done at set and constant times, or according to the commander's 
pleasure; (pvkuKy, indeed, which signifies a watch, is frequently taken for 
the fourth part of the night, answering to the Roman vigilicB, as appears 
from several places of the New Testament, as well as other authors. But 
it seems to have this signification rather from the Roman than the Gre- 
cian watches, those being changed four times every night, that is, every 
third hour, computing the night from six to six, or rather from sun to 
sun, for the time between the two suns was divided into twelve equal 
parts, which were not always the same, like our hours, but greater or less, 
according to the season of the year: and are therefore, by astronomers, 
termed unequal and planetary hours. 



CHAP. IX. 

•OF THEIR BATTLES, THE GENERAL'S HARANGUES, THE SACRIFICES, MUSIC, 
SIGNALS, ENSIGNS, THE WORD, AND WAY OF ENDING WARS BY SINGLE 
COMBAT, &C. 

Before they joined battle, the soldiers always refreshed themselves with 
victuals, eating and drinking plentifully: of this custom, with its reasons, 
Homer gives a full account in the elegant oration of Ulysses to Achil- 
les, where he advises the young general by no means to lead out his army 
fasting. 6 The Romans also thought this a preparative absolutely neces- 
sary, and never omitted it before engagements. 7 



1 Aristoph. Lysistrate. torn, Chiliad, ix. Hist. 276. 

2 Thucydides, iv. 4 Xenophon. 

3 Tzetzes alludes to this cus- 5 Ibid. 



6 Iliad, t'. 155. 
? Li v. ix. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



491 



The commanders then marshaled the army in order of battle, an art 
iti which the Greeks were far inferior to the Romans; for drawing up their 
whole army, as it were, iiito one front, they trusted the success of the day 
to a single force: whereas the Romans, ranging their hastati, principes, 
and triarii, in distinct bodies behind one another, were able, after the de- 
feat of their first body, twice to renew the battle, and could not be entirely 
routed till they had lost three several victories. Yet something not unlike 
this we find practised as long since as the Trojan war, where old Nestor is 
said to have placed a body of horse in the front ; behind these the most 
infirm of the foot; and, last of all, such of them as surpassed the rest in 
strength and valour: 1 

'IirTT^jj n'sv vpwTa aiiv imroiTiv ical S^ec^t, The horse and chariots to the front assign'd ; 

Jle^ovs 6' t%6wt9ev -j-rTivev 7roXeaf ts, Kal ^eXoiij, The foot, the strength of war, he rang'd behind; 
"Ep*oj sfiev ttoXenoio' kcikovs ej pkacov sAao-o-sv, The middle space suspected troops supply, 
*0<p[,a kjlI ovk h9iXo>v n$ avayKaly iro\e/*li;y. Inclosed by both, nor left the power to fly. 

The reverend Nestor ranks his Pylian bands, POPE. 

Where, though some interpret to vrgurov and ro otfifev, of the right and 
left wings, and others several other ways, yet the most natural and genuine 
sense of the poet seems to be, that they were drawn up behind one an- 
other.2 

At this time the general macle an oration to his soldiers, in which he 
exhorted them, with ail the motives suitable on such occasions, to exert 
their utmost force and vigour against the enemy: and so wonderful was 
the success that attended these performances, that many times when affairs 
were in a declining and almost desperate condition, the soldiers, animated 
with fresh life and courage, have instantly retrieved them, and repulsed 
those very enemies by whom themselves had before been defeated : several 
of these instances may be found in the Grecian and Roman histories, few 
of which are more remarkable than that of Tyrtseus, the lame Athenian 
poet, to whom the command of the Spartan army was given by the advice 
of an oracle in one of the Messenian wars: the Spartans had at that time 
suffered great losses in many encounters, and all their stratagems had 
proved ineffectual., so that they began to despair almost of success, when 
the poet, by his lectures of honour and courage, delivered in moving verse 
to the army, ravished them to such a degree with the thoughts of dying 
for their country, that, rushing on with a furious transport to meet their 
enemies, they gave them an entire overthrow, and v> 'bykone decisive battle 
put a happy conclusion to the war. 3 

Before they ventured to meet the enemy, they endeavoured by prayers, 
sacrifices, and vows, to engage heaven to their assistence ; and they sang 
a hymn to Mars, called tfatccv ifi^otrr^ms, as that sung to Apollo after a 
prosperous battle was termed ^iv Wmiues* The Lacedaemonians had 
a peculiar custom of sacrificing to the Muses, which was either designed 
to soften and mollify their passionate transports, it being their custom to 



1 Iliad. 6'. 297. 

2 Plutarch, lib. de Homero. 



3 Pausan Messenicis, Dlod. Sic. xv. Justin, iii. 

4 Thucydidis Schol. i. &c. 



492 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



enter the battle calm and sedate, 1 or to animate them to perform noble 
and heroic exploits, deserving to be transmitted by those goddesses to 
posterity. 2 The soothsayers inspected all the sacrifices, to presage the 
. success of the battle ; and, till the omens proved favourable, they rather 
chose tamely to resign their lives to the enemy than to defend themselves. 
The Spartans, especially, were above measure addicted to this supersti- 
tion: for, in the famous battle at Platsea. when Mardonius, the Persian 
general, had fallen upon the Grecians, Pausanias the Spartan, who at that 
time commanded the Grecian army, offering sacrifice, found it not accepta- 
ble to the gods, and thereupon commanded his Lacedaemonians, laying 
down their bucklers at their feet, patiently to abide his commands ; the 
priests offered one sacrifice after another, but all without success, the bar- 
barians all the time charging upon them, and wounding and slaying them 
in their ranks, till at length Pausanias, turning himself towards the tem- 
ple, with hands lifted up to heaven, and tears in his eyes, besought Juno 
of Cithseron, and the rest of the tutelary deities of the Platceans, that if the 
Fates would not favour the Greeks with victory, they would grant at 
least, that by some remarkable exploit they might demonstrate to their 
enemies that they waged war with men of true courage and bravery. 
These prayers were no sooner finished than the sacrifices appeared propi- 
tious, the signal was given, and they fell with such resolution upon the 
Persians, that in a short time they entirely defeated their whole army. 3 

Their signals are commonly divided into a-vpfiaXei, and ir-vfiiTx, which 
words sometimes indeed are used promiscuously, but in propriety of speech 
are distinguished. 

2y^/3eAa, were of two kinds, either <p&)viza, or I^cltu., i. e. pronounced 
by the mouth, or visible to the eye. The first are termed <ryv^sa<ra, the 
latter •zct.^u.crvvQYifAu.'ra,. 

'ZuvfafAct, in Latin tessera, the word, communicated by the general to 
the subordinate officers, by them to the whole army, as a mark of distinc- 
tion to know friends from enemies. 4 It commonly contained some good 
omen, or the name of some deity worshipped by their country or general, 
and from whom they expected success in their enterprises. Cyrus, for 
example, used Ziv; ffv^fjcc&^o?, hyzpav, or trour^o; 5 Cassar, Venus genetrLvf 
Augustus, Apollo:! but this custom often proved of fatal and pernicious 
consequence ; for by frequently questioning one another, they bred con- 
fusion among themselves, and, which was no less dangerous, discovered 
the word to the enemies ; as we find happening in the fight between the 
Athenians and the Syracusans, spoken of by Thucydides ; 8 it became like- 
wise the occasion of several mischievous stratagems, one of which we find 
practised by an Arcadian captain in a war with Lacedsemon ; when en- 
gaging in the night, all the tessera he gave his soldiers was, that they 
should forthwith kill whoever demanded the word; whereby they easily 



1 Plutarch, irspl aopyrjala^, 

2 Idem Lycunro. 

3 Idem Aristide. 



4 Glossographi. 

5 Xenoph. Kipov Tlait. vii. 

6 Appianus Bell. Civil, ii. 



7 Valerius Maximus, i. 5. 

8 Lib. vii. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



493 



distinguished and slew the Spartans, themselves being undiscovered, and 
therefore secure. 1 

Uccoacrvv^f^a, was a visible character of distinction, as nodding their 
heads, waving their hands, clashing their weapons, or such like. 2 

I'/ipua. were ensigns, or flags, the elevat'on whereof was a signal to join 
battle, the depression to desist. 3 Of these there were different sorts, 
several of which were adorned with images of animals, or other things 
bearing peculiar relations to the cities they belonged to: the Athenians, 
for instance, bore an owl in their ensigns, 4 as being sacred to Minerva, 
the protectress of their city ; the Thebans a sphinx, 5 in memory of the 
famous monster overcome by (Edipus. The Persians paid divine honours 
to the sun. and therefore represented him in their ensigns. 6 

The ffwuov was frequently a purple coat upon the top of a spear, as 
appears from Conon's in Polyssnus, and Cleomenes' in Plutarch: nor was 
it uncommon to use other colours ; Polybius, speaking of the fight between 
Antigonus and Cleomenes, 7 tells us £ that the Illyrians, having orders to 
begin the battle, were to receive a signal by a white flag, that should be 
spread from the nearest post to Olympus; but the signal to be given by 
the Megalopolitans and the cavalry was a purple coat, which was to be 
advanced in the air where Antigonus himself was posted/ 

The ancient Grecian signals were lighted torches thrown from both 
armies by men called wgtpogoi, or crvgoQogot, who were priests of Mars, 
and therefore held inviolable ; and having cast their torches, had safe re- 
gress;8 whence of battles fought with transport of fury, wherein no quar- 
ter was given, it was usual to say olV o vrugtyogog la-wQy, not so much as a 
torch-bearer escaped. To this custom there are frequent allusions in 
Greek and Latin poets. 9 

These being laid aside, shells of fishes succeeded, which they sounded 
in the manner of trumpets, which in those days were not invented. 10 
Hence Theognis' riddle may easily be interpreted: 

"K5t7 yap ixe.K£K\riKs SaXarTtoj olVafo vs*poy, A sea inhabitant, with living month, 

TeOvij/cws ?cow <peeyy6fj.tvos arofj-ari. Spoke to me to go home, though it was dead. 

Triton's shell-trumpet is famous in poetical story. 11 And most of the 
poets mention this custom in their description of the primitive wars. 12 
Thus Lycophron, speaking of the Trojan war: 13 

Kal 6h Karateei yalav opxjjcrTris" Apv>Si Twining" and circling into various rounds; 

l?apxa>v vdfjiov. Thus was the land laid waste, thus rag'd the fi tjt 

Great Mars, that nimble god of war, god. 
Invigorates the youth by sound of shell, 

Where, though the scholiast falls foul upon the poet for introducing 
shells at a time when trumpets were in use, which he tells us may be 
made appear from Homer; yet in this he seems to be too audacious, for it 

1 Polyajnus, i. 6 Curtius, iii. Stat. Thebaic!, iv. 5 ; Claudian 

2 Onosander Strateg. 26. 7 Fine, ii. de Raptu Proserpinae, i. 

3 Suid. Thucyd. Schol. i. 8 Euripid. Schol. Phcenissis, 10 Tzetzes in Lycophron. 250. 

4 Plutarch. Lysandro. Lycophrun. Schol. 250, aiiique 11 Ovid. Metamorph. i. 

5 Idem. Pelopida ; Cornelius plures. 12 Theocrit. Idyll. «/3' '. 75. 
Nepos, Epaminonda. 9 Lycophron. Cassandra, 1295; 13 Cassandra, 249. 

2t 



494 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



is observable, 1 that, though Homer mentions trumpets, they never make 
any part of the description of his heroic battles, but only furnish him 
with a simile, or allusion. 2 Whence it may be presumed, that trumpets 
were indeed used in Homer's time, but were then only a late invention, 
and not so ancient as the Trojan war. Virgil indeed appears to give 
some countenance to Tzetzes' opinion, when he speaks of Misenus, whom 
he makes to have served Hector in the Trojan war, and afterwards iEneas, 
in the office of a trumpeter. 4 But, in the passage referred to, the brazen 
trumpet and lituus are taken from the practice of the poet's own age, by a 
figure familiar to men of his profession ; for Misenus was never acquainted 
with so rare a contrivance ; and though we find him so proud of his art, 
as to challenge the gods of the sea, yet it was not to a contention on the 
trumpet, but on a shell, the instrument used by these deities: whence the 
same poet, who may be supposed to be the best interpreter of his own 
words, speaks thus: 

Sed turn furte, cava dum personat cequora concha But while the daring mortal, o"er the flood, 
Demens, et cantu vocat in certamina divos, Rais'd his high notes, and challenged every god, 

JEmulus exception Triton, si credere dignum est, With envy Triton heard the noble strain, 
Inter saxa virion spumosa immersai undo.. And whelm'd the bold musician in the main. PITT. 

Nevertheless, in the more eastern countries, trumpets were used several 
ages before. They are several times mentioned in the sacred history of 
the Jews, whose priests' office it was to sound the alarm upon that in- 
strument. 5 

There were six several sorts of trumpets, 6 and hence the disagreement 
in ancient writers concerning the first author of the invention ; it being 
common for them to ascribe to the inventor of any one sort, the honour of 
the first contrivance. 

1. The first trumpet was contrived by Minerva, the patroness of almost 
all arts and useful inventions ; and hence she was honoured with the title 
of 2aX$ny{;. 7 Under this name she was worshipped in a temple dedicated 
to her at Argos: 8 but Pausanias is rather of opinion that this trumpet was 
the invention of Tyrrhenus, one of the sons of Hercules, whose son Hege- 
laus (having communicated it to a party of Dorians, the subjects of Te- 
menus) in memory of the invention, and from gratitude to the goddess, 
gave her this surname. 9 2. The second was the Egyptian trumpet, called 
Xvoun, the contrivance of Osiris: it was round, and was used at sacrifices 
to call the people together. 10 3. The third was invented in Gallia Celtica, 
where it was termed *«£vi/|: it gave a very shrill sound, but was not 
very large: it was cast in a mould, and had its mouth adorned with the 
figure of some animal. They had a pipe of lead, through which they blew 
into the trumpet when they sounded. 4. The fourth was first used in 
Paphlagonia, and was called (hb'ivo(, from (hov$, the figure of an ox upon its 

1 Eustathius Iliad. 5 Numer. xxxi. 9 Paus. Corin. Vide commen- 

2 As in the place cited by 6 Eustath. II. a', p. 1189, ed. tarium nostrum in Lycoph. ver. 
Tzetzes. Iliad. 219. Basil. 915. 

3 Schol. in Iliad, a'. 219. Iliad. 7 Lycophr. Cassand. ver. 915. 10 Eustath. loc. cit. idem dein- 
4>'. 3S8. 8 Hesycb. Phavorin, Eustath. ceps videndus. 

4 iEneid. vi. 163. loc. cit. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



495 



Q pfl&jr/*' 'Adava; 0iXTaT77f cpol $euv 
Ye accents of Minerva, of the gods 
Most friendly- to me ! Well, Qui 



orifice: it had a deep bass sound. 5. The fifth was invented in Media, 
had also a deep note, and was sounded by the help of a pipe composed of 
reeds. 6. The sixth was called <r«X?ry/| Tvppwxvi, because invented by 
the Tyrrhenians, from whom it was communicated to the Greeks by 
Archoudas, who came to assist the Heraclidte, or posterity of Hercules. 1 
Others attribute the first contrivance of it to Tyrrhenus, the son of Her- 
cules.2 Its orifice was cleft, and sent forth an exceedingly loud and shrill 
sound, not unlike the Phrygian flute, whence it became of all trumpets 
the most proper for engagements: Ulysses compares to it the voice of the 
goddess Minerva: 3 

Thy voice, though thou not seen, it strikes my 

sense 

Clear as the Tuscan trumpet's brass-tun'd notes. 

POTTER. 

On which passage the scholiast observes, that Minerva's voice is likened 
to the Tyrrhenian trumpet, because it was easily known by its loudness, 
as that trumpet excelled all others, and was at the first hearing easy to be 
distinguished from them. 

These were the most common and remarkable trumpets ; others may 
occur in authors, such as the Lybian mentioned by Suidas, and by one of 
the scholiasts of Sophocles, 4 but they were of less note, and were not so 
frequently used. 

Several other instruments 
were used in sounding 
alarms: as, the ffvyy?, or 
pipe, in Arcadia ; the vrviz- 
t is, sometimes termed ^a- 
yah;, in Sicily. 5 The 
Cretans were called to bat- 
tle by the sound of ocbko), 
or flutes f> or, as others al- 
lege, by that of citherte, 
lutes, or violins: 1 but as most of the ancient writers affirm, by the sound 
of lyrcE, or harps, 8 which Plutarch tells us, were not laid aside for many 
ages : 9 the person that sounded the alarm, was called by the Cretans "figios, 
and by others ifivxrhg™ from a sort of trumpet called ijSi/g. ■ 

The Lacedaemonians were particularly remarkable for beginning their 
engagements with a concert of flutes. 11 When the reason of this practice 
was demanded of Agesilaus, he replied, ' that it was to distinguish 
cowards;' such being unable, by reason of their consternation, to keep 





Fig. 1. in the above cuts, represents the av\ol, or flutes. 

Fig. 2. The vvoiy't, or Arcadian pipe^ rained also Pandean reed. 

7 A. Gellius, i. 2. Marti an us tensions cifantur. item Xenoph. 
Capella, ix. Maximus Tyrius Dissert, xii. et. 

8 Clemens, loc. citat. Athens, xxi. Ouimilian. i. 16. Thucyd. 
xii. 14. Eustath. ad Hi; d. ^ 

9 Lib. de Musica. 

10 Hesych. 

11 Idem Auctores. qui de Cre- 

2 t 2 



1 Soph. Schol. Ajace, ver. 1 
Suidas, Diod Siculus, v. 

2 Hyginus Fab. 274. 

3 Sophocl. Ajace, ver. 16. 

4 Loco citato. 

5 Clem. Faedag. ii. 4. 

6 Polybius, iv. 



496 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



time with their feet to the music, as was their custom. This answer is 
indeed facetious, and not wholly without truth, yet seems not fully to com- 
prehend the design of this custom. Valerius Maximus is yet farther from 
the truth, and stands in direct opposition to it, when he supposes it in- 
tended to raise the courage of the soldiers, that they might begin the onset 
with greater violence and fury ; for Thucydides, with whom the rest of 
the ancient historians agree, assures us that the design of it was rather to 
render them cool and sedate, trumpets and other instruments being more 
proper to inspire with heat and rage; but these passions they thought 
rather apt to beget disorder and confusion, than to produce any noble and 
memorable actions, valour being not the effect of a sudden and vanishing 
transport, but proceeding from a settled and habitual firmness and con- 
stancy of mind ; wherefore they endeavoured, not with noise and haste, 
but with composed minds and settled countenances, to advance in a 
majestic and deliberate pace towards their enemies. 1 ' The army being 
drawn up in battle-array, and the enemy near, the king sacrificed a she- 
goat, and at the same time commanded the soldiers to adorn their heads 
with garlands, and the musicians to play on the flutes Kacr<rogiiv piko;, 
the tune of Castor's hymn; and himself, advancing forward, began the 
\f/^a,r f /i^to$ tfciiuv, or alarm; so that it was at once a delightful and terrible 
sight to see them march on, keeping pace to the tune of their flutes, with- 
out ever troubling their order, or confounding their ranks, their music 
leading them into danger cheerful and unconcerned: for men thus dis- 
posed were not likely to be possessed with fear, or transported with fury ; 
but they proceeded with a deliberate valour, full of hope and good assur- 
ance, as if some divinity had sensibly assisted them.' Maximus the Ty- 
rian attributes to this method those great successes, and numerous victories, 
which have rendered the Spartan name famous in all succeeding ages ; but 
it seems peculiarly calculated and adapted to the discipline and temper of 
that state, and scarcely ever to be imitated, till the old Lacedaemonian 
resolution and unparalleled firmness of mind shall be recalled. 

The rest of the Greeks advanced with eager haste and fury, and in the 
beginning of their onset gave a general shout, to encourage and animate 
themselves, and strike terror into their enemies: this was called aXuXxy- 
fios, from the soldiers repeating aXocXd. Suidas makes them to have cried 
also iXikid. The first author of this shout was Pan, the lieutenant-general 
of Bacchus in his Indian expedition; where, being encompassed in a 
valley with an army far superior in number, he advised the god to order 
his men in the night to give a general shout, which so surprised the oppo- 
site army, that they immediately fled from their camp ; whence it came 
to pass, that all sudden fears impressed upon men's spirits, without any 
just reason, were called by the Greeks and Romans, panic terrors. 2 

This custom seems to have been used by almost all nations, barbarous 
as w r ell as civil ; and is mentioned by all writers that treat of martial 



1 Plutarch. Lycurgo. 



2 Poiyzanus Strateg. i. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



497 



affairs. Homer has favoured us with several elegant descriptions of it. 1 
Some may infer from the beginning of his third Iliad, that this noise was 
only a barbarous custom, practised indeed by the Trojans, but laughed at 
by the more civilized Greeks. 2 But the passage is only to be understood 
of their march, as appears likewise from another passage in the fourth 
Iliad, where the poet has admirably represented the order and regular 
march of the Greeks, with the confusion and disorderly motion of the bar- 
barians. 3 And in which it is manifest he only speaks of their march ; 
because a few verses after, where he comes to describe the engagement of 
the two armies, he does it in the words before referred to: and in all 
other places he mentions the great noise and clamour of both parties in 
their encounters. 4 Nay, so necessary, and almost essential, was this 
shout to a battle, that (pvXovi;, avrh, and fioh, are used by him as equi- 
valent terms for ^c-;^, and when he commends his heroes for being fioh* 
aycctfo), he often means no more than {tu^yiv ocyudo) f excellent warriors. 
It was also one part of a good soldier's and commander's character to have 
a strong voice, not only because it was the custom to signify their orders 
by word of mouth, before trumpets were invented, but for the terror with 
which it surprised and astonished their enemies. 6 Instances of this nature 
are very frequent in Homer, where Hector, Achilles, and several others, 
strike a consternation into the adverse party with a shout; and later 
authors give this good quality its peculiar commendation: Plutarch, in 
particular, in his character of Marcus Coriolanus, the Roman general, 
observes, that he was not only dreadful to meet in the field, by reason of 
his hand and stroke, but (what he tells us Cato required in an accom- 
plished warrior) insupportable to an enemy for the very tone and accent 
of his voice, and the mere terror of his aspect. 

In the wars of the heroic ages, generals fought at the head of their 
armies, as appears in all Homer's battles; whence they are frequently 
termed T^o^cc^a and troopm, because they did rr^opa^'i^ztv too ffT^xrolt 
Jight before their armies. Thus, when he led up the Trojans: 7 

'Tpaialv pev Trgofiax^eiv 'AAegWpoj Seoeibfc. Leading the Trojans godlike Paris fought. 

And when Achilles sends out his soldiers to defend the Grecian ships, 
having allotted to the rest of his officers their several posts, he places Pa- 
troclus and Automedon, as chief commanders, before the front : s 

TlavToiv &e Trgo-rrdpotde iv' avepe 5a)p^<rj8a6o>', In front of all, two chiefs their station took, 

narpoxXdy re, nal A.vTo/j.e6uiv, era 5-i-yu.ov l^ovrsy, Patroclus and Autcxiedon ; one mind 
TipoiQsv 'b.lvg/jLiiivaiv -noXs/j.i^sfiev. In both prevail'd, to combat in the van 



In wiser ages, this practice was laid aside, and generals, considering 
how much the event of the battle depended upon the preservation of their 
persons, usually chose safer posts, and were more* cautious how they 
ventured themselves into danger. 



Of all the Myrmidons. 



COWPER. 



1 Iliad. 452. 



5 Ver. 267. 

6 Eustath. 11. p. 1S7. U. 

p. 305. IL A', p. 799, &'J. ed. 
Basil. 



7 Iliad. y '. 16. 

8 Iliad. 218. 



3 Ver. 1. 

3 Ver. 427. 

4 Ver. 276. 



2 T 3 



498 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The retreat, arid other commands, seem usually to have been sounded 
on the same instrument with which the alarm was given ; yet in those 
places where the alarm was sounded by soft and gentle music, the retreat 
and other orders were sometimes signified upon louder instruments: which 
may be observed of the Lacedaemonians, who seem to have used trumpets 
in signifying the general's orders, as appears from Polybius, 1 who reports 
that Cleomenes commanded a division of his army to change their posts 
by sound of trumpet. 

The Lacedaemonians, when their enemies fled from the field, were not 
allowed to prosecute their victory, or make long and eager pursuits after 
them: 2 while they made opposition, and were able to fight for mastery, 
they contended with invincible courage and resolution to bear them down ; 
but, when they ceased to make resistance, and yielded the day, they gave 
them liberty to provide for their safety by flight, pursuing them only a 
very short space, and that by slow and easy paces ; the reason of which 
custom Pausanias accounts for,3 from their strict and inviolate observance 
of order and discipline, which made them rather choose to let their ene- 
mies escape, than by breaking their ranks to overtake them. Plutarch's 
relation seems also rational, and well suited to the old Spartan temper: 
* That the Spartans, having routed an enemy, pursued them till they had 
completed their victory, and then sounded a retreat; thinking it base and 
unworthy of true Grecians to cut men in pieces that had ceased from re- 
sisting them, and left them the field. Which manner of dealing with those 
they had conquered, not only evinced their magnanimity and greatness of 
soul, but had a politic end in it too; for their enemies, knowing that they 
killed only those who made resistance, and gave quarter to the rest, 
generally thought it the best way to consult their safety by an early 
flight/* 

It was frequent among the ancient Greeks to put their cause upon the 
issue of a single combat, and to decide their quarrels by two or more 
champions on each side : and their kings and great commanders were so 
eager in their pursuit after glory, and so tender of the lives of their sub- 
jects, that they frequently sent challenges to their rival princes, to end 
their quarrel by a single encounter, that by the death of one of them they 
might prevent the effusion of more blood. Remarkable instances of this 
we have in Xanthus, king of Boeotia, who, challenging the king of Attica, 
was slain by him, and so ended a dangerous war between those states; 5 
and in Pittacus, the famous Mitylenian, who slew Phryno the Athenian 
general in a single combat. Ancient histories are full of such examples, 
as likewise of wars happily concluded by a small number commissioned by 
mutual agreement to decide the controversy. The Lacedaemonians furnish 
us with one memorable instance in their wars with Argos about the title 
to Thyrea, which was determined by three hundred on each side. Nor 

1 Lib. ii. prope finem. 4 Plutarch. Lycurg. Apoph- 5 Vide Archasolog. nostr. i. 20, 

2 Thucyd. v. PoJyaenus, 1. theginat. Laconic's, nepl dopyv* in 'Aiwowpt*. 

3 Messenicis. <u«y. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE- 



499 



was the conclusion of the war between the Tegeans and Pheneans, two 
small states in Arcadia, less remarkable, being effected by a combat of 
three brothers on each side, 1 all the circumstances of whose story run ex- 
actly parallel to that of the Horatii and Curiatii, so famous in Roman 
history. The eastern countries were acquainted with the same custom, 
as may appear from Goliath's challenging the Israelitish host to give him 
a man to fight with him, and the flight of the Philistines upon David's 
victory over their champion. 



CHAP. X. 

OF THEIR SIEGES AND ENGINES USED THEREIN. 

There are no traces of any siege among the primitive Greeks: their cities 
were not fortified with walls, but lay open to all invaders ; and their inha- 
bitants, once vanquished in open field, became an easy prey to the con- 
querors. Wherefore, it is not to be wondered that the people of those 
times enjoyed no fixed and settled habitations, but frequently removed 
from one part of the country to another, being forced to quit their seats 
whenever they were coveted by a power superior to their own. 2 

This moving and unsettled condition, in which they continued for some 
ages, caused them to attempt several methods to secure themselves: some 
built their cities upon the tops of inaccessible rocks and mountains, whence 
they could easily repel a greater force of enemies: others, whose situation 
was not so defensible, were driven to seek other ways for their safety ; till 
at length, some heads of no vulgar understanding brought forth an amazing 
contrivance to inclose their houses and possessions within walls. This, at 
first, was looked on as a work so wonderful, so far above human capacity, 
that the gods were frequently called from their blessed mansions to under- 
take it. The walls of Troy, to mention no more, were of divine work- 
manship, and raised by no meaner persons than Neptune and Apollo: but 
if mortals had the happiness to project and finish so great a design, they 
seldom failed of being translated to heaven, and having their names en- 
rolled among those exalted beings, to whom they were thought to make 
near approaches whilst on earth. 

And, since it was their custom to immortalize the first author of every 
little contrivance, it is no wonder that they conferred the same honours on 
those great benefactors, to whom they were indebted for the security and 
quiet possession of whatever the rest of their deities had gratified them 
with. Once, indeed, inclosed within walls, they looked upon themselves 
as safe from all assaults ; and, had not a weak opposition within been suf- 
ficient to repel much greater forces of invaders, such a town as Troy 



1 Plut. Parallelis, 



1 Thucydides, initio i. 



500 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



could never have held out ten years against a hundred thousand be- 
siegers. 

Nor were the Greeks of later ages, however renewned for knowledge 
in military affairs, very willing to undertake, or expert in managing 
sieges ; but rather chose to end their quarrels, if possible, by one decisive 
battle, than to undergo the fatigue and other incommodities of so tedious, 
so dangerous, and expensive a method. 

Of all the Greeks, the most averse from undertaking sieges, and 
the most unskilful in carrying them on to advantage, were the Lacedae- 
monians ; insomuch, that after the defeat of Mardonius at Plataea, when a 
body of Persians had taken refuge in some wooden fortifications, they could 
find no means to drive them thence, but must have been forced to retire, 
had not the Athenians and some other Greeks advanced to their assist- 
ance. 1 Indeed their lawgiver obliged them, by a special injunction, not 
easily to engage in besieging towns; and to lose their lives in such under- 
takings was accounted inglorious, and unworthy a Spartan ; thus Plutarch. 2 
speaking of Lysander's being slain before the gates of a little Boeotian 
town, called Haliartus, tells us, 1 That, like some common soldier, or one 
of the forlorn hope, he cast away his life ingioriously, giving testimony to 
the ancient Spartans that they did well to avoid storming of walls, where 
the stoutest man may chance to fall by the hand, not only of an abject fel- 
low, but of a boy or woman : as they say Achilles was slain by Paris at 
the Scsean gate of Troy. 3 Pyrrhus also, the great king of Epirus, fell by 
the hand of a woman at Argos. 4 

When they endeavoured to possess themselves of a town or castle, it 
was usual first to attempt it by storm, surrounding it with their whole 
army, and attacking it in all quarters at once, which the Greeks called 
ero&ynvev&iv, the Romans, corona cingere. When this method proved inef- 
fectual, they frequently desisted from their enterprise ; but if resolved to 
prosecute it, they prepared for a larger siege ; in carrying on which, they 
seem not to have proceeded in any constant and settled method, but to 
have varied it according to the direction of their generals, as well as the 
difference in time, place, and. other circumstances. 

When they designed to lay close siege to a place, the first thing they 
went about was x.<rorst^to , fAos i or vr-giru%ifffto$, the works of circumvalla- 
tion, which we find sometimes to have consisted of a double wall or ram- 
part, raised up of turfs, called in Greek vxUSot and vXivtia, in Latin ces~ 
pites. The interior fortification was designed to prevent sudden and 
unexpected sallies from the town, and to deprive it of all possibility of 
succour from without; the exterior, to secure them from foreign enemies 
that might come to the relief of the besieged. Thus, when the Pelopon- 
nesians invested Plataea, they raised a double wall, one towards the city 
the other towards Athens, to prevent all danger on that side : the middle 



1 Herodotus, ix. 69. 

2 Plutarch. Sjila. 



3 Homer. Iliad. 3(30. 

4 Plutarchus Pyriho, 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



501 



space, which was sixteen feet, was occupied with lodges for guards and 
sentinels, built at due distance one from another, yet so close, that at a 
distant view the whole pile appeared to be one broad wall, with turrets on 
both sides, after every tenth of which was a larger tower, extending from 
wall to wall. 

Engines were called by the ancient Greeks puyyuvct, and afterwards 
(Ar,^a.vcci. The first invention of them the Greeks claim to themselves, 
being not easily induced to allow the contrivance of any art to other na- 
tions; for it was their custom to travel into Egypt, India, and other 
eastern countries, to furnish themselves with sciences and inventions, 
which afterwards they made public in Europe, and vented as productions 
of their own ; hence was derived most of the Grecian philosophy ; and as 
iur engines used in sieges, it appears that they were invented in the east- 
ern nations many ages before Greece had the least knowledge of, or occa- 
sion for them. The times of Moses seem not to have been miacquainted 
with them ; l several of the Jewish kings likewise appear to have known 
the use of them ; whereas the Greeks, till Homer's time, are not found to 
have had the least hint of any such thing: Statius indeed carries them as 
high as the Trojan war; and speaking of the presents sent to Achilles by 
the Greeks, in order to carry on the war, reports that Pylus and Messene 
furnished him with engines to batter the walls. But the poet seems to 
have forgotten the rude and unskilful ages of this hero, and to have formed 
Iris description from the practices of his own times, since authors of better 
credit have no mention of any such thing. Homer indeed speaks of zgotr- 
ffctt, which some ancient interpreters take for x,Xtpa,)c&$, scaling ladders^. 
but it may, with no less propriety, be taken for the pinnacles of towers. 3 

Others again will have them to have been as ancient as the Theban 
war, and to have been the contrivance of Capaneus, one of the seven 
champions, the story of whose being knocked down with thunderbolts w r as 
grounded on no better a foundation, than that attempting to scale the 
walls of Thebes with ladders, he was beaten down, and slain with stones ; 
and since the contrivance is so easy and obvious, it may not be wholly 
improbable that even those ages were acquainted with it: however, the 
different sorts of ladders were invented afterwards, when some of them 
were sr;-j;sr«i, 4 plicaiiles, folded ; others ^iccXura), solutiles, to be taken in 
pieces 5 for the convenience of carriage. The materials of which they 
were composed were likewise very different, being not only wood, but 
ropes, leather, &c. 

The rest of their engines seem, however, to have been of a later date: 
the ram indeed is said by Pliny to have been invented in the Trojan war, 
and to have given occasion to the fable of the wooden horse, built by 
Epeus: but this is only conjecture, and may with the same ease be denied 
as asserted. Athenseus indeed speaks of this engine as very ancient, 6 but 



1 Dent. xx. 20. 

2 Iliad. 444. 



3 Iliad. ,J. 233. 

4 Appian. 



5 Plut. Arato, 

6 Fine iv. 



502 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



does not fix its invention to any determinate time, only observing that the 
Romans were obliged for it to the Greeks; and since Vitruvius gives 
the honour of its contrivance to the Carthaginians, in their siege of Gades, 
and neither Homer, nor any Greek writer for many ages after, has the 
least mention thereof, there seems little reason to credit Pliny's report. 
It is probable, however, that those ages might have some small helps in 
taking towns, contrived, as by several others, so particularly by Epeus, 
who is famous in poetical story for being an artificer, and was very ser- 
viceable, on that account, to the Grecian army.i 

But these devices seem to have been exceedingly contemptible and 
unartificial; and therefore were wholly laid aside in wiser ages, and, it 
may be, were never practised but at their first invention. The only con- 
stant instruments used by the ancient Greeks in demolishing the walls, 
were those they called rgvvruva 9 in Latin terebrce, which were long irons 
with sharp ends. Wherefore it is reasonable to conclude, that most of 
their famous engines were invented about the time of the Peloponnesian 
war, in which it is plain from Thucydides they were used. According 
to Diodorus 2 and Plutarch, 3 Pericles contrived several of them with the 
assistance of Artemon, an artificer of Clazomense, as rams, tortoises, &c. ; 
yet Cornelius Nepos reports that some of them were used in the age be- 
fore, by Miltiades, when he besieged Paros: Plutarch also himself, when 
he reports out of Ephorus that battering engines were first employed in the 
Samian war by Pericles, and composed at that time by Artemon, being 
then a strange and surprising sight, presently after adds, that Heraclides 
of Pontus will have that engineer to have flourished several ages before the 
Samian war ; so that nothing of certainty can be expected in this matter. 
The principal of the Grecian inventions were these which follow: 

XiXct>vy, testudo, a tortoise ; a defensive invention, so called from cov- 




1 Sycopfcr. Cassand. ver. 945. 2 Lib. xii. 3 Pericle. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



503 



ering and sheltering the soldiers, as a tortoise is covered by its shell. 
There were several sorts of it, as 

1. XiXuvn errgansoTcov, the tnUitary testudo, termed sometimes <rvvx<ryttr- 
ph, when the soldiers drawn up close to one another, and the hindermost 
ranks bowing themselves, placed their targets above their head ; as if we 
suppose the first rank to stand erect, the rest to stoop lower and lower by 
degrees, till the last rank kneeled upon the ground ; the men in the front 
and on the sides holding their targets before their bodies, the rest covering 
the heads of those that were placed before them: so that the whole body 
resembled a pent-house, or roof covered with tiles, down which the enemy's 
missive weapons easily glided, without prejudice to the soldiers under- 
neath. This invention was used in field-battles, hut more frequently in 
surprising cities before the besieged were prepared for defence, and served 
to protectee besiegers in their approach to the walls. 

2. XiXuvn %a>(rrg}$, was square; its chief design, as the name imports, 
was to guard the soldiers in filling ditches, and casting up mounts. 

3. X&Xavy o\v\, was triangular, with its front shelving downwards, for 
the protection of pioneers who undermined walls. 

4. To these may be added testudo arietaria, with which those that bat- 
tered the walls were protected. 

T'tppet, wicker hurdles, resembling the Roman vinece, which the soldiers 
held over their heads. The word came at length to signify trifles, from 
the siege of Syracuse, where the Athenians calling continually for hurdle3 
to shelter them, the besiegers in derision cried, yipfe, ytfpx. 




Another engine, composed of boards, and like the Roman pluteus, was 
used by the soldiers of Alexander. 

X'Zpu, agger, a mount, which was raised so high as to equal, if not 
exceed, the top of the besieged walls: the sides were walled in with bricks 
or stones, or secured with long rafters, to hinder it from falling; the fore 
part only, being by degrees to be advanced nearer the walls, remained 



501 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



bare. The pile itself consisted of all sorts of materials, as earth, timber, 
boughs, stones, &c. as Thucydides reports in the siege of PJatasa: into the 
middle were cast also wickers, and twigs of trees, to fasten, and, as it 
were, cement the other parts. 1 

U-j^yot, turres, movable towers of wood, usually placed upon the 
mount: they were driven upon wheels, which were fixed within the bot- 
tom planks, to secure them from the enemy. Their size was not always 
the same, but proportioned to the towers of the besieged city. The front 
was usually covered with tiles, and, in later times, the sides were likewise 
guarded with the same materials: their tops were covered with raw hides 
and other shrouds, to preserve them from fire-balls and missive weapons: 
they were formed into several stories, which were able to carry, not sol- 
diers only, but several sorts of engines. 2 

The invention of them is attributed to some artificers of Sicily, about 
the time of Dionysius the tyrant ; by some to Polyidus a Thessalian, and 
engineer of Philip of Macedon ; 3 by others to Diades and Chasreas, 4 who 
were scholars to Polyidus, and accompanied Alexander in his eastern ex- 
pedition: the last of these seem rather to have been improvers of the for- 
mer invention; for we find mention of wooden towers in the reign of the 
elder Dionysius: 5 perhaps the device of making vrugyovs (po^Tols, portable 
turrets, to be taken in pieces and carried along with the army, may be 
owing to them. 

K^/oV, 6 ariesy the ram, was an engine with an iron head, called in Greek 



1 Lucan, iii. this purpose, a number of men sides. He called it (festudo) the 

2 Sil. Ital. iiv. took up a beam, and by their tortoise, from the slowness of its 

3 Athenasus Mechanicis apud united force shook down the motion, or because the ram thrust 
Turneb. VitruviVis, x. 19. masonry. Pephasmenus, a Ty- in and out its head like a tortoisa 

4 Heron, xvi. rian artificer, is said to have from its shell. To cap the beam 

5 Diodorus Siculus. perceived the economy of power wiih iron was an obvious im- 

6 The ram is said to have been obtained by suspending the beam provement; and the way in 
first employed, in its most simple from a mast,, or triangle. Cetras - which a ram buts with its head 
fornt, by the Carthaginians, to of Calcedon' conceived the idea, readily suggested the form usu- 
demolish the walls of Cadiz, af- of mounting it on wheels and a ally given to the instrument, a* 
fer they had taken the place, platform,, and protecting those well as its name. 

Wanting proper iron tools for who woiked it by a roof and 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



505 



xiipaXv, or Ipfiokh, resembling a ram's head, with which they battered the 
-nemy's walls. Of this there were three kinds: 1. The first was plain 
and unartincial, being nothing but a long beam with an iron head, which 
the soldiers drove with main force against the wall. 2. The second was 
hung with ropes to another beam, by the help of which they thrust it for- 
wards with much greater force. 3. The third differed only from the for- 
mer, in being covered with a xiXmn or shroud to guard the soldiers, 
whence it is called testudo arietaria. The beam was sometimes no less 
than a hundred and twenty feet in length, and covered with iron plates, 
lest those who defended the walls should set it on fire ; the head was armed 
with as many horns as they pleased. Josephus reports, that one of Ves- 
pasian's rams, the length of which was only fifty cubits, and which was 
not equal to the size of several of the Grecian rams, had a head as thick 
as ten men, and twenty-five horns, each as thick as one man, and placed 
at the distance of a cubit from the rest ; the 
weight, hung, as was customary, upon the 
hinder part, was no less than one thousand and 
five hundred talents : when it was removed from 
one place to another, if it was not taken in 
pieces, a hundred and fifty yoke of oxen, or 
three hundred pair of horses and mules, were 
required to draw it; and no less than fifteen 
hundred men employed their utmost strength 
in forcing it against the walls. At other times 
we find these rams driven upon wheels* 

'EXivroXi; was first invented by Demetrius, 
the son of Antigonus, who having taken 
Rhodes, and several other towns, by means of 
this engine, was honoured with the surname 
of T1oXio£X'/,<tyi$. Vitruvius, 1 Plutarch, 2 and 
Diodorus, 3 though differing in other points, 
agree in describing it as a machine of prodi- 
gious bulk, not unlike the ram covered with 
a shroud, but vastly bigger, and of far greater 
force ; driven both with ropes and wheels, and 
containing several other smaller engines, out 
of which stones and other missiles were cast. 

1 Lib. x. ments. In the upper stories sol- mous; Vitruvius directs the 

2 Denietrio. diers with all sorts of missile smallest of them not to be less 

3 Lib. xx. weapons were placed, to clear than ninety feet high, and twen- 

4 Turres mobiles vel ambula- the wall, and facilitate the pas- ty-five broad, the top to be a 
toriaj. These moving towers sage of their comrades. They fifth smaller, and to contain ten 
wpre often, but not necessarily, were mounted on numerous stories each, with windows. The 
combined with the ram. On the wheels, moved from within; largest was one hundred and 
ground floor the ram exerted its probably their axles were pierced eighty feet high, and thirty.four 
destructive energy. In the middle tor levers like a capstan, and broad, and contained twenty sto- 
was a bridge, the sides guarded fixed in the wheels, so that when ries. These engines were em- 
by wicker-work, constructed so the former were forced round, phatically named Helepoleis, or 
as to be suddenly lowered or the latter turned with them. The city-tskers by the Greeks, 
thrust out upon the very battle- size of these towers was enor- 

2 u 




GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



KarxTzkrui is used, some- 
times for arrows, sometimes 
for engines out of which 
arrows were cast; in the lat- 
ter signification they are 
termed o£v$zXt7s and $i\o<t- 
rairu;. They are Likewise, 
though not very properly, 
taken for engines to cast 
stones; and we find them 
sometimes used to throw, 
great pieces of timber. The 
'Olv/SsA;?. 1 invention of them is ascribed 

by some to the Syrians ; according to others, they were first contrived in 
Sicily, about the time in winch the elder Dionysius engaged in the war 
with Carthage. 2 

Engines to cast stones were of several sorts; some only for smaller 
stones, such as a^Yovai, slings ; others for those of a larger size, called 
sometimes only by the general names of piyyava and pccyyavixcc opyuva, 
or utpirvfjia, ogyava., the former of which seem to signify all sorts of en- 
gines, the latter all those designed to cast missile weapons ; sometimes by 
more peculiar titles, as XrfofioXoi, Kir soft 0X01, ^it^oXikcc cpyzva, which 





l'O^ujJeXetj were gigantic cross* 
bows, which consisted not of a 
single b am or spring, but of two 
distinct beams, inserted each in- 
to an upright coil of ropes, tight- 
ly twisted in such a way that the 
ends of the arms could not be 
drawn towards each other, with- 
out increasing the t?nsion of the 
ropes, so as to produce a most 
violent recoil. Arrows with 
large iron heads were thrown by 
Chem witu'great force. 



2 Died. Sic. xiv. Plut. 

3 Ai9vPj\oc. such as the one 
rep.esented above, were used in 
sieges, and for storming waJls. 
The spring is formed of twisted 
coils of ropes, into wh ; ch a beam 
or arm of wood is inserted in 
such a manner, as when pulled 
down (by lever rower) the ten- 
sion of the rope is increased, and 
when let go it of course rebounds 
back to its former position. In 
the centre, at the left end of the 



machine, will be seen two up- 
right pieces of wood, between 
which was placed a trigger which 
held down the arm until loaded, 
and then by striking it, the stone 
was shot off with a tremendous 
force. Ai9o36\oi, such as this, 
were sometimes loaded with 
stones, weighing four hundred 
weight, laid on the end of the 
beam which was hollowed out for 
receiving them. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



507 



names are yet so general, as to comprehend all engines that cast stones. 
There is no proper term that I know of, for that famous engine, out of 
which stones of a size not less than millstones were thrown, with such 
violence as to dash whole houses in pieces at a blow: it was called indeed, 
by the Romans, balista; but this name, though of Grecian origin, appears 
•lot to have been used in Greece: this engine, however, was known there, 
and was the same with that used by the Romans. 1 

Upon the enemy's approach, the besieged gave notice to their confeder- 
ates to hasten their assistance: in the day this was done by raising a 
great smoke; in the night by fires, or lighted torches, called (p^vxro) and 
(pgvxTtoQia.i, whence, to signify the coming of enemies was called (p^vxra- 
%z7v. 2 These torches were termed (pgvzroi KoXipioi, to distinguish them 
from those they called <povx.ro) <piXtoi, which were lighted upon the approach 
of friends: they differed in this, that the latter were held firm and un- 
moved, the former were tossed and waved to and fro in the air. 

They seem not to have had any constant method of defending them- 
selves ; but this much may be observed in general, that the walls were 
guarded with soldiers, who, with stones, and all sorts of missile weapons, 
assaulted the invaders: and the xar«?r5Xm, with other engines of that 
kind, were planted within the town and played upon them. Several other 
methods were practised against them, as when the Tynans, heating brass 
bucklers red hot, and filling them with sand and lime, pGured it upon 
Alexander's soldiers, which getting between their armour and flesh, 
burned them severely, and caused them to fling off their armour, so that 
the besieged wounded them at pleasure, without receiving any hurt. 
Several ways they had to elude the force of their engines, and defeat their 
stratagems: their mines they rendered ineffectual by counter-mines : their 
mounts they let fall to the ground, by undermining the foundations: their 
towers, and all their engines, they burned with fire-balls: themselves they 
defended with skins, wool-packs, and other things proper to ward off stones 
and other missile weapons : the heads of battering rams they broke of]' with 
stones of a prodigious size from the walls; or, as we read of the Tyrians, 
rendered them useless, by cutting the ropes by which they were governed 
with long scythes ; and if there remained no hope of defending their walls, 
they sometimes raised new ones with forts within. Many other contri- 
vances were used, as the posture of affairs required, and as the besieged 
were ingenious in finding out methods for their own preservation. 

Their manner of treating the cities they had taken was not always the 
same, depending upon the temper of their general, who sometimes put 
all, at least all that were in arms, to the sword, demolished the walls and 
buildings, and made the rest slaves: sometimes graciously received them 
into favour, requiring only some tributary acknowledgment. The Athe- 
nians had a custom of sending colonies to inhabit the places they had de- 



1 Lucan. in. 



2 Thfo.e;nidis Scholiastes, Homeri Scholiastes, Iliad, a' 

2 u 2 



50S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



populated^ which they divided by lots among some of the commonalty, 
when met together in a public assembly. 1 

2 When they demolished a city, it was customary to pronounce direful 
curses upon those who should endeavour to rebuild it ; and this, some 
imagine, was the reason that Troy could never be raised out of its ashes, 
though several persons attempted it, being devoted to eternal and irre- 
parable ruin by Agamemnon. 3 This seems to have been a very ancient 
custom, and derived from the eastern nations: for, we find that Joshua, 
at the destruction of Jericho, fixed an imprecation upon the person that 
should rebuild it, 4 which was accomplished by Hiel, the Bethelite, many 
ages after, in the reign of Ahab. 5 



CHAP. XI. 

OF THE SLAIN, AND THEIR FUNERALS. 

The ancient Greeks seem to have treated the bodies of their dead ene- 
mies in a very indecent and inhuman manner, basely revenging the in- 
juries they had received from them whilst living, by disfiguring and stab- 
bing their carcasses, and exposing them to scorn and ignominy. This 
cruel and barbarous practice was not thoroughly reformed in the Trojan 
war, as appears from various instances in the Iliad, where dead enemies 
are dismembered by insulting conquerors ; none of which is more remark- 
able than that of Hector, who lay unburied many days, was dragged 
around the walls of Troy and the sepulchre of Patroclus, and suffered every 
kind of indignity. This indeed might be imputed to the extravagant rage 
of Achilles for the loss of Patroclus, or, 6 to a peculiar custom of Thessaly, 
his native country, where it was their constant practice to drag at their 
chariots the murderers of their near friends ; did it not appear that the 
rest of the Greeks used him in a manner no less brutish and barbarous, 
insulting over him, and stabbing his dead body. 7 

The barbarous nations were not less guilty of this inhuman practice. 
Leonidas, king of Sparta, having valiantly lost his life in fighting against 

1 Aristoph. Schol. Nubib. p. dene, into which the tyrant as Servius hath likewise observ- 
134. Qlaucias had thrown himself, ed, when Virgil's Mezentius was 

2 It appears from the follow- uttered a curse upon him who used in the same manner. The 
ing passage from Strabo's Geo- should rebuild the walls of that poet indeed does not expressly 
graphy of Troy, xiii. 1. s. 42. place." And Zonoras says, An- affirm any such thing, which 
that it was not unusual in remote nals, ix. 409, that the Romans notwithstanding plainly appears: 
antiquity to pronounce a curse pronounced a curse upon him for, whereas he only received 
upon those who should rebuild a who should rebuild Carthage. — two wounds from iEneas, we 
destroyed city. " It is believed Burdens Orient. Customs, p. 301. find his breast-plate afterwards 
that those who might have af- 3 Eustath- Iliad. 6'. p. 350. pierced through in twelve, i. e. 
terwards wished to rebuild Hi- 4 Joshua, vi. 26. a great many places, a deter- 
uua, were deterred from building 5 Reg. xvi. 34. minate number being put for an 

the city in the same place, either 6 Iliad. x '• 308. indefinite: bis sex thoraca 

by what they had suffered there, 7 Iliad. x '. 367. Tydeushasno petitum j>erfossuv«pie locis 

or because Agamemnon had pro- better treatment in Statius, The- * Through twice six places wa-j 

nounced a curse against him that baid. ix. 180. Whence it appears his breast-plate pierc'd.' Fine 

should rebuild it. For this was tohave been their constant prac» JEn. v. Ib. xi. 9. 

an ancient custom. Thus Crop- tice, and looked on as very con- 
sua, after he had destroyed Si- sistent with virtue and honour ; 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



509 



Xerxes, had his head fixed upon a pole, and his body gibbeted: but the 
Greeks were long before that time convinced of the villany and baseness 
of such actions; and therefore, when Pausanias the Spartan was urged to 
retaliate Leonidas ? injury upon Mardonius, Xerxes' general, overcome at 
Plataea, he refused to be concerned in, or to permit a revenge so barbar- 
ous, and unworthy of a Greek. 1 Even in the times of the Trojan war, the 
Greeks were much reformed from the inhumanity, as well of their own 
ancestors, as of other nations. It had formerly been customary for the 
conquerors to hinder their enemies from interring their dead, till they had 
paid large sums for their ransom ; and some footsteps of this practice are 
found about that time: Hector's body was redeemed from Achilles; 2 and 
that of Achilles was redeemed from the Trojans for the same price he had 
received for Hector's. 3 And in Virgil, Nisus is introduced dissuading 
his friend Euryalus from accompanying him into danger, lest, if he were 
slain, there should be no person that would recover by fight, or redeem 
his body. 4 "Whence it appears, that redemption of the dead was practised 
in those days, and that, if neglected, they were frequently suffered to lie 
unburied : which misfortune happened to many of Homer's heroes, as we 
learn from the very entrance of the first Iliad, where he speaks of 

That WTdth which hurVd to Pluto's gloomy reign Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore, 

The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain. Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore. — POPE. 

But this was not so common as in more early ages: for we find that 
Achilles himself celebrated the funeral of Eetion king of Thebes in Cilicia, 
and father of Andromache. 5 And that Agamemnon granted the Trojans 
free leave to perform the funeral rites of all their slain, promising upon 
oath to give them no disturbance. 6 Not long before, the Greeks were 
perfect strangers to this piece of humanity; for we are told that Hercules 
was the first that ever gave leave to his enemies to carry off their dead;? 
and others report, that the first treaty made for the recovering and bury- 
ing the bodies of the slain, was that of Theseus with the Thebans, to inter 
the heroes that lost their lives in the Theban war. 8 In succeeding ages 
it was looked on as the greatest impiety to deny what they thought a debt 
to nature, and was rarely or never done to lawful enemies, except upon 
extraordinary and unusual provocations ; for it was thought below a gener- 
ous temper, and unworthy of Greeks, to vent their malice, when their 
enemies were deprived of all power to defend themselves. 

The Athenians seem to have been careful to excess and superstition in 
procuring an honourable interment for the bodies of their own soldiers that 
had valiantly lost their lives: insomuch that the ten admirals that gained 
the famous victory over the Lacedaemonians in the sea-fight at Arginusse, 
were put to death chiefly on this pretence, that they were said not to have 
taken due care in gathering the bodies that floated on the waves: when 
yet they alleged that they were hindered by a tempest, which might have 



1 Herod. Calliope. 

2 Iliad. «,'. 

3 Lvcoph. Cassand, ver. £S->. 



I JSneid. ix. 213. 

5 Horn. Iliad, -'14. 

6 Horn. Iliad. v '. 406. 

2 o 3 



7 JSlian. Var. Kist. xii. 27. 

8 Piutarchus Theseo. 



510 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



been dangerous to the whole fleet, had they not provided for their safety 
by a timely retreat j 1 this, no doubt, was one cause why, after a battle 
upon the Corinthian territory, Nicias, the Athenian general, finding that 
two of his men were left by an oversight, when they carried off the dead, 
made a halt, and sent a herald to the enemy for leave to carry them off, 
hereby renouncing all title to the victory, which belonged to him before, 
and losing the honour of erecting a trophy : for it was presumed that he 
who asked leave to carry off his dead could not be master of the field. 2 
After that, Chabrias having put to flight the Lacedaemonians at Naxos, 
Vather than leave any of his soldiers, or their bodies to the mercy of the 
waves, chose to desist from prosecuting his victory, when he was in a fair 
way to have destroyed the enemy's whole fleet. 3 

When they carried their arms into distant countries, they reduced the 
bodies of the dead to ashes, that those at least might be conveyed to their 
relations, and deposited in the tombs of their ancestors: the first author of 
which custom, they say, was Hercules, who, having sworn to Licymnius 
to bring back his son Argius, if he would give him leave to accompany 
him in his expedition against Troy; the young man dying, he had no 
other expedient to make good his oath, but by delivering his ashes to his 
father ; 4 however, we find it practised in the Trojan war, where Nestor 
advised the Grecians to burn all their dead, and preserve them there till 
their return into Greece :5 

Airol a' iypdfitvai. KvitXyaofiev eyddSa vf-xpul's Then we will haste with oxen, mules, and wains, 

Botio-i ko.1 rj/jnovoteiv' orap naraK^ofisv airovj To wheel these bodies down toward the fleet, 

IvtOov dnoTrpo vsif, &y k ocrrta Traiolv fiwasToj Where we will burn them, that the bones of each 

Olxad' B.yy, oto^> aire veupeQa. 7r<iTpi'6a yaiav. May be delivered safe at our return, 

To his own children. COWPER. 

The Lacedaemonians thought this an unprofitable labour, and therefore 
buried their dead in the country where they died ; only their kings they em- 
balmed with honey, and conveyed them home, as we learn from Plutarch, 6 
who reports that when Agesilaus resigned his life at the haven of Mene- 
laus, a desert shore in Africa, the Spartans having no honey to embalm 
his body, wrapped it in wax, and so carried it to Lacedaemon. 

The soldiers all attended at the funeral solemnities, with their arms 
turned upside down, it being customary for mourners, in most of their 
actions, to behave themselves in a manner contrary to what was usual at 
other times: in those places where it was the fashion to wear long hair, 
mourners were shaved; and where others shaved, mourners wore long 
hair. Their conjecture, therefore, is frivolous, who imagine the soldiers 
turned the heads of their shields downwards, lest the gods, whose images 
were engraven upon them, should be polluted with the sight of a corpse f 
since not the gods only, but any other figures, were frequently represented 
there ; not some few only, but the whole company held them in the same 
posture : besides, not the shields alone, but their other arms were pointed 



1 Xenophon Grsc. Hist. i. 

2 Phitarchu-i Nicia. 

3 Dicdorus Siculus, xv. 



4 Horn. Schol. Iliad, c'. 52. 

5 Iliad. V. 332. 

6 Agesilao. 



7 Servius in iEneid. xi. 92. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



511 



downwards. Thus Evander's Arcadians, with the rest of the soldiers of 
zEneas, 1 follow the hearse of Pallas, ' versis armis;'' and the Grecian 
princes in Statius 2 observe the same custom. 

Their tombs were adorned with inscriptions, showing their names, and 
sometimes their parentage and exploits ; which honour the Spartan law- 
giver granted to none besides women who died in childbed, and soldiers 3 
that lost their lives in battle : these were buried with green boughs, and 
honoured with an oration in their praise. Such of them as had excelled 
the rest, and were judged complete and perfect warriors, had a farther 
honour of being interred in their red coats, which were the soldiers' habit 
at Sparta. 4 Their arms were likewise fixed upon their tombs ; whence 
Leonidas, the Spartan king, is introduced in the epigram refusing the pur- 
ple robe of Xerxes, and desiring no other ornament to beautify his tomb 
than his buckler: 

Hov^v XewviSeco Kari6a>v Sifj.at avToSaUrov And thus that generous Spartan hero spoke: 

Zip)- 7s, *x Aa»Vov <pdpe'C -rroa(pvpi^' 1 Forbear, fond prince, this unbecoming pride ; 

Kt}* vsKvaiy 6' rjxv a ^v 6 rdj Sirapras fiLyas Hp a>s' Ko Persian pomp shall e'er these relics hide. 
' Ov isxoft'tt Tpoiorats /xto9bv o^iet^o/isvoj', Soft purple palls are only used by those 

'Affn-ij pot. Tv/xfiov Kocrfios ^.eyas, Sppe rd Itapffuf, Who have betrayed their country to their foes ; 
"Hjcu *' elj aiSrjv, cLj Aa«6at^($vtoj.' My buckler's all the ornament I'll have, 

While Xerxes mov'd with pitying eye beheld 'Tis that which better shall adorn my grave 

The unhappy Spartan, who himself had kill'd; Than 'scutcheon, or a formal epitaph ; 

The royal Persian, with officious haste, My tomb thus honour'd, I'll triumphant go, 

His purple robe about the body cast ; Like each brave Spartan, to the shades below.' 

Leonidas, while dying, silence broke, H. H. 

This custom was not peculiar to Sparta, but practised all over Greece ; 
where, besides their arms, it was usual to add the badge of whatever other 
profession they had borne. Thus Elpenor, appearing in the shades below 
to Ulysses, entreats him to fix the oar with which he used to row upon his 
tomb, and to cast his arms into the funeral pile ; 5 and Misenus, the trum- 
peter of iEneas, has his arms, oar, and trumpet fixed upon his grave. 6 

It was customary for the Spartan matrons, when a battle had been 
fought near home, to examine the lifeless bodies of their sons; and such 
as had received more wounds behind than before, they conveyed away 
privately, or left in the common heap ; but those who had a greater num- 
ber of wounds in their breasts, they carried away with joy and triumph, 
to be reposited amongst their ancestors. 7 They were carried home upon 
their bucklers ; and hence that famous command of the mother to her son, 8 
Pi ruv, n In) <ra,g, either bring this (buckler) home with you, or be brought 
upon it. 9 

The Athenians used to place the bodies of their dead in tents, three 
days before the funeral, that all persons might have opportunity to find 
out their relations, and pay their last respects to them : upon the fourth 
day, a coffin of cypress 10 was sent from every tribe, to convey the bones of 

Vine. loc. citat. 7 ^Elianus Var. Hist. xii. 21. buckler borne, brave Thrasybu- 

2 Thebaid. vi. 8 Plut. Apophthegmat. lus V—Pitt. 

3 Piutarchus Lycurgo. 9 To this cusiorr. Ausonius al- 10 This wood was selected from 

4 iElianus. Yar. Hist. vi. 6. hides, Epigram, xxiv. Anna su~ its being the most adapted to re- 

5 Horn. Odyss. A'. ?<i. yrrvekeris quid, Thrasybule, tua ? sist corruption. So Galheus on 

6 Virg. iEneid. vi. "io2. ' Why are you thus 'upon your the Crac. Sibyll. p. 10'J. in a 



512 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



their own relations ; after which went a covered hearse, in memory of 
those whose bodies could not be found: all these, accompanied with the 
whole body of the people, were carried to the public burying-place, called 
Cer 'amicus , and there interred: one oration was spoken in commendation 
of them all, and their monuments were adorned with pillars, inscriptions, 
and all other ornaments usual about the tombs of the most honourable per- 
sons. The oration was pronounced by the fathers of those of the deceased, 
who "had behaved themselves most valiantly. Thus, after the famous battle 
of Marathon, the fathers of Callimachus and Cynaegirus were appointed to 
make the funeral oration. 1 And upon the return of the day on which the 
solemnity was first held, the same oration was constantly repeated every 
year. 2 This was their ordinary practice at Athens ; 3 but those valiant men 
who were slain in the battle of Marathon had their bodies interred in the 
place where they fell, to perpetuate the memory of that wonderful vic- 
tory. 4 

It may be observed farther, that in their lists the names of the soldiers 
deceased were marked with the letter 6, being the initial of Qavovm, dead; 
those of the living with T, the first in Tvoovfiivot, preserved: this custom 
was afterwards adopted by the Romans. 5 



CHAP. XII. 



OF THEIR BOOTY TAKEN IN AVAR, THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE GODS AFTER 
VICTORY, THEIR TROPHIES, &C. 



Their booty consisted of prisoners and spoils. The prisoners that could 
not ransom themselves were made slaves, and employed in the service of 
their conquerors, or sold. 

The spoils were distinguished by two names, being either taken from 
the dead, and termed o-kvXcc, or from the living, which they called Xatyv^cc; 
they consisted of whatever movables belonged to the conquered, whose 
whole right and title, by the law of arms, passed to the conquerors. 6 

Homer's heroes no sooner gain a victory over any of their rivals, than, 
without farther delay, they seize their armour. Instances of this are as 
numerous as their combats. But, however this practice might be usual 

learned dissertation respecting where it is said, that the Pytha- I Polemo in Argurnento ri» 

the urk^ says, that the cypress is goreans iwsi X ovro trw^aZ Kvirapia- 'E-n-tra^wv \6ya>v. 

of all woods, " adversus cariera aivr,^ ha ™ roi Atoj cK^irrpov lv 2 Cicero de Oratore. 

ac tinias lirmissimumi" appeal- revSev vBvotT,a»ai. Here I would 3 Thucydides, iii. 

ing to Theophr., Pliny, and Mar- observe, that as the cypress 4 So also Tellus, who braveTy 

tial. And lie observes, that of there was meant to allude to the fell at Eleusis. was, at the public 

this wood the vast fo!ding-do<>rs eternity of Jupiter's dominion expense, honoured with burial at 

o» the temple of Ephesus, which (as Ps. xlv. 6. o SpoVoj oov 6 the place where he fell.— Hero- 

so long resisted decay, were 0<=oy el; aliva alZvof) \ so. in dot. i. 30. 

made. See more in Gallaeus, the use of cypress tor coffins, 5 Ruffinus in Hieronymum, 
who has, however, borrowed the there may have been some latent Pauius Diaconus de Notis Liter- 
whole from Boehart Geoer. Sacr. allusion to the doctrine of the arum, Isidorus Hispal. i. 23. 
Phaleg- i. 4. who also adduces va- immortality of the soul — Blmnr (J Piato de Leaibus, i. 
rknis passages ufDiog.Laert. 1. 8. JLWs Tkucydidis % vol. i. p. 356. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



513 



among the great commanders who rode in chariots to the battle, fought by 
themselves, and encountered men of their own quality in single combat ; 
yet inferior soldiers were not ordinarily permitted such liberty, but 
gathered the spoils of the dead after the fight was ended ; if they attempted 
it before, they were even then looked upon as deficient in discipline. Nes- 
tor gives the Greeks a particular caution in this matter :i 

<£i'X<K, Tjpaiey Aavaol, SspaTrovrls " Apr,oy , Thus, heroes! thus the vigorous combat wage ! 
M»$rt? vvv Ivaocev eini3uW6/j.svos , fj.er6irar9s No son of Mars descend, for servile gains, 
Mi/zvtra., cos tsv ir\elcra 4>£pa>v lirl vrjai "/o)rm To touch the booty, while a foe remains. 

'AXX* ci^pay KTstVco^ai/, iTTFtTo. 6i Kal Ta 'd>c7}\ot Behold yon glittering host, your future spoil ! 

NsKpoiiy apirt&iov ovXticstb reecsttoraj. First gain the conquest, then reward the toil. 

POPE. 

This method was taken in succeeding ages ; for no sooner were their 
battles ended, than they fell to stripping and rifling the dead bodies of 
their enemies ; only the Lacedaemonians were forbidden to meddle with 
the spoils of those they had conquered ; 2 the reason of which prohibition 
being demanded of Cleomenes, he replied, ' that it was improper to offer 
the spoils of cowards to the gods, and unworthy a Lacedaemonian to be 
enriched by them ;' 3 but this seems only a pretence, since there are several 
instances of their dedicating part of their booty to the gods : the true rea- 
son, perhaps, may be collected from the constitution of their state, whereby 
an equality was maintained amongst them, and nothing more severely 
prohibited, or more repugnant to the very foundation of their government, 
than to acquire or possess large estates: wherefore, to prevent their sol- 
diers from seizing upon the spoils, they had always three hundred men 
appointed to observe their actions, and to put the law in execution against 
delinquents. 4 

The whole booty was brought to the general, who had the first choice, 
divided part amongst such as had signalized themselves, according to 
their quality and merits, and allotted the remainder in equal portions to 
the rest; thus in the Trojan war, when the captive ladies were to be 
chosen, Agamemnon, in the first place, took Astynome, Chryses' daugh- 
ter; next, Achilles had Hippodamia, daughter to Brises ; then Ajax chose 
Tecmessa, and so on: 5 whence Achilles complains of Agamemnon, that 
he had always the best part of the booty ; himself, who sustained the bur- 
den of the war, being content with a small pittance. 6 And whenever any 
booty of extraordinary value was taken, we find the soldiers reserving it 
for a present to their general, or the commander of their party. Instances 
of this kind are frequent, as in other writers, so especially in Homer : 
Ulysses' company always honoured him with the best and choicest part of 
what they took. Herodotus reports, 7 that after the victory over Mardo- 
nius, Xerxes' lieutenant, Pausanias the Spartan, being at that time general 
of all the Grecian forces, was presented with a great booty of women, 
money, horses, camels, &c, over and above what was given to any other. 

1 Iliad. 66. conicis. Cassandiam, ver, 299. 

2 jElianus, vi. 6. . 4 Eustathius Iliad. 6fi. 6 Iliad, a'. 163, 

3 Plutarch. Apophthegm. La- 5 Isaac. Tzetzes inLyco} hron. 7 Calliope. 



514 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



This practice indeed was so universal, that to be a commander, and to 
have the first share of the booty, are used by the poets as equivalent ex- 
pressions. 1 

But before the spoils were distributed, they looked on themselves as 
hound to make an offering out of them to the gods, to whose assistance 
they were indebted for them all ; those separated to this use were termed 
axgoti'ma, either q. aK^ocrlvtcx,, tfaoa, to (tUkt&cu h vqaXovs, because the 

war, in which they were collected, had destroyed many ; % or u.<zl rod B-tveg, 
because after sea-engagements they were exposed upon the shore; 3 or 
rather from their being taken cix^ovrou S-ivo;, fromx the top of the heap; 
because all the spoils being collected into one heap, the first fruits were 
offered to the gods;4 in allusion to which custom, Megara in Euripides, 
telling what choice of wives she had made for her sons out of Athens, 
Sparta, and Thebes, thus expresses it: 

h yob hi vOfAQo&s '/izgodiviccZofi'/iv. 

The gods to whom this honour was paid were not only those whom they 
looked on as having a peculiar concern in all affairs of war, as Mars, 
Minerva, &c. but several others, as Jupiter, Juno, and any to whom they 
thought themselves obliged for success; especially those that were pro- 
tectors of their city, or country. 

They had several methods of consecrating spoils: sometimes they col- 
lected them into a heap, and consumed them with fire ; sometimes they 
made presents, which were dedicated and hung'up in temples. So Pau- 
sanias, the Spartan, is reported to have, consecrated out of the Persian 
spoils a tripod to Delphian Apollo, and a statue of brass, seven cubits long, 
to Olympian Jupiter. 5 

It was very customary to dedicate their enemies' armour, and to hang 
it up in temples ; but the Lacedemonians were forbidden this custom ; 
which perhaps may be the meaning of Cleomenes' forementioned reply; 
for that they were allowed to offer their other spoils, appears as well from 
that of Pausanias, as from several other instances. This custom was very 
ancient, 6 and universally received ; not in Greece alone, but most other 
countries : hence Hector promises to dedicate his enemies' armour in 
Apollo's temple, if he would vouchsafe him victory :7 

Hi 6b k eyci> rhv s\w, S^rj 6k ^oi, eSfcoj 'AirJXXav, Shall stretch your daring champion in the dust, 

Teiix so. ov\f>(ras, o'iaw ttoti v i\ior Ipriv, If mine the glory to despoil the foe, 

Kal Kpefj.6w itotI vrjo" ' KttoWwvos e*o.toio. On Phoebus' temple I'll his arms bestow. 

And if Apoilo, in whose aid I trust, pote. 

Virgil alludes to this custom in his description of the temple where La- 
tinus gave audience to the ambassadors of iEneas. 8 

Many other instances to the same purpose occur in authors. This cus- 
tom seems to have been derived by Greece from the eastern nations, 
where no doubt it was practised: what else can be the meaning of Goliath's 
sword being reposited in the Jewish place of worship ? 9 



1 Liycophr. Cassandr, ver. 295. 4 Sophoclis Schol. Trachin. 7 Iliad, loc. cit. 

2 Eustathius Odyss. 6'. 5 Harodotus, ix. 8 iEneid. vii. 183. 

3 Btilenaerus, lib, de Spoliis. 6 Eustath. Iliad. n \ 81. 9 1 Sam. xxi. i>. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



515 



Nor was it customary only to dedicate to the gods weapons taken from 
enemies, but their own likewise, when retired from the noise of war to a 
private life; which seems to have been done as a grateful acknowledgment 
to the gods, by whose protection they had been delivered from dangers. 1 

But lest these arms should furnish malcontents, in sudden tumults and 
insurrections, they seem to have been usually some way or other rendered 
unfit for present service: the bucklers, for instance, were hung up without 
handles ; whence a person, in one of the poets, seeing them otherwise, 
cries out in a fright, 

0l pot raAay, g^ons-t yap tr&QTraicts. Unhappy wretch ! the bucklers handles have. 

The reason may be collected from the foregoing verses, where another 
says, 

Ov yap ejp^r, eXirep $tXst{ riv otjuov, }k 7rpcvot'cj If you sincerely -wish the public good, 

Xairnj ea" avrotj toIj Trdpiza^tv avarsQ^vai. You should not suffer any to devote 

Bucklers with handles. 

As a farther expression of their gratitude to the gods, it was customary 
to offer solemn sacrifices, and return public thanks to them. Here it may 
be observed, that the Lacedemonians, for their greatest successes by force 
of arms, offered no more than a cock to the god of war ; but when they 
obtained a victory by stratagem, and without blood, they sacrificed an ox ; a 
by this they gave their generals to understand, that policy as well as 
valour was required in a complete warrior, and that those victories were to 
be preferred whereby they suffered the least damage ; excelling herein the 
Roman constitution, which rewarded with greater honours the victors in 
open field, than those who gained a conquest by policy, which was esteemed 
less noble and becoming Romans: wherefore those were permitted to 
enter the city in triumph, but the latter were only honoured with an ova- 
tion. 3 It may not be improper in this place to add, that the Greeks had 
a custom which resembled the Roman triumph ; for the conquerors used 
to make a procession through the middle of their city, crowned with gar- 
lands, repeating hymns and songs, and brandishing their spears: the cap- 
tives were also led by them, and all their spoils exposed to public view ; 
to do which they called S^r^s/v. 4 

Trophies were called by the ancient Athenians rgetfciia, by succeeding 
ages <r£09rcitot: 5 they were dedicated to some of the gods, especially Jupiter, 
sumamed Tgovcuo;, and Tgovrcciovxos, 6 and Juno, who shared in her hus- 
band's title, being called T^srala; 7 whence Lycophron: 8 

Toexaia,; fjLcccrrov ov9r,Xov 3riu$* 

The manner of adorning trophies was hanging up all sorts of arms taken 
from the enemy. 9 To these they usually added the names of the god to 
whom they were dedicated, of the conquerors, and of those overcome by 
them, with an account of all the spoils, and other remarkable occurrences 
in the war: this inscription was called iTiy^cc^hj or l^iy^x^ua., and 

1 Horace alludes to this cus- 4 Phavorinus. 8 Cassandra, ver. 1328. 

torn. lib. i. epist. i. ver. 4, and 5 Aristoph. Schol. Pinto. 9 Euripid. Heraclid. ver. 786. 

Ovid. Trist. lib. iv. 6 Pausan. Lacnnicis, Plutsrch. Juvenal. Satir. x. 133. 

2 Plutarch. Institut. Laconic. Parallelis, Phurnufus, 

3 Ickm Marcello. 7 Phavorinus. 



516 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



was frequently engraved, 
whence Lucian says, in) 

sometimes written with 
ink, whence Orthryades, , 
the Lacedemonian, just 
surviving his victory over 
the Argians, caused a 
trophy to be erected, upon 
which, being supported 
by his spear, he inscribed 
with his own blood, instead 
of ink, Ait' T^o-^otiov^eo.i 

The spoils were hung 
upon the trunk of a tree ; 
the olive was frequently 
put to this use, being the 
emblem of peace, which is 
one of the consequents of 
victory : several other 
trees also had the same 
honour, especially the 
oak, as being consecrated 
■ to Jupiter, who had a 
peculiar right to these 
respects ; there is frequent mention of this in the poets. 2 Virgil alludes 
to the fact in several places, and adds farther, that the trophy erected by 
iEneas was upon a hill; whence it may seem probable that it was custom- 
ary to set them upon eminent places, to render them more conspicuous. 3 
In the same manner, Pompey having subdued the Spaniards, erected a 
trophy upon the top of the Pyrenean mountains. 

Instead of trees, succeeding ages erected pillars of stone, or brass, to 
perpetuate the memory of their victories: to raise these, they termed 
Iffruvett rgotfxiov, which expression was likewise applied to the erection of 
trees ; for if the place they pitched upon was void of trees fit for their pur- 
pose, it was usual to supply that defect by fixing one there. 

To demolish a trophy was looked on as unlawful, and a kind of sacri- 
lege, because they were all consecrated to some deity; nor was it less a 
crime to pay divine adoration before them, or to repair them when de- 
cayed, as may likewise be observed of the Roman triumphal arches; this 
being a means to revive the memory of forgotten quarrels, and engage 
posterity to revenge the disgrace of their ancestors : for the same reason 




1 Plutarch. Parallelis, Stobse- 2 Sidon. Panegyric. Stat. The- 3 Mneii, xi. 4. 
us Tit, de Fortuna. baid. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



517 



those Greeks, who first introduced the custom of erecting pillars for tro- 
phies, incurred a severe censure from the ages they lived in. 1 

The Macedonians never erected trophies, obliged hereto by a prescrip- 
tion observed from the reign of Caranus, one of whose trophies was demo- 
lished by wolves ; 2 which was the reason that Alexander the Great, how- 
ever vainglorious in other instances, never raised a trophy: as for those 
erected by the Macedonians of succeeding ages, in their wars with the 
Romans, they were inconsistent with the ancient custom of their country . 
In some ages after this, they seem to have been wholly laid aside. 

Yet they were not still wanting to raise monuments to preserve the 
memory of their victories, and to testify their gratitude to the gods ; some 
of Avhich are likewise mentioned in authors, before the disuse of trophies. 
Sometimes statues were erected to the gods, especially to Jupiter, as 
appears from that which Pausanias dedicated out of the Persian spoils, 3 
and several others. There is frequent mention of this custom in Euri- 
pides: 4 

1 Atos t^oTuiov Itrroivcci (3g(rot$. 

And again, 

Tgorctiov Zvivos o^Quifcti (2gsret$. 
Sometimes the same god was honoured with a temple on such accounts, as 
appears from the story of the Dorians, who, having overcome the Achai- 
ans, raised a temple to Jupiter Tgovctics, 5 

Sometimes they erected towers, which they adorned with the spoils of 
their enemies ; which was likewise a Roman custom, and practised by 
Fabius Maximus, and Domitius iEnobarbus, after the victory over the 
Allobroges. 6 

It was also customary to raise altars to the gods ; an instance of which 
we have in Alexander, who, returning from his Indian expedition, erected 
altars in height scarcely inferior to the most lofty towers, and in breadth 
exceeding them. 7 



CHAP. XIII 

OF THEIR MILITARY PUNISHMENTS AND REWARDS, WITH THEIR MANNER OF 
CONVEYING INTELLIGENCE. 

The Greeks had no fixed method of correcting their soldiers, but left 
that to the discretion of their commanders: only in some few cases the 
laws made provision. 

AvroftoXoi, deserters, suffered death. 

'Acrroccrivroi, such as refused to serve in the wars, and such as quitted 

1 Plutarchus Romanis Chiais* 3 Herodotus, ix. 6 Lucius Florus, iii. 2. 
tionibus. 4 Phceniss. 7 Arrianus Exped, Alexand, r, 

2 Pausanias, p. 31 5» 5 Pausanias Laconicis. 

2 x 



518 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

their ranks, by a law of Charondas, were obliged to sit three days in the 
public forum in women's apparel. 1 At Athens, xffr^nvroi, such as re- 
fused to serve in the wars ; Xutrerdxrcu, they who deserted their ranks ; 
and htko), cowards, were neither permitted to wear garlands, nor to enter 
the U.ooc ^yporzkv, public temples: and were farther obliged by the unde- 
cimviri to appear in the court called Helisea, where a fine or other pun- 
ishment was inflicted according to their demerit. If a fine was inflicted, 
the criminal was kept in bonds till he made payment. 2 Among these are 
to be reckoned pi^uffmhs, they who lost their bucklers, which was ac- 
counted a token of extreme cowardice. Hence a law came to be enacted, 
that whoever should impute this crime to any person undeservedly, should 
be fined. 3 But, of all others, the Lacedaemonians inflicted the heaviest 
punishments on all such offenders ; for their laws obliged them either to 
conquer, or to die upon the place; and such as quitted their bucklers lay 
under as great disgrace as if they had forsaken their ranks. Those who 
fled from the field of battle were not only deprived of all honours, but it 
was likewise a disgrace to intermarry with them ; whoever met them in 
the streets had liberty to beat them, nor was it permitted them to resist 
in their own defence ; and to make them more remarkable, whenever they 
went abroad, they were obliged to wear a nasty habit, their gowns were 
patched with divers colours, and their beards half shaved, half unshaved. 4 
Their scandal was likewise extended to their whole family, and therefore 
their mothers frequently atoned for their crime, by stabbing them at their 
first meeting; which was a common practice, and frequently alluded to in 
the Greek epigrams, in one of which, a Spartan matron, having run her 
son through, thus insults over him : 

'Eppe, Kaithv firsvpa, Sea <™<*toj, oZ ha /xlvog By that polluted coast where you abi.le ; 

EiVwraj 6e.i*al s /j.-r/S' e\d<poi<n pi t m Hence, then, unprofitable wretch, speed to the 

'Axpe'iov o>cv\6.K£vna, KaK ^ /x^pU, 'epps iro9° SStov, dead, 

"Eppe, 70 n'ri STrapray a£«>j>, ov&' stskov. And hide in hell thy ignominious head: 

Begone, degenerate offspring, quit this light, Base dastard soul, unworthy to appear 

Eurotas is concerned at thy loath'd sight; On Spartan ground; I never did thee bear. 
For, see! he stops his course, asham'd to glide K. H. 

Several others may be produced to the same purpose ; and where the 
same fate befell those that lost their bucklers. Now the reason being de- 
manded of Demaratus, why they punished so severely those who quitted 
their bucklers, When the loss of their helmet, or coat of mail, was not 
looked on to be so scandalous, he replied, that these were only designed for 
the defence of single persons, whereas bucklers were serviceable to the 
whole battalia. Archilochus, the poet, was banished from Sparta for pub- 
lishing an epigram, in which he gloried in the loss of his buckler. 5 

To pawn their arms was also accounted a crime, and seems to have 
been forbidden by a law at Athens, as the Greek scholiast hath observed 
in his explication of the following passage of Aristophanes: 6 



I DiodortiS Siculus. 3 Lysias Orat. a.', in Theo- 

i /CiSChines in CtPsiphontrm, muesium. 
I><?:ncs:henes in Timocraten). 4 Plutejchus Agosilao. 



5 Str.ibo Geograph. xii. Pin- 
tarchns Institnt. Laccin. p. 239, 
ed. Paris. 6 Pluti, act. ft. sc. iv. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



519 



Ova ivi%v%ov ?W'/i<riv % fttctgijuraTy; ; 

Where the poet describes the misfortunes to which men are exposed by 
poverty. Among the Romans, any soldier who pawned his shoulder- 
piece, or any other of the less considerable parts of his armour, was cor- 
rected with stripes ; but such as pawned their helmet, buckler, coat of 
mail, or sword, were punished as deserters. 1 

Besides the rewards of valour already' mentioned, there were several 
others: the private soldiers were put into office, and the subordinate offi- 
cers were honoured with greater commands. It was likewise customary 
for the general to reward those that signalized themselves with large pre- 
sents: whence Telamon, being the first that gained the top of Troy's walls, 
when it was besieged by Hercules, had the honour to have Hesione, the 
king's daughter, for his captive ; Theseus was presented by the same hero 
with Antiope, the Amazonian queen, for his service in the expedition 
against the Amazons. The poets frequently introduce commanders en- 
couraging their soldiers with promises of this nature. Thus Agamemnon, 
in Homer, animates Teucer to conduct himself courageously, by assuring 
him of a considerable reward, when the city should be taken ; 2 and Asca- 
nius, in Virgil, makes no less promises to Nisus, and to Euryalus, his 
companion in danger. 3 

Sometimes crowns were presented, on which were inscribed the person's 
name and actions that had merited them, as appears from the inscription 
upon the crown, presented by the Athenians to Conon, Kovcov oc<?ro <rwg vau- 
f/.u.^iczg rr,g vgog AaxMiatftovUvg, 

Others were honoured with permission to raise pillars, or erect statues to 
the gods, with inscriptions declaring their victories ; this Plutarch supposes 
to have been an honour rarely conferred even on the greatest commanders: 
Cimon indeed was favoured therewith, but Miltiades and Themistocles 
never could obtain it; nay, when Miltiades only desired a crown of olive, 
one Sochares stood up in the midst of the assembly, and replied, When 
thou slialt conquer alone, Miltiades, thoic shalt triumph so too y which 
words were so agreeable to the populace, that his suit was rejected. ' The 
reason why Cimon was more respected than the rest, our author thinks/ 
was, that under other commanders they stood upon the defensive ; but by 
his conduct they not only repulsed their enemies, but invaded them in 
their own country. But perhaps a more true and real account may be 
taken from the change of times ; for the primitive ages seem not to have 
been so liberal in the distribution of rewards as those that succeeded ; for 
later generations degenerating from their ancestors, and producing fewer 
instances of magnanimity and true valour, the way to honour became 
easier, and men of common performances without difficulty obtained re- 



1 Pawlus libro sinirulari d» Pcenis Militum. 

2 Iliad. s'. 280. 

2x2 



3 JF.ne\d. 263, 

4 Fiuluithiis Cimone. 



520 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



wards, which before were only paid to persons of the first rank for virtue 
and courage. 1 

Another honour conferred at Athens upon the valiant, was to have their 
arms placed in the citadel, and to be called Cecropidce, * citizens of the 
true old blood;' to which custom the poet alludes: 

Ob zuXXtv/zovs KizgoTrlSc&s Wnx \yu. 

Some were presented with a vrc&voyrXtx, or complete suit of armour: as 
Ave find of Alcibiades, when he was very young, and returned from the 
expedition against Potidaea. 2 

Others were complimented with songs of triumph, the first of which 
were composed in honour of Lysander, the Spartan general. 3 

They who lost any of their limbs in the war, were called aSvvc&rot, and 
were maintained at the public expense, provided they had not an estate of 
three Attic pounds yearly: on which account they were examined by the 
senate of five hundred. Their allowance was an obolus a day. Some 
affirm they had two oboli every day ; others, that they received nine 
drachmae, that is, fifty-four oboli, every month. And it is probable that 
their maintenance was increased or diminished according to the exigency 
of affairs. The custom of maintaining disabled soldiers was introduced by 
Solon, who is said to have given an allowance to one Thersippus: after- 
wards it was established by a law during the tyranny of Pisistratus. 4 

Many other honours were paid to such as deserved well of their coun- 
try ; but I shall mention only one more, which consisted in the care of 
the children of such as valiantly sacrificed their lives for the glory and pre- 
servation of the Athenian commonwealth: 3 they were carefully educated 
at the public charge, till they came to maturity, and were then presented 
with a complete suit of armour, and brought forth before the people, one 
of the public ministers proclaiming before them, ' that hitherto, in remem- 
brance of their fathers' merits, the commonwealth had educated these 
young men, but now dismissed them so armed, to go forth, and thank their 
country by imitating their fathers' examples.' For their farther encour- 
agement, they had the honour of n^oiSoix,, or having the first seats at 
shows, and all public meetings. 

The laws of Solon made provision also for the parents of those that died 
in the wars, it being extremely reasonable that they should be maintained 
at the public expense who had lost their children, the comfort and support 
of their declining age, in the service of the public. 6 

It may not be improper to add something concerning their way of send- 
ing intelligence; this was done several ways, and by several sorts of mes- 
sengers; such were their 'H^s^^w, who were lightly armed with darts 
and hand-grenadoes ; or with bows and arrows: 7 Phidippides, famous in 
the story of Miltiades, for his vision of Pan, was one of these. 8 

1 iEschines in Ctesiphontem. iSvy/irov. Hesycliius Harpocr. Laert Solone. 

2 Plutarchus Alcibiade. Said. v. 'Aivvaroi. 7 Suidas. 

3 Plut. Lysandro. 5 iEsch. in Ctesiph. 8 Coin. Nep, Milt. 

4 Plut. SoJone, Lysis* ire e l 6 Plato Menexeno, Diogenes 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



521 



But the contrivance, of all others the most celebrated for close convey- 
ance of intelligence, was the Lacedaemonian (fy.vra.Xn, which was a white 
roll of parchment wrapped about a black stick ; it was about four cubits in 
length, 1 and was so called from o-zuro;, a skin. The manner and use of 
it was this: when the magistrates gave commission to any general or 
admiral, they took two round pieces of wood, exactly equal to one another ; 
one of these they kept, the other was delivered to the commander, to 
whom when they had any thing of moment to communicate, they cut a 
long narrow scroll of parchment, and rolling it about their own staff, one 
fold close upon another, they wrote their business upon it; then taking it 
off, they despatched it to the commander, who, applying it to his own 
staff, the folds exactly fell in one with another, as at the writing, and the 
characters which, before it was wrapped up, were confusedly disjoined and 
unintelligible, appeared very plain. 2 



CHAP. XIV. 

OF THE INVENTION, AND DIFFERENT SORTS OF SHIPS. 3 

Most of those useful arts, and admirable inventions, which are the very 
support of mankind, and supply them with all the necessaries and conve- 



1 Pindari Schol. Olynip. Ode 
vi. 

2 Plut. Lysandro, Aristoph. 
Schol. in Avibus, A.Geliius, xviL 
9. "This very simple and in- 
artificial mode of concealing their 
important orders, plainly illus- 
trates the low state of the ai ts of 
insenuity at Sparta/' — Beloe. 

3 In theeyes of theGreeks the 
navy was more important than 
the army. The distinction was 
early made between ships of war 
and merchant vessels ", of which 
the consequence was, that, as 
the former belonged to the state, 
so likewise, to build and fit out 
shi^s was entirely a public con- 
cern. Yet to judge correctly of 
the cm ution and progress of 
p.avr.l science among theGreeks, 
we must not forget, that the 
scene of acti-Jti for their squad- 
rons was always limited to the 
JSgean and Ionian seas. The 
expedition of \thens against 
Syracuse is the most distant 
which was ever undertaken by 
any state of Greece Proper ; 
with what success is known. 
Even the Black sea, though open 
to their vessels of commerce, 
was hardly visited by their gal- 
leys of war, because no occasion 
ever required it. The seas which 
they navigated were full of is- 
lands ; jt was never difficult to 
find landing-places and harbours; 



and the naval expeditions were 
not much more than passages by 
sea. Again, Greece, especially 
the most cultivated eas'.ern part 
of it, did not abound in WGod; 
and though some of the western 
or inland districts were better 
provided with it, the rivers, be- 
ing hardly more than mountain- 
streams, afforded little opportun- 
ity for the transport of timber. 
The cities therefore which built 
fleets were obliged to seek their 
timber at a distance; and we 
know that A'hens imported its 
supplies from Thrace. The ex- 
pense therefore was necessarily 
great; so that none but the rich- 
est cities were able to bear it; 
and hence it is easy to see, that 
difficulties arose, which make the 
exertions of several states for 
their navy appear to us in a very 
extraordinary light. Lastly, the 
manning of the fleets was at- 
tended with peculiar difficulties. 
Two descriptions of men, marines 
and sailors, were employed. The 
former were citizens, and be- 
longed to the miiitia: but, ac- 
cording to the earlier regula- 
tions, the citizens were not 
obliged to serve on board the 
ships. Slaves were used in part, 
especially at the oars ; and in 
part foreigners were hired. Such 
is the description given by iso- 
cn.tes. "Formerly," s;tys be, 



"in the better times of Athens, 
foreigners and slaves were used 
in the management of the ves- 
sels ; but citizens performed mi- 
litary service. Now the case is 
reversed ; the citizens are com- 
pelled to sei re as seamen, while 
the soldiers consist of mercen- 
aries." The manning of the. 
fleets was therefore attended 
with great expense; and it is 
known from the Peloponnesian 
war, that, but for the alii. nee 
and subsidies of Persia, Sparta 
could not have supported it. 
These causes are sufficient to 
pr< vent us from forming unrea- 
sonable expectations of the naval 
power of the Greeks. Yet here, 
also, the different epochs must 
be distinguished. We learn from 
Homer and the Argonautic 
poets, that the Greeks, even in 
the heroic age, had ships which 
were fitted out for distant voy- 
ages. The piracy, which before 
that period had been so common, 
made it necessary for ships to be 
prepared, not oniy for carrying 
freight, but ior fighting. These 
vesseis were called lung, byway 
of distinguishing them from the 
more ancient round ones, which 
were fit only for the transporta- 
tion of merchandise; though it is 
certain that the former were also 
used for the purposes of com- 
merce. They were so construct- 



522 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



niences of life, having at first been the productions of some lucky chance, 
or from slight arid contemptible beginnings, have been, by long experi- 
ence, curious observations, and various improvements, matured and 
brought to perfection. Instances of this kind are everywhere frequent and 
obvious, but none can be produced more remarkable than in the art of 
navigation : which, though now arrived to a pitch of perfection beyond 
most other arts, by those successful additions it has received from almost 
every age of the world, was in the beginning so mean and imperfect, that 
the pleasure or advantage of those who first applied themselves to it was 
very small and inconsiderable. 

Those who ventured to commit themselves to the liquid element made 



ed, that all the rowers sat in one Corinthians and the Corcyrae- for it gives us an example of the 
line. In times of insecurity, fast ans; since that time, two hun- management of a squadron in a 
sailing is the chief merit of a dred and sixty years have elaps- double line. The Athenian fleet 
vessel, whether for attack or for ed." This testimony, more im- was drawn up in two iines, both 
flight. This property must have portant than all the accounts of on the right and left wing. Each 
been increased in the lengthened later grammarians and compil- wing consisted of two divisions, 
vessels, both by the form itself, ers, proves that it was in the each division of fifteen ships; 
and the increased number of seventh century that the Grecian and was supported by equal divi- 
rowers; which gradually rose states began to maintain fleets. sions in the second line; the 
from twenty to fifty and even The Greeks bad more reason to centre was composed of one line, 
more. Hence there was a class improve their naval than their "This order," says Xenophon, 
of ships, which derived their military tactics. They were of- "was chosen, that the fleet 
name from that circumstance, ten obliged to contend with might not be broken through.'' 
But the incident which made a fleets, superior to their own not The Spartan fleet, on the con- 
real and indeed the only epoch only in number, but also in the trary, formed but one line, pre* 
in the history of Grecian naval excellence of vessels ; for in the pared for sailing round, or 
architecture, is the invention of Persian war the squadrons of the breaking through the enemy, 
the triremes. They were dis- Phoenicians were arrayed against The battle was obstinate; it was 
tinguished by the triple rank of them. Even when the victory long before the Athenians gained 
benches for rowing, placed one had been gained, the safety of the victory, when Callicratidas 
above the other. It thus became Greece still depended on its fell. His steersman, before the 
necessary to build the vessels maritime force. This formed the battle, had advised him to re- 
much higher; and though swift- foundation of the greatness of the treat, on account of the greatly 
ness was carefully attended to, first among the Grecian cities, superior force of the Athenians, 
strength and firmness must have Naval actions, more than battles " Were I to fall, Sparta could 
been considered of equal import- by land, decided the destiny of exist as well without me," was 
ance. Even before the Macedo- the rival powers. his answer, 

nian age, and always after it, the The naval tactics which were The naval tactics of the an- 
chief strength of the Grecian now known to the Greeks, con- cients were farther improved in 
fleet lay in the triremes, in the sisted chiefly in sailing round and the wars between the Romans 
same manner that in modern through the enemy's line. The and Carthaginians, and under the 
fleets the principal force is in object of the first was to extend Ptolemies. In forming an opin- 
ships of the line of the second the line beyond the opposite ion respecting them, two things 
and third rate. The structure of wings; of the second, to break should be borne in mind. First: 
the triremes would alone war- through that of the enemy. To less depended on the wind than 
rant the inference, that a naval prevent this, the other fleet was in modern tactics; for the tri- 
force, that is, a squadron destined drawn up in two lines, and with remes were moved more by oars 
solely for war, and possessed by intervals, so that the divisions of than sails. Secondly: when bat- 
the state, did not exist in Greece the second line could pass through ties were fought hand to hand, 
till after the invention of these the intervals in the first, and and the ships always ran along 
vessels. But there is in Thucy- thus assist them when assist- side of each other, the manceu- 
dides a passage which, in my ance was needed. This order vres of the fleets could not be so 
opinion, settles this point beyond was particularly understood by various or decisive, as when the 
a doubt. " When, after the abo- the Athenians, who also adopted ships remain at a certain dis- 
lition of monarchies, the cities another method of attack, not tance, and manoeuvres can be 
became more wealthy, the Greeks with the prow, but obliquely performed during the whole ac- 
began to build fleets, and to pay from the side; so that the oars tion. But though the naval tac- 
more attention to naval affairs, of the enemy's ship were tics of the moderns are more dif- 
The Corinthians were the first broken, and the ship thus made ficult and intricate, we must not 
to change the ships according to unmanageable. In those matters, conclude that the seafights of the 
our present form ; for in Greece the Athenians were superior not ancients were comparatively in- 
the first triremes were built at only to the Spartans, but even to significant. They decided wars 
Corinth; End it was the ship- the Syracusans. in ancient much more frequently 

builder Aminocles of Corinth, The last two years of the Pe- than in modern times ; and if the 
who built for the Samians four loponnesian war were particu- loss of men is to be taken into 
such vessels. But it was about laily remarkable for naval en- consideration, it might easily be 
three hundred years before the counters; but for a knowledge of shown, that one naval engage- 
end of this war that Aminocles tactics, the engagement between ment of the ancients often swept 
came to the Samians. The first the Spartans under Caliicrati- away more men, than three, or 
seafight with which we are ac- das, and the Athenians, near even more, in ourdays.— Hecren'S 
quainted, was fonght between the Lesbos, alone deserves notice; Greece, pp. 20S — 21b. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



523 



their first attempts in shallow waters, and trusted not themselves at any- 
considerable distance from the shore : but being emboldened by frequent 
trials, they proceeded farther by degrees, till at length they took courage, 
and launched forth into the main ocean. 1 

To whom the world is indebted for the invention of ships, is, like all 
things of such antiquity, uncertain: there are several persons who seem 
to make equal pretensions to this honour ; as Prometheus, Neptune, Janus, 
Atlas, Hercules, Jason, Danaus, Erytlmeus, &c. ; but by common fame 
it is given to Minerva, the happy mother of all arts and sciences. Some 
who, leaving these antiquated fables of the poets, pretend to something 
more of certainty in what they deliver, ascribe the invention to the inha- 
bitants of some of those places that lie upon the sea-coasts, and are by 
nature designed, as it were, for harbouring ships, such as the iEginensi- 
ans, Phoenicians, 2 &c. The reason of this disagreement seems to have 
proceeded partly from the different places where navigation was first 
practised (for it was never peculiar to any one people, and from them 
communicated to the rest of the world, but was found in countries far dis- 
tant from one another), and in part from the various sorts of ships, some 
of which being first built by the persons above-mentioned, have entitled 
them to the whole invention. 

The first ships were built without art or contrivance, and had neither 
strength nor durableness, beauty nor ornament; but consisted only of 
planks laid together, and just so compacted as to keep out the water. 3 In 
some places they were nothing else but trunks of trees made hollow, which 
were called vrXola, povoZ.vXu., as consisting only of one piece of timber. 4 

In later ages, also, they were made use of at some places, being the 
same with those called <rKa(p'/i, in the strict and most proper acceptation 
of that word, 5 from ffxci*riff6ai, as made by hollowing, and, as it were, 
digging in a tree. Nor was wood alone applied to this use, but any other 
materials that float upon the water without sinking, such as the Egyptian 
reed papyrus, or, to mention no more, leather, of which the primitive 
ships were frequently composed, and called *\o7a litph^ivcc, or ^^«t/v«. 
These were sometimes begirt with wickers, and frequently used in that 
manner upon the rivers of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sabsean Arabia, even in 
later times; but in the first of them, we find no mention of any thing but 
leather, or hides sewed together. In a ship of this sort, Dardanus secured 
his flight to the country afterwards called Troas, when by a terrible deluge 
he was forced to leave Samothrace, his former place of residence. Cha- 
ron's infernal boat was of the same composition. 7 

When ships were brought to a little more perfection, and increased in 
size, the sight of them struck the ignorant people with terror and amaze- 
ment; for it was no small surprise to behold great floating castles of un- 

1 Claudian Prsefat. in Rap. 3 Maximus Tyr. Dissert. 40. 6 Lycopb. Cassandr. ej usque 
Proserpinae. Isodorus. Scliol. 75. 

2 Plin. v. 12. Stiabo, xvi, 4 Virg. Georgic. i. 13G. 7 Virgil. iEneid. vi. 111. 
Mela, i. 13. 5 Polyasmus, v. 



524 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



usual forms;, full of living men, and with wings, as it were, expanded, 
flying upon the sea: 1 what else could have given occasion to the fiction or 
Perseus' flight to the Gorgons, who, as Aristophanes expressly tells us, 
was carried in a ship? 2 

Yli^trvj; (Too; "Aoyo; vctvtX70}S)v to Tooyovog tfagoczotxi^wv. 

What other origin could there be for the famous story of Triptolemus, 
who was famed to ride upon a winged dragon, only because in a time of 
dearth at Athens he sailed to more fruitful countries to supply the neces- 
sities of his people? or to the fable of the winged horse Pegasus, who 3 
was nothing but a ship of that name with sails, and for that reason was 
feigned to be the offspring of Neptune the emperor of the sea? 4 Nor was 
there any other ground for the stories of griffins, or of ships transformed, 
into birds and fishes, which we frequently meet with in the ancient poets. 
So acceptable to the first ages of the world were inventions of this nature, 
that whoever made any improvements in the art of navigation, built new 
ships, of forms better fitted for strength or swiftness than those before 
used, rendered the old more commodious by any additional contrivance, 
or discovered countries untraeed by former travellers, were thought worthy 
of the greatest honours, and, like other common benefactors to mankind, 
admitted into the number of the deified heroes; they had their inventions 
also consecrated and fixed in the heavens: hence we have the signs of 
Aries and Taurus, which were nothing but two ships ; the former trans- 
ported Phryxus from Greece to Colchos, the latter Europa out of Phoeni- 
cia into Crete: Argo likewise, Pegasus, and Perseus' whale, were new 
sorts of ships, which being held in great admiration by the rude and ig- 
norant mortals of those times, were, in memory of their inventors, trans- 
lated amongst the stars, and metamorphosed into constellations by the 
poets of those or the succeeding ages. 

At their first appearance in the world, all ships, for whatever use de- 
signed, were of the same form; but the various ends of navigation, some 
of which were better answered by one form, some by another, soon gave 
occasion to fit out ships, not in bigness only, but in the manner of their 
construction and equipment, differing from one another. They were 
chiefly of three sorts, ships of burden, of war, and of passage. Ships of 
passage were distinguished by several names, taken usually from their 
cargoes; those that served for the transportation of men being called by 
the general names of tto^o, and lsr/j8«Jsj, or, when filled with armed men, 
by the particular titles of ovrXiroiyutyo), and crr^xri^n^a, those in which 
horses were transported were named Inrxnyo), ivrwciyojyo), and hippagines. 

Ships of burden were called Sixddss, (pogr'/iyo), and vrXoTcc, to distinguish 
them from ships of war, which were properly termed vnsg, they were 
usually of an orbicular form, having large and capacious holds to contain 
the greater quantity of victuals, provisions, and other necessaries with 



1 Apollonius, ejusquc Schouastrs. 

2 Thcsniophar. 



3 Palaspliaf us, Artemidorus. 

4 Vossius Idol. iii. 49. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



525 



which they were la- 
den ; whence they 
were sometimes cal- 
led argoyyvXui, as 
on the contrary, 
ships of war were 
named fta.x.pct), 1 be- 
ing extended to a 
greater length than 
the former, in which 
respect they agreed OXxccs. 

in part with the transport vessels, which were of a form betwixt the ships of 
war and burden, being exceeded by the latter in capaciousness, by the former 
in length. There was likewise another difference amongst these ships ; for 
men of war, though not wholly destitute of sails, were chiefly rowed with 
oars, that they might be the more able to tack about upon any advantage, 
and approach the enemy on his weakest side ; whereas vessels governed 
by sails, being left to the mercy of the winds, could not be managed by 

so steady a conduct ; 
hence the ships of 
war were usually 
styled WiKutfoi, and 
xwrrioyi. Ships of 
burden were com- 
monly governed with 
sails, and those of 
transport often towed 
with cords: not but 
that in both these all 

the three ways of government, viz. by sail, oar, and cords, were occa- 
sionally made use of. 

Ships of war are said to have been first rigged out by Parhalus, or 
Samyres ; or, as others say, by Semiramis ; but according to some, 2 by 
JEgseon. They were farther distinguished from other sorts of ships by 
various engines, and accessions of building, some to defend their own sol- 
diers, others to annoy enemies ; and from one another, in later ages, by 
several orders, or banks of oars, which were not, as some vainly imagine, 
placed upon the same level in different parts of the ships ; nor yet, accord- 
ing to others, directly and perpendicularly above one another's heads ; but 
their seats, being fixed one at the back of another, ascended gradually in 
the manner of stairs. 3 The most usual number of these banks was three, 



1 Ulpianus in Deraosth. Orat. structure of the ancient galley, is, that the different banks of 
adv. Leptinem. or rather regarding the arrange- oars in the galleys were placed 

2 Plin. Nat. Hist. vii. ult. ment of the banks of oars by one above another. Morisotuts, 
There have been many theories which it was propelled. The in his Orbis M.iritimus, holds 

and disquisitions regarding the inost common idea on the subject this opinion, and quotes a passage 





526 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



four, and five ; whence there is so frequent mention of vmg xgifymi tst^j?- 
guS) and tfivrr/ioiis, trireme, quadrireme, and quinquireme galleys, which 



from the emperor Leo, which he 
thinks conclusive. The words 
are: "Every ship of war must 
be of its due length, having two 
ranks of oars, the one higher, 
and the other lower." But the 
naval practice of the Byzantine 
empire can prove nothing on this 
question. Since the victory of 
Actium, which Augustus ascribed 
to his Liburnian galleys of one 
bank, the naval science of anti- 
quity had certainly declined. 
The galleys of many banks had 
been laid aside; and the dro- 
inones, or vessels of two tiers, of 
Leo, would bear only a faint re- 
semblance to the majestic con- 
struction of more vigorous ages. 
If the rating of the galleys had 
ascended no higher than three or 
five tiers, there would be little 
difficulty in imagining them to 
have been disposed as Morisotus 
affirms; but it is well known that 
galleys were constructed and 
used in naval warfare, not only 
of five and seven tiers, but even, 
of twelve, by Alexander the 
Great; of fifteen,, by Ptolemy 
Soter; and of sixteen, by Philip, 
father of Perseus: And, finally, 
Ptolemy Philopater built one of 
no less than forty banks of oars. 
This last was designed, doubt- 
less, for display ; but still it was 
used; and the galleys of fifteen 
or sixteen banks were certainly 
employed in actual warlike ser- 
vice. Now, it is quite neediess 
to dwell on the absurdity of sup- 
posing that any oar could be con- 
structed of sufficient dimensions 
to be worked at the height of 
forty, or even fifteen tiers from 
the water. The great length of 
oar, which such an arrangement 
would require, would at once 
render it perfectly useless and 
unmanageable. An oar fifiy- 
seven feet long cannot be placed 
to pull with any effect, if its 
row-lock be more than ten feet 
above the horizontal line of the 
water, without rising at the upper 
end to a strangely inconvenient 
height, while, with the blade or 
lower end, it will make a most 
immoderate or impracticable dip. 
Yet thirty-eight cubits, or fifty- 
seven feet, is the precise length 
assigned by Athenams to the 
longest oars of Ptolemy's galley 
of forty banks. If these oars, 
then, could only have been ten 
feet above water in the highest 
tier, how can we possibly ima- 
gine any consistent arrangement 
of forty, or even ten tiers below, 
ascending either perpendicularly 
or obliquely in chequer? 

The second solution that has 
been proposed is, that the differ- 
ent banks of oars were ranged, 
not one above another, but in 
one continuous line along the 
eide of the galley; the first in 
her bows, the second in her 



waist, the third in her stern, 
when a trireme; and if ot a 
greater rank, Ihe different banks 
were still added on the same line 
from prow to poop, with intervals 
between. This opinion has 
many supporters of great learn- 
ing and merit. Though main- 
tained by Stewechius and Castili- 
onius, it is no! more tenable than 
the last, and the faint representa- 
tions left on Trajan's column are 
directly contrary to this hypo- 
thesis. It is not necessary here 
to quote the numerous passages 
in almost every author, which 
occur at variance with this the- 
ory, and not to be reconciled with 
it. One or two objections only 
may be stated. in building a 
gahey after this manner, the 
loss of power is great, and need- 
lessly thrown away, by breaking 
up the continuous range of oars 
that otherwise would have been 
obtained along the sides of the 
vessel, to gain no apparent ad- 
vantage. Besides, the length of 
a galley even of ten oars, con- 
structed ascording to this hypo- 
thesis, must have been enormous, 
and far exceeded the forty tier 
gall y of Ptolemy, the length of 
which, Athenaeus expressly says, 
was 280 cubits, or 420 feet. Her 
longest oar was 57 feet. A less 
distance than four feet cannot be 
allowed between each rower's 
seat for oars of this length, as 
one third at least of the oar must 
be within the scalmi, to pull with 
aiy effect. Thus, four times 
forty is 160, for forty oars, leav- 
ing 260 feet, a part of which 
would be consumed in the curva- 
ture of her stem and stern: she 
could not have had three oars in 
a bank, as three times forty is 
120, the distance of four feet be- 
tween is four times 120, or 4S0 
feet, that is, 60 feet more than 
her length, so that she could only 
be, were this opinion correct, 
a galley with one bench of 
oars. Independent of this, we 
are told she had longer and 
shorter oars, and these would 
evidently be quiie unnecessary 
in a galley so constructed. 

A modification of this conjec- 
ture has been proposed by the 
Chevalier de Lo Looz, who, in. 
his Recherches d'Antiquites Mi- 
litates, suggests, that the ordi- 
nary trireme had three separate 
ranges of oars in the bows, the 
waists, and the stern quarter, 
not exactly in a continuous line, 
but each range rising a little 
above the other from stem to 
stern; that by raising a second 
tier upon one, two, or all of the 
three, the vessel would be con- 
verted into a quadrireme, a quin- 
quireme, or a hexireme, respec- 
tively; that, in like manner, five 
or six tiers upon each range 
would raise the vessel into a gal- 



ley of fifteen or eighteen banks; 
and thus in all the intermediate 
rates. In the case of a galley 
of a yet higher rate and greater 
length, he supposes that there 
might have been two ranges in a 
line in the bows, and the same 
in the waist and stern quarter : 
and six tiers upon each would 
thus give thirty-six btmks. In 
the instance of Ptolemy Philopa- 
ter's galley of forty banks, there 
would be six tiers upon four of 
the ranges, and eight upon the 
other two. This plan, though 
somewhat fanciful, is plausible, 
and m:iy be reconciled with the 
descriptions of ancient authors 
extant on the subject. 

Another method of arrange- 
ment was advanced so far back 
as the sixteenth century by Sir 
Henry Savile, who supposes that 
the oars were not placed one 
above another in a straight line, 
neither in a line from stem to 
stern, but were arranged in an 
oblique manner from the sides of 
the galley to her middle. But 
this would require the galleys to 
be built of a breadth incompetent 
quite with their title—ware* lun- 
gee, — even were it possible to 
place the rowers to work effi- 
ciently, which it is not. 

The next suggestion which 
claims attention is, that the tri- 
reme received its name from 
three men pulling at the same 
oar, the quinquireme from five, 
and so on. But this hypothesis 
becomes at once untenable, when 
we recollect that Ptolemy's gal- 
ley must thus have had forty 
men to each oar, and must have 
had all its oars in a single line, 
■which it certainly had not; as 
appears by a passage in Athen- 
aeus, in which oars "of the 
highest rank" are spok°n of in 
evident contradistinction to those 
of other tiers. 31any other pas- 
sages from ancient writers might 
be adduced, destructive to tnis 
theory. * 

The theory maintained by Yos- 
sius in his treatise on the Tri- 
reme and Liburnicae, and in 
which Le Roy very nearly coin- 
cides, goes very little farther to 
remove the difficulties of the 
question. These authors, aware 
of the futility of supposing either 
that the oars were all in one 
line, cr could be used in fifteen 
or forty horizontal tiers, are 
willing to compound former hy- 
potheses, by concluding that the 
tiers rose obliquely over each 
other to the number of five or 
seven; and that, beyond this 
height, the rating was estimated 
only by the number of men to an 
oar. Thus, in the galley of forty 
banks, there would be five tiers 
with twelve men at each oar of 
the highest, ten at the next be- 
low, and so on until the lowest 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



527 



exceeded one another by a bank of oars, and consequently were built more 
hi-h, and rowed with greater strength. In the primitive times, the long 



oar had cnly four rowers, to make It often occurs in modern war- 

forty in aii. But if a galley were fare that a ship is under-manned, 

under-manned, her rate would yet it does not alter her rate: 

tnus be lowered at once; and this neither did it with the ancients, 

change is never noticed by the The theory of Vossius is that in 

historians, though they often which Potter coincides. Le 

■Speak of the galleys being with- Roy's view of the subject, as we 

oat their full complement of men. have said, differs little fiom it. 



his 



rowers more room 
thark> Vossius, and limits the 
benches to five. The following 
cuts represent the arrangement 
proposed by him of the larger 
galieys, the first being a front, 
and the other a sectional view : 




ff 

Another hypothesis which has 
received the approval of the 
learned Mir ford, is that of Gene- 
ral Melville It agrees with that 
of Vossius ( .nd Le Roy in placing 
the tiers one above the other ob- 
liquely, the higher rowers being 
chequered in quincunx with the 
lower; but it allows only one man 
to each oar. It farther supposes, 
that, for the working cf the oars 
with greater effect, a gallery, in 
which the rowers were placed, 
projected from the side of the 
vessel, a little above the water- 
mark, at an angie of 45°. But 
such construction will at once 
appear totally inapplicable to any 
galley of more tiers than five or 
six, and the projecting galleries 
even of these must have render- 
ed the vessel crank and diffi- 
cult to trim.' Besides, as it al- 
lows only one man to an oar, the 
galley of Ptolemy Philopater, 
\v:.ich we are informed was man- 
ned with four thousand rowers, 
must, according to this theory, 
have had the incredible number 
of two thousand oars on a side. 

The last theory on the subject 
is that of Mr Howell of Edin- 
burgh, who, in an ingenious es- 
say on the war galleys of the an- 
cients, published ia 1826, has 
advanced an hypothesis so feasi- 
ble as to almost set the matter in 
dispute at rest. This theory is 
a follows. Suppose a vessel of 




Si I £ J 



nal form, pulling 



oooooooooo 

the ancients, he imagines, found, 
that. without adding to the length 
of the vessel, they could have the 
sime number of oars in nearly 
one half of the length, by plac- 
ing the oars obliquely, thus, up 
the side of fh? galley. 



By this means the rowers being 
all placed in the midships, amph; 
room would be left for an elevated 
deck for combat at the poop end 
prow. Thus, then, according to 
Mr Howell, originated the crea- 



528 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ships had only one bank of oars, whence they are sometimes termed 
ffiovygu;, and xiX'/}r&s f from the name of a single horse: and therefore, 
when we find them called vr&vrqzovrogoi, and upwards as far as IxxrovTogoi, 
we are not to suppose they were rowed with fifty or a hundred banks, but 
only with so many oars ; one of these was the ship Argo, which was rowed 
with fifty oars, being the first of the long ships, and was invented by 
Jason, A. C. 1253; whereas till that time all sorts of vessels had been of 



tion of a bireme; and when this 
idea was once started, of placing 
the banks of five oars each ob- 
liquely, the extension of the plan 
was easy to an indefinite degree, 
simply by adding to the length of 
the galley, without at all in- 
creasing her height. The oar- 
ports of a trireme would, for in- 
stance, appear thus: — 



a qulnquireme thus:- 



and so on, until the galley of 
Ptolemy Philopater would count 
forty of these oblique ascents, 
behind one another from stem to 
stern, and each of five oars, with- 
out being necessarily higher in 
the water than a bireme. 

This theory is in agreement 
with most of the passages refer- 
ring to galleys and matters of 
military marine in the ancient 
authors. It at once obviates the 
absurdity contained in that mon- 
strous supposition, that even 
forty banks must have been 
placed one over another. Nor 
would there be any inconveni- 
ence in the oblique ascending 
series of five oars in each bank. 
It justifies also the general title, 
applied to war-galleys — naves 
longce; the appropriateness of 



which would be utterly lost in 
the huge proportions of a galley 
of forty, or even ten banks rising 
one above another: while it 
agrees with the inevitable de- 
duction from various writers, 
and from the imperfect repre- 
sentation on Trajan's column, 
that there were at least several 
ascending tiers of oar-ports, re- 
quiring oars of various lengths. 
It moreover is in accordance with 
the appearance of the galleys on 
Duiltus' rostrated column ; on 
which, in the beaks of the ves- 
sels there are no oars: leading 
us to conclude that these were 
placed only in the waist. 

Tue annexed cut represents the 
model of a hexireme, constructed 
by Mr Howell, according to his 
theory. 




REFERENCES. 

1 TpSvris, carina. 

2 «c4to$, testudo. 
8 irXevpal, latera. 

4 Toi x °h fori v. transtra. 

5 Uytwira, foramina remorum. 

6 irpipa, prora. 

7 npvfiVTj., qvoZ, puppis, cauda. 



8 dvpacToXta et (ttoXoj, corymbi 16 ?<rroj, malus. 



vel corona. 

9 &<p\aora, corymbi. 

10 o<p6a\ yuof, oculus navis. 

11 e-retTQoizTT, tutela. 

12 vrjSaXiov, gubernaculum. 

13 epfioXos, rostrum. 

14 Kara(pga,yfi.a T a^ stega. 

15 Karai-pApa, catastroma. 



17 iVrta, vela. 

18 K^pala, antenna. 

19 7roosy, pedes. 

20 irgorovoiy funes qui malum SU9- 
tinent. 

21 Spavi'rai, thranitai. 

22 Kvy&, juga. 

23 $a\df*ol } tbalamois 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



529 




a form inclining to oval: others 1 carry the invention of long ships some- 
thing higher, referring it to Danaus, who, they tell us, sailed from Egypt 
into Greece in a ship of fifty oars ; and however Jason should be allowed 
to have introduced them into Greece, yet he cannot be thought their first 
contriver, but rather the imitator of the Egyptian or African model, the 
latter of which was composed some time before by Atlas, and was much 
used in those parts. The Erythraeans were the first that used a double 
bank of oars ; 2 which was farther enlarged by Aminocles of Corinth, or by 
the Sidonians, 3 with the accession of a third: 4 to these Aristotle, a Cartha- 
ginian, added a fourth ; Nesicthon of Salamis, 5 or Dionysius the Sicilian, 6 
a fifth; Xenagoras the Syracusan, a sixth; Nesigiton increased the num- 
ber to ten ; Alexander the Great, to twelve ; Ptolemy Soter, to fifteen : 
Philip, the father of Perseus, had a ship of sixteen banks ; 7 then, for it 
was easy to make additions, when the method of erecting one bank above 
another had been found out ; Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, built a 
ship of thirty banks ; and Ptolemy Philopater, from a vain-glorious desire 
to outdo all the world besides, farther enlarged the number to forty, 8 
which, all other things bearing a just proportion, raised the ship to such a 
prodigious size, that it appeared at a distance like a floating mountain, or 
island, and, upon a nearer view, seemed like a huge castle upon the floods. 
It contained four thousand rowers, four hundred mariners employed in 
other services, and nearly three thousand soldiers. But this, and such 
like fabrics, served only for show and ostentation, being by their great 
bulk rendered unwieldy and unfit for use. The common names by which 
they were known, were Cyclades, or JEtnze, islands or mountains, to 
which they seemed almost equal in size, consisting, as some report, of as 
many materials as would have been sufficient for the construction of at 
least fifty triremes. 

Besides those already mentioned, there were other ships, with half 
banks of oars ; such as hfuoXlcL, or yp,'io\o$, which seems to have been be- 
twixt an unireme and bireme, and consisted of a bank and a half; and 
Toir,o^fjt,ioXtu,^ betwixt a bireme and trireme, having two banks and a half: 
these, though perhaps built in other respects after the model of the long 
ships, or men of war, are seldom comprehended under that name, and are 

1 Apollodorus BibUoth. ii. 4 Clem. Alex. Stromal, i. 7 Polyb. in Frag, et Livius. 

2 Piinius. 5 Piin. 8 Pltit. Demet, Athenw. v. 

3 Herod. Thiicyd, Diod. Sic, (i Diod.' Sic. 

2 Y 



530 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



sometimes mentioned in opposition to them. Several other ships are 
mentioned, which differed from those already enumerated ; being fitted 
for particular uses, or certain seas ; employed upon urgent necessities i**. 
naval fights, but more commonly as vtfn^rixa.), tenders, and victualling- 
ships, to supply the main fleet with provisions ; and sometimes built for 
expedition to carry expresses, and observe the enemy's motions, without 
danger of being seized by the heavier and armed vessels. These were 
distinguished from the former by the manner of their construction and 
equipment, being in part like men of war, partly like ships of burden, and 
in some things differing from both, as the various exigencies they served 
in seemed to require. 



CHAP. XV. 

OF THE PARTS, ORNAMENTS, &C. OF SHIPPING. 

Having treated of the different sorts of ships used amongst the ancient 
Greeks, I shall next endeavour to describe the principal parts of which 
they consisted ; and in doing so, shall chiefly follow the account of Schef- 
fer, who has discussed this subject so copiously, and with such industry 
and learning, that very little room is left for farther enlargement. 

The principal parts of which ships consisted were three, viz. the body, 
the prow, and the stern : these were again composed of other smaller parts, 
which shall briefly be described in their order. 

1. In the body, or middle part of the ship, was r^cr;?, the keel, which 
was composed of wood, and therefore, from its strength and firmness, 
called ffTu^n: it was placed at the bottom of the ship, being designed to 
cut and glide through the waves, 1 and therefore was not broad, but narrow 
and sharp ; whence it may be perceived that not all ships, but only the 
fj,anou.), whose bodies were strait, and of a small circumference, were pro- 
vided with keels, the rest having usually flat bottoms. 2 Round the 
keel were placed pieces of wood, to save it from damage when the ship 
was first launched into the water, or when it bulged against rocks ; these 
were called xtXtucrpcx.ra,, in Latin cunei. 3 

Next to the keel was QdXxi; f within which was contained the ocvrXia, 
or pump, through which water was conveyed out of the ship. 5 

After this was ^iur^oe. rgfot$; the second keel, or keelson, being placed 
beneath the pump, and called XsWW, 'fttfa-xfaij, fcXsiro^ohov^ By some 
it is falsely supposed to be the same with Qa*»i$. 

Above the pump was a hollow place, called by Herodotus xatKn mk 
wog ; by Pollux xvros and yoccr^x, because large and capacious, after the 



1 Homeri Schol. Odyss. p.', 3 Ovid. Metam. vi. 516. 5 Aristoph. Schol. Bqait. 

2 Isidor. xxi. 1. 4 Pollux. 6 Pollux. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



53 1 



form of a vessel or belly ; by the Latins testudo. This was surrounded 
with ribs, which were pieces of wood rising from the keel upwards, and 
called by Hesychius vopus ; by others iyxmktec, the belly of the ship being 
contained within them ; in Latin costce ; upon these were placed certain 
planks, which Aristophanes calls Ivrsgovuusj or ivri^uvilcc. 

The *tev0Ui, or sides of the ship, which encompassed all the former 
parts on both hands, were composed of large rafters, extended from prow 
to stem, and called vKo&para.^ gatrrvgzs, 2 and ^^/a^aro, 3 because by 
them the whole fabric was begirt or surrounded. 

In both these sides, the rowers had their places, called roT^et, and 
MioXicc, in Latin fori and transtra, placed above one another: the lowest 
was called SaXa/aos, and those that laboured in it SaXapioi : the middle 
£vya, and the men Zjiyw. the uppermost S-geHvot, whence the rowers were 
termed S-guvlrouJ 1 In these were spaces through which the rowers put c 
their oars ; these were sometimes one continued vacuity from one end to 
the other, called <rga<prt%, but more usually distinct holes, each of which 
was designed for a single oar; these were styled r^ftxra, r^vsr^fAura, as 
also o(p$u\L*,o), because not unlike the eyes of living creatures: all of them 
were, by a more general name, termed lyxarfu, from containing the oars: 5 
but lyxairov seems to have been another thing, signifying the spaces be- 
tween the banks of oars on each side, where the passengers were placed : 
on the top of all these, was a passage, or place to walk in, called sraga^j 
and vagdifyavos, as joining to the S-edvoi, or uppermost bank of oars. 

2. rig^a, 6 the prow or fore- 
deck, whence it is sometimes 
called ft\rutew t the' forehead, 
and commonly distinguished 
by other metaphorical titles 
taken from human faces. In 
some ships there is mention of 
two prows, as likewise of two 
sterns. The ship of Danaus 
was thus adorned by Minerva, 
when he fled from Egypt. It 
was customary to beautify the 
prow with gold, and various sorts of paint and colours. In the primitive 
times, red was most in use ; whence Homer's ships were commonly digni- 
fied with the titles of fAiXrovctgyoi, and (pornxovragyot, or red-faced. The 
blue, likewise, or sky-colour, was frequently made use of, as bearing a 
near resemblance to the colour of the sea, whence we find ships called by 
Homer xua,vo*ga>£oi, by Aristophanes xvuvipfioXoi. Several other colours 
were also made use of, nor were they barely varnished over with them, 




3 Plato de Rep. x. 

2 Heliodorus iEthiopicis. 

3 Aristoph. Equitibus. 

4 Pollux. 5 Athenasus, \ 



6 The above figure, from Fa- be found in the context: a, xv*'— 

bretti, gives a representation of «o$ ; b, l^/SoXow ; c, uf9a\/xal ; d, 

the different parts of a ship's irapiotj/j-ov, here representing a 

prow, u description of which will sea-horse; e, tute'a. 

2 y 2 



532 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



but very often annealed by wax melted in the fire, so that neither the sun» 
winds, or water, were able to deface them. The art of doing this was 
called, from the wax, xngoypcc<p'ix; from the fire, lynxvo-nx^. 1 In these 
colours, the various forms of gods, animals, plants, &c. were usually de- 
scribed, which were often added as ornaments to other parts also of the 
ships, as plainly appears from the ancient monuments presented to the 
world by Bayfius. 

The sides of the prow were termed v-tipx, or wings ; and sra^'a, ac- 
cording to Scheffer, or rather vraouu), for since the prow is commonly 
compared to a human face, it will naturally follow that its sides should be 
called cheeks. The top of these, as likewise of the stern, was called vrct^i- 
££/££07«, 2 because void of rowers. 

3. UgvfAvvi? the hind deck, or stern, 
sometimes called oupx, the tailj be- 
cause the hindmost part of the ship. 
It was of a figure more inclining to 
round than the prow, the extremity of 
which was sharp that it might cut the 
waters; it was also built higher than 
the prow, and was the place where 
the pilot sat to steer: the bow of it 
was called Ivio-s'iwv, and the planks of 
which that was composed rk vnpi- 
rovuu. There was another place 
something below the top, called aaa.^ 
hov, the interior part of which was 
termed hfepuov. 

The ornaments with which the ex- 
tremities of the ship were beautified, 
were commonly called, in general, 
ocfcoovtcx,^ or vsav zor/vvt^if ; 5 in Latin, 
corymbi; which name is taken from the Greek xopvpficc, used in Homer: 

though this word, in Greek, is not, as in the Latin, applied to the orna- 
ments of both ends, but only to those of the prow: 6 these are likewise 
called axpoa-roXsx, because placed at the extremity of the o-rokos, which 
was a long plank at the head of the prow, and therefore sometimes termed 
vfiPiziQciXata,.' 1 The form of them sometimes resembled helmets, some- 
times living creatures, but most frequently was winded into a round com- 
pass, whence they are so commonly named corymba and coronce. 

To the axpoa-ToXtoc in the prow, answered the aQXacrTo. in the stern, 
which were often of an orbicular figure, or fashioned like wings, to which 




1 Vitruv. vii. 9. Ovid. Fasto- jan's column, represents an ti<p- 
rum, iv. Xaorov, xwIvkos, banners, ship's 

2 Thucydidis Scholiastes. lantern, helm, and two rams' 

3 The above figure, from Tra- heads to protect the stern. 



4 Suidas. 

5 Homerus. 

6 Etymologici Auctor. 

7 Pollu*. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



533 



a little shield, called aff^t^uov, or ourtfiYiffKYi, was frequently affixed; some- 
times a piece of wood was erected, on which ribands of various colours 
were hung, and served instead of a flag 1 to distinguish the ship, and of a 
weather-cock, to signify the quarters of the wind. 

Xw'ierxos was so called from %hv, a goose, whose figure it resembled, 
because geese were looked on as fortunate omens to mariners, from their 
swimming on the surface of the waters. This ornament according to 
some, was fixed at the bottom of the prow, where it was joined to the 
foremost part of the keel, and was the part to which anchors were fastened 
when cast into the sea ; but others carry it to the other end of the ship, 
and fix it upon the extremity of the stern. 2 

Uagccc'/ifjiov was the flag by which ships were distinguished from one 
another: it was placed in the prow, just below the ffroXo;, being some- 
times carved, and frequently painted (whence it is in Latin termed pic- 
tura), representing the form of a mountain, a tree, a flower, or any other 
thing: in this it was distinguished from what is called tutela, or the safe- 
guard of the ship, which always represented some of the gods, to whose 
care and protection the ship was recommended ; for which reason it was 
held sacred, and had the privilege of being a refuge and sanctuary to such 
as fled to it; prayers also and sacrifices were offered, and oaths confirmed 
before it, as the mansion of the tutelary and presiding deity of the ship: 
now and then we .find it taken for the vcioao-vftov, 3 and perhaps, in some 
few instances, the images of gods might be represented upon the flags: by 
some it is placed also in the prow, 4 but by most authors of credit it is as- 
signed to the stern. 5 Farther, the tutela and vagciffnpov are frequently 
distinguished in express words, that being always signified by the image 
of a god ; this usually of some creature, or feigned representation. 6 The 
ship in which Europa was conveyed from Phoenicia into Crete, had a bull 
for its flag, and Jupiter for its tutelary deity ; which gave occasion to the 
fable of her being ravished by that god in the shape of a bull. It was cus- 
tomary for the ancients to commit their ships to the protection of those 
deities whom they thought most concerned for their safety, or to whom 
they bore any sort of relation or affection. Thus we learn, 7 that the whole 
fleet of Theseus, consisting of sixty sail, was under the care of Minerva, 
the protectress of Athens ; the navy of Achilles was committed to the 
Nereids, or sea-nymphs, because of the relation he had to them on account 
of his mother Thetis, who was one of their number ; and, to mention no 
more, the Boeotian ships had for their tutelary god Cadmus, represented 
with a dragon in his hand, because he was the founder of Thebes, the 
principal city in Boeotia. Nor were whole fleets only, but single ships 
recommended to certain deities, whom the ancients usually chose out of 
the number of those who were reputed the protectors of their country cr 

1 Pollux, Eustatliius. 4 Procopius in Esaia;. 12. Cy- 6 Tdem .le Tristibus. 

2 Etymologic; Auotor. rillns in Catena ad eimdem Pro- 7 Euripicl. Iphigenis. 

3 LactanMus, i. 1. Servius, phelam. 

J£ne\i, v. Gios.ae Veteres. 5 Ovid, Epist. ad Parid, 

2 v 3 



534 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



family, or who presided over the business they were going about; thus 
merchants committed themselves and their ships to the care of Mercury, 
soldiers to Mars, and lovers to Venus and Cupid. 1 

On the prow of the ship, about the trroXo;, was placed a round piece of 
wood called trrvtfsj and sometimes h$6a\[tos, the eye of the ship, because 
fixed in its fore-deck; 2 on this was inscribed the name of the ship, which 
was usually taken from the flag; thus Ovid tells us his ship received its 
name from the helmet painted upon it: hence comes the frequent mention 
of ships called Pegasi, Scyllse, Bulls, Rams, Tigers, &c. which the poets 
took the liberty of representing as living creatures that transported their 
riders from one country to another; nor was there, according to some, any 
other ground for the well known fictions of Pegasus, 3 the winged horse of 
Bellerophon, and of the Ram that is reported to have carried Phryxus to 
Colchos. 

The whole fabric being completed, it was fortified with pitch to secure 
the wood from the waters ; hence it is that Homer's ships are everywhere 
mentioned with the epithet of {tikatvou, black. The first that made use of 
pitch were the inhabitants of Phaeacia, 4 called afterwards Corsica. Wax 
was sometimes employed for the same purpose. 5 Now and then it was 
applied with a mixture of rosin, or other suitable materials ; whence the 
colour of ships was not always the same, and the epithets ascribed to them 
in the poets are various. 

After all, the ship being bedecked with garlands and flowers, the ma- 
riners also adorned with crowns, she was launched into the sea, with loud 
acclamations, and other expressions of mirth and joy; 6 and being purified 
by a priest with a lighted torch, an egg, and brimstone, 7 or after some 
other manner, was consecrated to the god whose image she bore. 



CHAP. XVI. 



OF THE TACKLING AND INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED IN NAVIGATION. 



The instruments used in navigation were of various kinds, being either 
necessary to all sorts of navigation, or only to some form of it, as that by 
sails, by oars, &c. The chief of the former sort were as follow : 



1 Ovid. Epist. Parid. v. 113. the asterisk of the sun, or the of Aurora, and of the thunder 

2 Pollux, Eustathius, Apollon. winged disc and hooded snakes, and lightning to Jupiter {Lyco- 
Scholiastes Argon, i. 1089. over his back; and also the use phron, 17.— Hes. Theog. 285.) 

3 "The horse," observes made of him as an emblematical an allegory of which the meaning 
Knight, "was sacred to Nep- device on the medals of many is obvious," Inquiry into the 
tune and the rivers; and em- Greek cities. In some instances Symb. Lang. sec. 111. — Class. 
ployed as a general symbol of the the body of the animal terminates Journ. vol. xxv. p. 34.)— Anth. 
waters, on account of a supposed in plumes; and in others has Lempriere, vol. ii. p. 1127. 
affinity, which we do not find only wings, so as to form the Pe- 4 Suidas, v. Hava-inaa. 

that modern naturalists have gasus, fabled by the later Greek 5 Ovid. Epist. OCnon. ver. 42. 

observed. Hence came the com- poets to have been ridden by Bel- 6 Athenetus, v. 

position, so frequent on the Car- lerophon, but only known to the 7 Apuleius, Asin. xi. 

thaginian corns, of the horse with ancient theogonists as the bearer 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE- 



535 



Ufihakiov, the rudder, placed in the hindmost deck, by which the pilot 
directed the course of the ship. The smaller sort of ships had only one 
rudder, but those of greater size, as often as occasion required, had more, 
insomuch that we sometimes read of four rudders in one vessel: the places 
of these are uncertain, being perhaps not always the same ; but it seems 
probable, that when there were only two rudders, one was fixed to the 
fore-deck, the other to the hindmost ; whence we read of njts a./u<p' t <z , gvftvot } 
or ships with two sterns; when there were four rudders, one seems to have 
been fixed to each side of the vessel. 

"Ayzuga, an anchor, the first invention of which some ascribe to the Tyr- 
rhenians, 1 others to Midas, the son of Gordius, whose anchor Pausanias tells 
us, was preserved in one of Jupiter's temples till his days. As there were 
different sorts of anchors, it is not improbable that both these may justly 
lay claim to part of the invention. The most ancient anchors are said to 
have been of stone, 2 and sometimes of wood, to which a great quantity of 
lead was usually fixed. In some places baskets full of stones, 3 and sacks 
filled with sand, were employed to the same use: all these were let 
down by cords into the sea, and by their weight stayed the course of the 
ship. Afterwards, anchors were composed of iron, and furnished with 
teeth, which being fastened to the bottom of the sea, preserved the ship 
immovable ; and hence olovng, and denies, are frequently taken for an- 
chors in the Greek and Latin poets. At first there was only one tooth, 
whence anchors were called Irsgorroftot ; 4 but in a short time a second was 
added by Eupalamus, 5 or Anacharsis, the Scythian philosopher. 6 The 
scholiast upon Apollonius 7 confidently affirms that this sort of anchors was 
used by the Argonauts, yet herein he seems to deserve no credit, for he is 
contradicted by the testimonies of other writers, and his own author Apol- 
lonius makes mention of none but those of stone. The anchors with two 
teeth were called etpxpifioku, or kpcpicrropoi, and from ancient monuments 
appear to have been much the same with those used in our days, only the 
transverse piece of wood upon their handles is wanting in all of them. 
Every ship had several anchors, one of which, surpassing all the rest in 
size and strength, was peculiarly termed hox, in Latin sacra, and was 
never used but in extreme danger ; whence sacram anchoram solvere is 
proverbially applied to such as were forced to their last refuge. 

Eopx, S&u'iXios, 'igurfiu, ballast, with which ships were poised, whence 
it is called etrQuXttr/ta vrXotou; it was usually of sand, but sometimes of 
any other ponderous matter. Diomedes, in his voyage from Troy, is said 
to have employed the stones of that city's walls to this use. 8 It is some- 
times called xi<p&\o; and xitpaXov. 9 

BoXis, called by Herodotus xccra^uonryioln, 10 by Lucilius catapirates, 11 
was an instrument with which they sounded the depth of the sea, and dis- 



1 Plin. viii. ult. 

2 Apolloni. Arg-on. Arfian. in 
Periplo Ponti Euxini. 

3 Joseph, et Suid. v. Zeffypa. 



4 Pollux. 

5 Plin. vii. ult. 

6 Strabo, x. ex Ephoio. 

7 Ai^on, i. v. 1271. 



8 Lycoph. Cassandr. ver. 618. 

9 Hesychius. 

10 Euterpe. 

11 Lib. xix. 4, 



536 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



covered whether the bottom was firm and commodious for anchoring, or 
dangerous by reason of quicksands or other obstructions. It was com-, 
monly of lead or brass, or other ponderous metal, and was let down by a 
chain into the deep. 1 

Kovroi, called by Sophocles arkntcrga, 2 in Latin conti, long poles, used 
to sound the depth of shallower waters, to thrust the ship from rocks and 
shelves, and to force her forwards in fords and shallows, where the waters 
had not strength enough to carry her. 

'Asfofb&Ooai, ivrt@oi0£cu, or xXipaxts, were little bridges or stairs joining 
the land to ships, or one ship to another. 

"AvtX/«5v, ccvrTiov, in Latin haustrum,, totteno, or tollena, &c, a swipe, 
or engine to draw up water. 

To some of the above-mentioned instruments certain ropes were re- 
quired, and distinguished according to their several uses; as, 

TliiffpaTx, the cables with which anchors were cast into the sea, called 
sometimes xuptku,* or xd/uyhon* hence, when Christ, speaking of the 
difficulty of a rich man's entering into heaven, tells his disciples, it is 
harder than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle ; Theophylact 
and some others interpret the word Ktzp^Xos, not of the animal called a 
camel, but a cable. 5 

'F'j/xarccy oXzoij or fftfuoai, parolcones, remulci, ropes by which ships 
were towed. 

'Atfoyux, Ivlyux, 'pri'itr/Aura, <rpvy~vyfftz f retinacula, cords wherewith 
ships were tied to the shore. In most harbours stones were erected for 
this purpose, being bored through like rings, and thence called ^axrvXiot' 
to these the cords cast out of the stem were bound : this custom was 
always observed when ships came into port ; and therefore, when they put 
to sea, it is usually said they did solvere funes, ' loose their cords.' 6 This 
was done, that the ships might be secured from the violence of the winds 
and waves ; for which reason, in those commodious harbours that lay not 
exposed to them, ships remained loose and untied; whence Homer: 7 

'Ev ie evopfios, IV ou xp*™ ^etofiaros efrrtv. So still the port, there was no need of ropes. 

The instruments required in rowing, were as follow: 



3 



8 Kuwait, oars, so called from one Copas, by whom it is said they were 

1 Glossaein Act.Apost. cap. 27. therefore, to apply for informa- found quite efficient, there was 

2 Pollux. tion to the moderns, and follow no inducement to alter it. Thus 

3 Aristoph. Schol. Isaac Vossius in his description an oar of thirty-six feet lone A to 

4 Phavorinus. of the oars in use in the ftledi- B, has from A to C a space of 

5 Matthsei Evangel cap 19. terranean galleys of his time, eleven feet within the galley: it 

6 Ovid Metani. xv. ver. 695. There was, in all probability, is hung upon the scalmi by (he 

7 Odyss. i'. 336. Vid. Annot. very little alteration in their con- thong at C; it is here extreme' v 
nosh\ in Lycoph. Cas. ver. 20. struction from their first use ua- thick, nine inches in diameter', 

8 The oars employed by the til the present time. It being and as the hand could not g:i=sp 
ancients in rowing are not de- simple in itself, and only adapted it, there is a handle fixed upon r, 
Ecribed by any of the ancient au- to one object, its improvement DD. It extends within to about 
thors, it may be reckoned best, must have been rapid, and when three feet of the scalmi thuiu. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



537 



first invented. IlAar*?, in Latin palmula, or to?isa, was the blade, or 
broad part of the oar, which was usually covered with brass, that it might 
with greater strength and force repel the waves, and endure the longer. 
There were several banks of oars, placed gradually above one another ; the 
oars of the lowest bank were shorter than the rest, and called Sakoi/xtra, 
or Sukapiheu, those of the middle banks were termed ^vytou, those of the 
uppermost, B^avtinxm and Sgettiribes, were the longest, being at the 
greatest distance from the water; wherefore, that the rowers might be the 
better able to wield and manage them, it was customary to put lead upon 
their handles, 1 lest the bottom should outpoise the top. 

Ixxkfjco) were round pieces of wood, on which the rowers hung their 
oars when they rested from their labours: hence, vav$ ToUxakpos, a ship 
with three roivs of scalmi, or a trireme. 

Taovot, v(wm&rnqss 9 were leathern thongs, 2 with which the oars were 
hung upon the scalmi ; and with which the rudder was bound. Leather, 
and skins of beasts, were applied also to several other uses, as to cover the 
scalmi, and the holes through which the oars were put forth, to preserve 
them from being worn. 3 There were skins under the rowers called u<r>)- 
gztrja, and sometimes vvrayxuina^ or bxovrvyta. rav \otruv, from saving the 
elbows or breeches of the rowers. 

e E^A./« ffiXfActrx, &ycc, in Latin, transira and juga, were the seats of 
the rowers. 

The instruments used in sailing were as follow: 

T-rr/sc, Qu<r<ruvis, aoutvx, sails, which are by some thought to have been 
first invented by Daedalus, and to have given origin to the fable of his 
using wings: others refer this invention to Icarus, making Daedalus the 
contriver of masts and sail-yards. 4 At first there was only one sail in a 
ship, but afterwards a greater number was found convenient, the names 
of which were these : 

'Aoripuv, by some taken for supparum, or the top-sail, which hung on 
the top of the mast. 

'Azccricx,, the great sails. 5 

AoXav, the trinket, or small sail in the fore-deck: 6 others make ccx&nov 
and coXuv the same. 

'E-rfioofco:, the mizzen-sail, which was larger than the former, and 
hung in the hind-deck. 7 

Sails were commonly made of linen, sometimes of any other materials 
fit for receiving and repelling the winds. In Dio, 8 we have mention of 
leathern sails ; it was likewise usual, for want of other sails, to hang up 
their garments; whence came the fable of Hercules, who is feigned to 
have sailed with the back of a lion, because he used no other sail but his 
garment, which was a lion's skin. 9 



1 Athenaeus, v. 

2 EtymoL Auct. Horn. Sch"l. 
Gdyss. i'. 



3 Suidas, v. At(pOepa 

4 Plin. vii. 56. 5 Hesychius. 
6 Suidas, v. AiXaiv. Isidorus- 



7 Hesychius, Isidorus. 

8 Lib. xxxix. 

9 Servius, Mn. viii. 



538 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



KseoiTeu, zige&ra, the sail-yards, pieces of wood fixed upon the mast, to 
which the sails were tied: 1 the name signifies a horn; whence its extre- 
mities are called uxgox'igectx ; its arms inclining to an orbicular figure, are 
termed uyxuXcu. Cornua is used in Latin in the same sense f it had other 
parts, close to the mast, called apfiohcc, and avpfioXa, being those by which 
it was moved. 

'Io-to;, the mast. Every 
ship had several masts; but 
we are told by Aristotle, that 
at first there was only one 
mast, which being fixed in 
middle of the ship, the hole 
into which the foot of it was 
inserted was named pic'ch^n? 
in Latin modius. When they 
landed, the mast was taken, 
down, as appears everywhere 
in Homer, and placed on a 
thing called l<r<roVox.yi, which, 
according to Suidas, was a 
case wherein the mast was 
deposited; but Eustathius will have it to be nothing but a piece of wood, 
against which it was reared. The parts of the masts were these : ilrs^va, 
or the foot; Aiva.;, or according to Atheraeus, Xwos, or r^d^Xos, to which 
the sail was fixed ; Ka^^ov, the pully, by which the ropes were turned 
round ; ©upcixtov, the poop, built in the manner of a turret, for soldiers to 
stand upon and cast darts: above this was a piece of wood, called tx^ov, 
the extremity of which was termed ^Xa^arj}, on which hung a riband, 
called, from its continual motion, Iviffveav, turning round with the wind. 

The names of the ropes required to the use of the above-mentioned 
parts were these that follow: 

'Evtrovot were the ropes called in Latin anquince, with which the sail- 
yards were bound to the main-mast; 4 others will have them to be the same 
with the Latin rudentes, which were those that governed the sail-yards, 
so as one part of the sails might be hoisted, the other lowered, 5 according 
to the pleasure of the pilot. Others will have the cords with which the 
sail-yards were tied to the mast, to be termed zxXeov, ceruchus, anchonis, 
and rudens; that by which they were contracted or dilated, uviga, 6 in 
Latin, opifera.l 

TloSis, in Latin pedes, were cords or braces, at the corners of the sails, 8 
by which they were managed as occasion required, ngovohs were small 
cords, or clew-lines, below the pedes, which were so contrived as to be 

1 Homeri Schol. Iliad, «■. 5 Phavor. i. seen. ). Apollonii Schol. Vid. 

2 Silius Italicusj xiv. 6 Suidas. meum et Meursii Comment, in 

3 Homeri Schol. Oclyss. /?'. 7 Isidor. Lycoph. Cassandr. ver. 105. 

4 Suidas. 8 Aristop h. Schol. Equit. act. 




OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



539 



loosed and contracted by them : the use of both these was in taking the 
winds, for by them the sails were contracted, dilated, or changed from one 
side to another, as there was occasion. 

TsUTtvo'tcii were stays by which the mast was erected or let down: 1 others 
will have them to belong to the sails. 

Uoorovoi were back-stays, which passing through a pulley at the top of 
the mast, were tied on one side to the prow, on the other to the stern, to 
keep the mast fixed and immovable. 

The materials of which these and other cords were composed were at 
first seldom any thing but leathern thongs ; afterwards they used hemp, 
flax, broom, palm-leaves, philyry, the bark of the trees, as the cherry, 
teil-tree, vine, maple, carpine, &c. 



CHAP. XVII. 

OF THE INSTRUMENTS OF WAR IN SHIPS. 

What I have hitherto delivered concerning the parts and construction of 
ships has been spoken in general, without respect to any particular sort of 
them ; it remains, therefore, that, in the next place, I give you a brief 
account of what was farther necessary to equip a man of war. 
' "EpfioXov, was a beak of wood, fortified with brass, whence it is called 
'fccc'ky.uy.a. vzwv, 2 and ships have sometimes the epithet of %ciXxz{jtfio?.oi: 
one or more of these was always fastened to the prow, to annoy the ene- 
my's ships, and the whole prow was sometimes covered with brass, to 
guard it from rocks and assaults. The person that first used these beaks 
is said to have been one PisseuSj an Italian; 3 for it will not be allowed that 
the primitive Greeks had any knowledge of them, since no such thing is 
mentioned in Homer, which could scarcely have happened had they been 
invented at the time of the Trojan war: yet iEschylus 4 gives Nestor's 
ship the epithet of ^i-ApfioXo;, or armed with ten beaks; and Iphigenia, 
in Euripides, speaks of brazen beaks. 

But it may justly be questioned, whether the description of them is not 
taken from the practice of their own times, a thing frequent enough with 
men of that profession. These beaks were at first long and high, but 
afterwards it was found more convenient to have them short and firm, and 
placed so low as to pierce the enemy's ships under water; this was the 
invention of one Aristo, a Corinthian, who communicated it to the Syra- 
cusan=5, in their wars with the Athemans, against whom it proved a con- 
siderable advantage, for, by these new beaks, several of the Athenian men 
of war were overturned, or torn in pieces at the first shock. 5 Above the 



1 Apollonii Schol. 
£ Diod. Sic. xx. 



3 Plin. vii. 56. 

4 Mvp^uooW. 



5 Diod. Sic, xiii. 



540 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



beak was another instrument, called vgotpfiokis ; and it appears from 
ancient medals that the beaks themselves were usually adorned with vari- 
ous figures of animals, &c. 

'Etfairfizs were pieces of wood, placed on each side of the prow,i to 
guard it from the enemy's beaks ; because prows are usually compared to 
faces, these were thought to resemble ears, whence their name seems to 
have been derived, for those are mistaken that would have them belong to 
the hind-deck. 2 

KocrucrrgeoftGiTci, ffa.vibapa.'ra,, or hatches, sometimes called ^ara^ay^a 
<r«, whence we meet with vUg vsQgocyftzvut, zarcitpguzrot, and tectce, 
covered ships, or men of war: which are frequently opposed to ships of 
passage or burden, which were a^axroi, and apertcE, uncovered, or with- 
out hatches : this covering was of wood, and erected on purpose for the 
soldiers, that they, standing, as it were, upon an eminence, might level 
their missive weapons with greater force and certainty against their ene- 
mies. In the primitive ages, particularly about the time of the Trojan 
war, we are told by Thucydides, that the soldiers used to fight upon the 
foremost and hindermost decks; 3 and therefore, whenever we find Homer 
speak of Ixgiet vnh, which his scholiasts interpret hatches, we must under- 
stand him as speaking of the parts which alone used to be covered in those 
days. Thus he tells us of Ajax defending the Grecian ships against the 
attack of the Trojans-. 4 

vnwv Ivp" iir4x e 'o pa/tpa QifiiLaduv. ^ He marclrd upon the hatches with long strides. 



And of Ulysses preparing himself for the encounter with Scylla, he speaks 
thus:* 



The other parts of the ship are said to have been first covered by the Tha- 
sians. 6 

Besides the coverings of ships already mentioned, and called xara^ay- 
fjcctra,, there were other coverings to guard the soldiers from their enemies, 



xaXvpftciTu., in Latin plutei, and sometimes prGpugnacula. These were 
commonly hides, or such like materials, hung on both sides of the ship, as 
well to hinder the waves from falling into it, as to receive the darts cast 
from the adverse ships, that under these, as walls on both sides, the sol- 
diers might, without danger, annoy their enemies. 

A<X<p)v, a certain machine, which, being usually a part of these ships, 
cannot be omitted in this place. It was a vast and massy piece of lead or 
iron cast in the form of a dolphin, and hung with cords and pulleys to the 
sailyards or mast, which, being thrown with great violence into the adverse 
ships, either penetrated them, and so opened a passage for the rising 
floods, or by its weight and force sunk them to the bottom of the sea. 7 



Hp^TJJ. . 



els lupCa. vr/os l/3aiej 



Upon the hatches of the foremost deck 
He went 




1 Thucyd. Schol. vii. 

2 Etymolog. Auctor, 
8 Lib. ii 



4 Iliad. s '. 

5 Odyss. p'. 



6 Plin. vii. 57. 

7 Aristoph. Schol. Suida?. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 541 



Another difference betwixt men of war and other ships was, that the 
former commonly had a helmet engraven on the top of their masts. 1 



CHAP. XVIII. 

OF THE MARINERS AND SOLDIERS. 

We are told by Thucydides, that among the ancients there were no dif- 
ferent ranks of seamen, but that the same persons were employed in those 
duties which were in later ages executed by different men, to whom they 
gave the several names of rowers, mariners, and soldiers ; whereas at first 
all these were the same men, who laid down their arms to labour at the 
oar, and perform what was farther necessary to the government of their 
ships, but, as often as occasion required, resumed them to assault their 
enemies ; this appears every where in Homer, out of whom I shall adduce 
this one instance: 

■ spiral <5' sv £*aorj. irtfr^icovTa Each ship had fifty rowers that were skill'd 

'Epptfa.oav t6Zw V sZ eU6r$ 5 . Well in the shooting art. 

These were termed ccurioirai. 2 This was the practice of those times in 
winch no great care w r as taken, no extraordinary preparations made, for 
equipping men of war, but the same vessels were thought sufficient for 
transportation and fight: afterwards, when the art of naval war began to 
be improved, it was presently understood that any one of the fore-mentioned 
occupations was enough to require the wiiole time and application of the 
persons employed therein, whence it became customary to furnish their 
sln'ps of war with the three following sorts of men : 

'Eoireti xoovryiXurai, called by Polybius of v^rd^ovT&sf and by the same 
author, 4 with Xenophon, 5 <r« ^rX'/j^^ara, though we are told by the scholi- 
ast upon Thucydides that this is a name of very large extent, compre- 
hending not only those that rowed, but all other persons in the ship, and 
sometimes applied to any thing else contained therein. When ships had 
several banks of oars, the uppermost rowers were called Sguvireu, and their 
bank S-guvo; : 6 the lowest, SaXa/xia, Qa.\oLpl<rou, and S-ctXuftaja;, and their 
bank SaXccpos : those in the middle l^vyWut, and purc^vytoi, and all their 
banks, how many soever in number, ^vya.. Every one had a distinct oar, 
for, except in cases of necessity, one oar was never managed by above one 
person, as Scheffer hath proved at large ; yet their labour and pay were 
not the same ; for such as were placed in the uppermost banks, by reason 
of their distance from the water, and the length of their oars, underwent 
more toil and labour than those in the inferior banks, and therefore were 
rewarded with greater wages. The rowers in ships of burden were called 

6 Pollux, Aristoph. Schol. Sui- 
das, Etymologici Auctor, 



1 Gvraldus de Navigat. 3 Histor. x. 

2 Suidas, Pollux, i, 9, Thncy- 4 Lib. i. 
des. 5 Histor. i. 

2 Z 



512 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ffr£oyyv\ovc&v7u.i'i those in triremes r^oirat' and the rest seem to have 
had different appellations from the names of the ships they laboured in. 
Those that were foremost in the respective banks^ and sat nearest the prow, 
were called tfoozwTrot, and on the other side, those who were placed next 
the stern were termed Wixukm, as being behind their fellows. Their work 
was esteemed one of the worst and most wretched drudgeries, and there- 
fore the most notorious malefactors were frequently condemned to it ; for, 
besides their incessant toil in rowing, their very rest was uneasy, there 
being no place to repose their wearied bodies except the seats whereon 
they had laboured all the day: therefore, whenever the poets speak of 
their ceasing from labour, there is mention of their lying down upon 
them. 2 

The rest of the ship's crew usually took their rest in the same manner, 
only the masters, 3 or persons of quality, were permitted to have clothes 
spread under them * 

Such as would not be contented with this provision were looked upon as 
soft and delicate, and unfit to endure the toil and hardships of war ; which 
censure the Athenians passed upon Alcibiades, because he had a bed hung 
on cords. 5 

Navrat, mariners, were exempt from drudging at the oar, but performed 
all other duties in the ship; to which end, that all things might be carried 
on without tumult and confusion, every one had his proper office, as appears 
from Apollonius and Flaceus' Argonautics, where one is employed in rear- 
ing the mast, another in fitting the sailyards, a third in hoisting the sails, 
and the rest are bestowed up and down the ship, every one in his proper 
place : hence they had different titles, as from Hpfitvu, sails, the persons 
appointed to govern them were called ao^ivurrar those who climbed up 
the ropes to descry distant countries or ships, were termed trxotvofiarcti, 
and the rest in like manner. There were a sort of men inferior to the 
former, and called /xaromvrat, who were not confined to any certain place 
or duty, but were ready on all occasions to attend on the rest of the sea- 
men, and supply them with whatever they wanted. 6 The whole ship's 
crew were usually wicked and profligate fellows, without any sense of reli- 
gion or humanity, and therefore reckoned by Juvenal amongst the vilest 
rogues :7 

Internes aliquo cum percussore jacentem, The bully match'd with rascals of his kind, 
Permixtum nautis, aut juribus, aut fugitivis. Quacks, coffin-roakers, fugitives, aud sailors. 
There you're sure to find dry den. 

The soldiers who served at sea were, in Latin, termed classiarii, in 
Greek lirtfiabrnt, either because they did Ivrtficz'iviiv rag vw;, ascend into 
ships; or avo rov Im^&Ustv xaru.ff'r^copoi-a., from ascending the hatches 
where they fought. They were armed after the same manner with those 
designed for land service, only there seems always to have been a greater 
number of heavy-armed men than was thought necessary by land; for we 

1 Pollux, vii. 3 Theophvastus irtpl ivt\ev9t- 5 Plut. Alcibiade. 

2 Senec. Agamemnon, ver. 437. piaj. 6 Coslius Rhodiginus, xxv. 40. 
Virg. iEneid. v. 835. 4 Horn. Odyss. v\ 74. 7 Satir. viii. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



543 



find in Plutarch, 1 that of eighteen men employed to fight upon the hatches, 
in every one of the ships of Themistocles, only four were light-armed: in- 
deed it highly imported them to fortify themselves in the best manner they 
could, since there was no possibility of retiring or changing places, but 
every man was obliged to fight hand to hand, and maintain his ground till 
the battle was ended ; wherefore their whole armour, though in form usually 
the same with that employed in land service, yet exceeded it in strength 
and firmness. Besides this, we find also some few instruments of war 
never used on land, the principal of which are these that follow: 

A^ccrx vtxvpx%a,2 spears of an unusual length, sometimes exceeding 
twenty cubits, whence they are called in Livy 3 hastes longas, and by 
Homer \vcrrot. vc&v/u,ot^x, and ^a/s^a. 4 

Aozvoivov, 5 called by Appian ^ogvfigzvoivov, by Diodorus 6 fy&*etvfi<pogo$ xi- 
£a/a, was an engine of iron, crooked like a sickle, 7 and fixed to the top of 
a long pole, with which they cut in sunder the cords of the sailyards, and 
thereby letting the sails fall down, disabled the light ships. Not unlike 
this was another instrument, armed at the end with a broad iron head, 
edged on both sides, with which they used to cut the cords that tied the 
rudder to the ship. 

Kz^ouoti 8 were engines to cast stones into the enemy's ships. 

We find another engine mentioned by Vegetius, which hung upon the 
main-mast, and resembled a battering-ram ; for it consisted of a long beam 
and a head of iron, and was pushed with great violence against the sides 
of adverse ships. 

Xs/£ ffdtiga, in Latin manus ferrea, was a grappling iron, which they 
cast out of an engine into the enemy's ship: it is said to have been first 
used in Greece by Pericles the Athenian, 9 at Rome by Duilius. 10 Differ- 
ent from these were the a^tayzt, harpagines, said to be invented by 
Anacharsis, 11 the Scythian philosopher; which, as SchefTer collects out of 
Athenseus, were hooks of iron hanging on the top of a pole, which being 
secured with chains to the mast, or some other lofty part of the ship, and 
then cast with great force into the enemy's vessel, caught it up into the 
air. The means used to defeat these engines was to cover their ships with 
hides, which cast off, or blunted, the stroke of the iron. 12 

The dominion of the seas was not confined to any one of the Grecian 
states ; they were continually contending for empire, and, by various turns 
of fortune, sometimes possessed, and again, in a few months or years, were 
dispossessed of it: the persons that enjoyed it longest, and maintained it 
with the greatest fleet after Greece had arrived to the height of its glory, 
were the Athenians, who first began seriously to apply themselves to naval 
affairs about the time of Xerxes' invasion: the first that engaged them in 
this enterprise was Themistocles, who, considering their inability to op- 



1 Themistocle. 

2 Herodotus. 

3 Histor. xxviii. 45. 

4 Horn. Iliad, o'. 387 et 677. 



5 Pollux. 

6 Lib. xxii. 

7 Vegetius. iv. cap. ult. 

S D'.odor. Sicul. xii. Athen. 

• 2 z 2 



9 Plin. vii. 91. 

10 Julius Frontinus, ii. 3. 

11 Plin. vii. 56. 

12 Thucydides, viii. Pollux. 



544 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



pose the Persians by land, and the commodiousness of their situation for 
naval affairs, interpreted the oracle that advised to defend themselves 
within walls of wood to this purpose, and prevailed upon them to convert 
their whole time and treasure to the building and fitting out a fleet. The 
money employed on this design was the revenue of the silver mines at 
Laureotis, which had formerly been distributed among the people, who, by 
Themistocles' persuasion, were induced to part with their income, that 
provision might be made for the public security. With this a hundred 
triremes were rigged out against Xerxes' numerous fleet, over which, by 
the assistance of their allies, they obtained an entire victory. Afterwards 
the number of their ships was increased, by the management of Lycurgus, 
the orator, to four hundred; 1 and we are told by Isocrates, 2 that the Athe- 
nian navy consisted of twice as many ships as all the rest of the Greeks 
were masters of: it was made up of two parts, one being furnished out by 
the Athenians themselves, the other by the confederates. 

The fleet equipped at Athens was maintained after the manner pre- 
scribed by Themistocles, till the time of Demosthenes, who, to ingratiate 
himself with the commonalty, restored to them their ancient revenues, 
and devised a new method to procure money for the payment of seamen, 
and the construction of new men of war ; tin's he effected by dividing the 
richer sort of citizens into ffv/xfiog'iui, companies^ which were obliged, ac- 
cording to their several abilities, to contribute largely out of their own 
substance ; and, in times of necessity, it was frequent for men of estates 
to rig out ships at their own expense, over and above what was required of 
them, there being a generous contention between the leading men in that 
commonwealth, which should outdo the rest in serving Ins country. 

The remaining part of the fleet was composed of allies ; for the Athe- 
nians understanding how necessary it was to their affairs to maintain the 
dominion of the seas, would enter into no leagues or confederacies with 
any of their neighbours, but such as engaged themselves to augment their 
navy with a proportion of ships ; which became a double advantage to the 
Athenians, whose fleet was strengthened by such accessions, whilst their 
allies were held in obedience, as it were, by so many hostages, all which, 
upon any revolt, must needs fall into the hands of the Athenians. Those 
states that were remote from the sea, or unable to fit out vessels of war, 
were obliged to send their proportion in money. 3 These customs were first 
brought up after the second Persian war, when it was agreed, by the com- 
mon consent of all the Greeks, that they should retaliate the injuries re- 
ceived from the barbarians, by carrying the war into their own country, 
and invading them with the whole strength of Greece, under the conduct 
of the Athenians, who had at that time raised themselves a very high re- 
putation, by their mighty naval preparations, and the singular courage, 
wisdom, and humanity, of their two generals, Themistocles and Aristides. 
Afterwards, being grown great in power, and aiming at nothing less than 



1 Plutarchus. 



2 Panegyrica. 



3 Xenopbon, Kistor. Grsec. vi. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



545 



the sovereignty of all Greece, they won some by favours and specious pre- 
tences, others by force of arms, to comply with their desires ; for their 
manner of treating the cities they conquered was to oblige them either to 
furnish money, paying what tribute they exacted, or to supply them with 
vessels of war, as Thucydides reports of the Chians, when subdued by the 
Athenians - 1 Xenophon also, 2 and Diodorus, 3 mention the same custom : 
thus, by one means or other, the greatest part of the Grecian cities were 
drawn in to augment the Athenian greatness. 



CHAP. XIX. 

OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 

There were two sorts of officers in all fleets ; one governed the ships and 
mariners, the other were intrusted with the command of the soldiers, 
but had likewise power over the shipmasters and their crew ; these were, 

IroXcco^cs , vxva,g%o;, or o-Tgwrriyo;, pr&fectus classis, the admiral, whose 
commission was different, according to the exigency of times and circum- 
stances, being sometimes to be executed by one alone, sometimes in con- 
junction with other persons, as happened to Alcibiades, Nicias, and 
Lamachus, who were sent, with equal power, to command the Athenian 
fleet in Sicily; their time of continuance in command was likewise limited 
by the people, and prolonged or shortened as they pleased. We read of 
Epaminondas, 4 that, finding his country like to be brought into great dan- 
ger upon the resignation of his office, he held it four months longer than 
he was commissioned to do ; in which time he put a new face upon the 
Theban affairs, and by his wise management dispelled the fears they lay 
under: which done, he voluntarily laid down his power, but was no sooner 
divested thereof, than he was called to account for holding it so long, and 
narrowly escaped being condemned to death; for it was feared that such a 
precedent might, some time or other, be a pretence to ambitious spirits, 
having so great power intrusted in their hands, to enslave the common- 
wealth. The same reason seems to have been the cause of the Lacede- 
monian law, 5 by which it was forbidden that any person should be admiral 
above once, which nevertheless stood them in no good stead, it thereby 
often happening that they were forced to commit their fleet to raw and 
unexperienced commanders. 

''E-r^roXsy,-, 6 sometimes called IvHrraXiccsp'oooi, was vice-admiral, or 
commander-in-chief under the admiral. 

Tgivgccg%o;, captain of a trireme, who commanded all the other soldiers 

1 Xenoph. Histor. Grffic. vii, 4 Cornelius Nepos in Epami- phon, Histor. il- 

2 Lib. i. r.cnda. 6 Xenophon, Histcr* Li el v> 

3 Lib. xiii, et aliis in locis. 5 PluUrch. Lysandio. Xeno Poliux, i. 9. 

2 z 3 



546 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



therein. The captains of other men of war were dignified with titles taken 
from the vessels they commanded, as *iv<rtixovro£os 3 &c. 
The officers that had care of the ships were, 

'A^/xy/Ss^vjjTa/, those who were intrusted with the care and manage- 
ment of all marine aflairs, to provide commodious harbours, to direct the 
course of the fleet, and order all other things concerning it, except those 
which related to war. 

Ku(Zegvfo»is, the master, or pilot, had the care of the ship, and govern- 
ment of the seamen therein, and sat at the stern to steer: all things were 
managed according to his direction : it was therefore necessary that he 
should have obtained an exact knowledge of the art of navigation, which 
was called Kvfitgvnnxh <r'zxw, and chiefly consisted in these three things: 
1. In the right management of the rudder, sails, and all the engines used 
in navigation. 2. In the knowledge of the winds and celestial bodies, 
their motions and influences. 3. In the knowledge of commodious har- 
bours, of rocks, quicksands, and other occurrences on the sea. 1 

As to the heavenly bodies, they were observed by sailors upon a two- 
fold account, being of use to them in prognosticating the seasons, and as 
guides which way to shape their course. The principal of those used in 
foretelling, were Arcturus, the Dog-star, Arse, Orion, Hyades, Hoedi, 
Castor and Pollux, Helena, &c. It was likewise customary to take notice 
of various omens offered by sea-fowls, fishes, and various other things, as 
the murmuring of the floods, the shaking and buzzing noise of trees in 
the neighbouring woods, the dashing of the billows against the shore, and 
many more, in all which good pilots were nicely skilled. As to the direc- 
tion in their voyage, the first practitioners in the art of navigation, being 
unacquainted with the rest of the celestial motions, steered all the day by 
the course of the sun, at night betaking themselves to some safe harbour, 
or resting on the shore, and not daring to adventure to sea till their guide 
was risen to discover their way: that this was their constant custom may 
be observed from the ancient descriptions of those times. 2 

Afterwards the Phoenicians, whom some will have to be the first in- 
ventors of navigation, discovered the motions of some other stars. 3 The 
Phoenicians we find to have been directed by Cynosura, or the lessei 
Bear-star, 4 which was first observed, as some are of opinion, by Thales, 
the Milesian, who was originally a Phoenician ; 5 whereas the mariners of 
Greece, as well as other nations, steered by the greater Bear, called He- 
lice: whence Aratus: 

■ 'e\Ik V ys pev S»opej 'A^atoi Helice always is the Grecians' guide, 

EV i\i TeKf*a.ipovrai Zva. xeh *v*s ayivetv* Whene'er they take a voyage. 

For the first observation of this they were obliged to Nauplius, if we may 
believe Theon, or according to the report of Flaccus 6 to Tiphys, the pilot 

1 With all these Acretes tells 3 Plin. Hist. Nat. vii. Pro- Eustathius, Iliad. Theon. in 
us he furnished himself, in order pert. ii. 990. Aratum. 

to become an accomplished pilot. 4 Eustathius, Iliad, a'. Arri- 6 Argon, i, 
Ovid. Metamorphoses, iii. 592. anus, Exped. vi. 

2 Virgil. ^EneiU. iii. 503. 5 Hyginus ii. Poet. Astron. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



547 



of the famous ship Argo. But of these two, we are told by Theon, the 
former was the more secure guide, and therefore was followed by the 
Phoenicians, who for skill in marine affairs outstripped not only all the 
rest of the world, but even the Greeks themselves. 

Ugooiv;, or TrQcoo&rn;, was next under the master, and had his place in 
the head of the ship, as his name imports. To his care was committed 
the tackling of the ship, 1 and the rowers, who had their places assigned by 
him, as appears of Phseax who performed this office in the ships of The- 
seus. 2 We find him everywhere assisting the master at consultations con- 
cerning the seasons, places, and other things. 3 

Kikiverrhsf portisculus, agitator, or hortator rertiigum, is by some inter- 
preted the boatswain: his office was to signify the word of command to 
the rowers, 4 and to distribute to all the crew their daily portion of food. 5 

Tor/ioocvXyt;, was a musician, who, by the harmony of his voice and in- 
strument, raised the spirits of the rowers, when weary with labour 6 and 
ready to faint. 7 Another, it may be the chief, use of music, was to direct 
the rowers, that they, keeping time therewith, might proceed in a regular 
and constant motion, lest, by an uncertain impulse of their oars, the course 
of the ship should be retarded. 8 This music was called v'tyXaoos* or to 

Aiottoi, va.v(p6xa,xii) custodes navis, were obliged to take care that the 
ship received no damage by bulging upon rocks or otherwise ; 10 whence, in 
the night especially, we find them employed in sounding and directing the 
ship with long poles: 1 

'fiy vavpv'XaKss wKrspov vavKXrjpiai As those who sail, with caution in the dark 

riAr}*Tpoi? a-rredvvoufiv oipiav Tfjoirtv. Guide and direct with poles the wandering bark. 

To'i%ctg%oi were either those who had the charge of the o7%ot <rn$ vr.cs, or 
sides of the ship ; 12 or of the roT^a, or croTpsoi ruv Igiruv, the banks of 
rowers. 

Several other names of officers occur, as <ra^/a?, who distributed to 
every man his share of victuals, being usually the same with the x&Xivo-rns , 
but sometimes it may be distinct from him. 13 

'E<r%ccoiu;, 14: was a person whose business lay crs^i rvv lf%eiguv 9 about the 
fire, and therefore is by some thought to have been the cook; by others, 
the priest who offered sacrifices. 

Aoyurrhs, or ygxftftccnus, was the bursar, or clerk, who kept the accounts, 
and registered all the receipts and expenses of the ship. 

1 Xenoph. Administ. Dom. v. 6 Censorinus, 12. 10 Ulpian. liii- 7, 8. Pollux, vii. 

2 Athenaeus, xv. 7 Statius Thebaic!. 31. Eustath. Iliad. 

3 Suidas, Plutarchus Agide, 8 Maxim us Tyrius, Dissert. 11 Sophocles, 'A^-ai^*- ovWoyq* 
Xenophon, Administ. Dom. v. xxiii. Val. Flac. Argon. Sil. 12 Turneb. Advcrs. xxviii. 43. 
Pollux. Ital. vi. 351. 13 Horn. 11. t* 

4 Arrianus, Exped. Alex. vi. 9 Aristoph. ejusque Scholia 14 Pollux. 

5 Suidas. Ran. act. ii. seen. 5. Pollux. 



518 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XX. 

OF THEIR VOYAGES, HARBOURS, &C. 

When it was designed that the fleet should put to sea, the signal being 
given by the admiral, the mariners hauled the ship into the water; for it 
was customary, when they came into harbour, to draw the sterns to dry 
land, to prevent their being tossed and dissipated by the waves. 1 

It was also customary for seamen, underpropping their ships with their 
shoulders, to thrust them forwards into the sea. 2 This was sometimes per- 
formed by levers and spars of wood, over which ships were rolled into the deep ; 
these were called <paAayy£$^aXayy/a, 3 and fio^ko).* But to remedy the great 
trouble and difficulty of these methods, Archimedes, the Syracusan, obliged 
his countrymen with the ingenious contrivance of an engine called kclLr, 
by which the ships were with great facility removed from the shore. 5 To 
do this, they called rhv ^^vfjcvocv kivuv, or vnoc§ zecnguztv u$ clXcc. 

Before they embarked, the ships were adorned with flowers and gar- 
lands, which were tokens of joy and mirth, 6 and omens of future prospe- 
rity.? 

Because no success could be expected in any enterprise without the 
divine blessing and assistance, they invoked the protection of their gods 
by solemn prayers and sacrifices, which, as they offered to other deities, 
so more especially to those who had any concern or command in the sea, 
to the winds and tempests, to the whole train of marine gods and god- 
desses, but, above all, to Neptune, the great emperor of the sea. 8 

Nor was it enough that they themselves petitioned the gods for safety 
and success, but all the multitudes that thronged on such occasions to the 
shore earnestly recommended them to the divine protection, and joined 
their fervent prayers for their deliverance from all the dangers they were 
going to encounter. 9 

When this was done, it was usual to let fly a dove, 10 which, no doubt, 
was looked on as an omen of safe return, because that bird is not easily 
forced to relinquish its habitation, but when driven away, delights to re- 
turn. They then put to sea, the signal being given by a shout, by sound 
of trumpet, and several other ways; in the night it was usually given by 
torches lighted in the admiral's galley. 11 

The ships were usually ranged in the following order: in the front went 
the lighter vessels, after these followed the men of war led on by the ad- 
miral, whose ship was commonly distinguished from the rest by the rich- 
ness of her ornaments. Last of all came up the vessels of burden. If the 
winds were high, or seas dangerous, they were extended out at length, 



1 Virc;. JRn. in. 277. 

2 Val. Flac. Argon, i, 

3 Hesych. Pollux. 

4 Hum, Odyss. e'. 2G1. 



5 Plutarch. Marcello, Athene. 

6 Aristophaiiis Schol. Acharn, 
act. ii. sc. 6. 

7 Virg. ^Bb, it. 417. 



8Virg. Mneid. iii. 118. 

9 Diodorus S'.culus, xiii. 
JO Scliol. Apollon Rhod. 
11 Scnec. A gam. vei. 4^7. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



549 



sailing one by one; but at other times they went three or more in a 
breast. 

When they arrived at any port where they designed to land, the first 
thing they did was to run their ships backwards upon their hind-decks, in 
order to tack about; this they called ivi tfgvpvuv, or vrgupvav xgovio-dcu, 1 
a phrase which is elegantly applied by Thucydides to those that retreat 
lighting, and still facing their enemies. They then tacked about, which 
they termed l^itrT^uv, 2 turning the heads of their ships to the sea. 3 

The rowers now ceased from their labours, and rested their oars ; which 
the Greeks called Isrs^j/v vauv, the Latins inhibere remos: these they 
hung upon pins, 4 and lest they should be broken by the floods, they hung 
them not so as to reach the water, but upon the sides of their ships. 5 

Being safely landed, they discharged whatever vows they had made to 
the gods ; besides which they usually offered a sacrifice, called utfofiarfi- 
£iov, to Jupiter, sumamed 'A^/W^/a*, for enabling them &<xo$a.Uuv i* 
<rw vivv, to quit their ships, and recover the land. Their devotions were 
sometimes paid to Nereus, Glaucus, Ino, and Melicertes, the Cabiri, and 
other gods of the sea, but more especially to Neptune, who was thought to 
have a peculiar care of all that travelled within the compass of his do- 
minions. 6 

They who had escaped a shipwreck, or any other danger at sea, were 
more particularly obliged to offer a present to the gods, as a testimony of 
their gratitude. To this they sometimes added the garment in which they 
had escaped, and a tablet, containing an account of their deliverance.'? If 
nothing else remained, they at least cut off their hair, and consecrated it 
to their protectors. Thus Lucilius affirms of himself in the epigram: 8 

Tkavzca Ttcu 2$Y,$'i, xui 'Ii>o7, zou MzXizBgrv], 

Koti (2v8la Kgov/^, zee.) ^oifAoG^i &io7s, 
2co6ii$ \z Ttikocyovg AavziXXtos wds ztza^ai 

Toes 7gt'xa$ Iz zupciXyg, kKXo cvdh 

Hence Petronius Arbiter calls shaving their hair, naufragorum ultimum 
votum, 1 the last vow of men in shipwreck.' 9 It was also customary for 
those who had escaped any other danger, particularly \k /mydkou ffwOivrts 
voa-ov, for such as had recovered from any dangerous sickness, to shave off' 
their hair. 10 The Egyptians used to shave their own hair when they paid 
their acknowledgments to the gods for the recovery of their children. 11 

Harbours were places rendered commodious, either by nature or art, 
for the reception of ships, and to defend them from the violence of winds 
and waves: the former were usually at the mouth of a river, or in a creek of 
the sea, under the covert of some lofty promontory; the latter were vast 
piles, or heaps of earth and other materials, cast up in the form of a semi- 
circle, with arms of a vast length extended into the sea ; these were called 



1 Aristoph. Schol. Vesp. p. 457. 

2 Grotius A rate is. 

3 Virg. Mn. vi. 3. 

4 Stat. Thebaid. ver. 344. 



5 Ovid. Metamorph. xi. 25. 

6 Horn. Odyss. y'. 4. 

7 Horat. i. Od. 5. 

8 Anthol, vi. 21, epigr. 1. 



9 Cap. 63. 

10 Conf. Artemidorus Oneiro> 
crit. i 23. 
HDiod Sic. Bibiioth. Hist. 1. 



550 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



^Xa;, 1 from their resemblance to the claws Gf crabs, or ax^cu roZ Xifa* 
no; ; 2 or a»T«). 3 

Cicero terms them cornua* For the security of the ships inclosed in 
them, it was usual to fix to the two ends vast chains or booms, as appears of 
the Syracusan harbour, mentioned in Frontinus: 5 nor was it unfrequent to 
guard them with great pales, fortified against the water with pitch: hence 
havens are sometimes termed in Latin claustra, in Greek xXuo-us, 6 On 
both sides of the mole were strong towers, 7 winch were defended in the 
night, and in all times of danger, by garrisons of soldiers. 8 Not far dis- 
tant was a watch-tower, with lights to direct mariners ; this was called 
pharos, a name which originally belonged to a little island in the mouth 
of the river Nile, where the first of these towers was built, but was after- 
wards naturalized both at Greece and at Rome. 

The second part of the harbour was termed cropa, in Latin ostium and 
fauces, from its being the mouth or entry between the arms of the semi- 
circle. 

Mu%os was the inmost part of the harbour, nearest to the shore, and 
most secure from the waves, insomuch that there ships were often suffered 
to lie loose ; whereas, in other parts of the harbour, they were usually 
either chained to the land, or lay at anchor. It was distinguished into 
several partitions by walls, erected for the most part of stone, under the 
covert of which the vessels had protection ; these places were called e^c/, 9 
and vocuXo^oi, and, together, composed what was called vavtrTK^os. Here 
were likewise the docks, in which ships were built, or careened and 
dragged to land; these were named vi&nroixoi, 10 Wio-rta., 11 vzaigici, 12 &c. 

The adjacent places were usually filled with inns and houses 13 of a less 
reputable description, to which the mariners, merchants, and artificers of 
all sorts, who nocked thither in great numbers, resorted. Most harbours 
were adorned with temples, or altars, where sacrifices were offered to the 
tutelary deities of the place, and presidents of the sea; mention of which 
we find, in several places, and particularly in Homer, 14 who speaks of a 
cave in the haven of Ithaca dedicated to the Naiades. 

Scheffer will have stationes navium to differ from the former in this^ 
that here ships were not laid up for any considerable time, but remained 
only till they were supplied with water or other necessaries, or on some 
other short occasions. They had several names, as oopoi, 15 vfyogpoi,^ hog- 
ftirpecrcc, 1 '! cruZ.ot, 13 zocru^o-us ; 19 and were frequently at some distance from 
the shore ; whence ogpaiv, 20 is explained by a^oo-aXivuv, which imports 
their being among the waves ; and by ayuv W uyxv^v, which answers 



1 Diod. Sic. xii. Thucydules 8 Thucvd. Curtius, Poly;enus. 14 Odyss. v '. 103. 
Schol. y Eustath. Odyss. o'. Iliad, a'. 15 H^sychius. 

2 Polyaenus Strateg. v. Horn. Odyss. v'. 16 Strabo, viii. 

3 Horn. Odyss. v'. 63. 10 Diodor. Siculiis, xiv. Suidss. 17 Appianus, v. 

4 Epist. ad Attic. bt_ 19. 11 Homer. Odyss. </. 18 Polyb. i. 

5 Strateg. i. 12 Demos-th. Schol. Orat. de 19 Thucyd. iv. ejur-q. Schol. 

6 Thucyd. ii. Gorcna, Suidas, Hoaieri SchoL 20 Plut. Pompeio, 

7 Vegetius, v. 2. 13 Pollux, ix. 5. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



551 



in some measure to the Latin phrase in Livy, in anchoris stare, ' to ride 
at anchor.' 

In times of war they defended themselves with fortifications on both 
sides, but made after a different manner: towards the land they fortified 
themselves with a ditch and parapet, or wall built in the form of a semi- 
circle, and extended from one point of the sea to another. This was 
sometimes defended by towers, and beautified with gates, through which 
they issued forth to attack their enemies. 1 

Towards the sea, or within it, they fixed great pales of wood, like those 
in harbours ; before these the vessels of burden were placed in such order 
as they might be instead of a wall, and give protection to those within ; 
but this seems only to have been practised when the enemy was thought 
superior in strength, and raised in them great apprehensions of danger. 
At other times all they used to do was to appoint a few of their ships to 
observe their enemy's motions ; these were termed tfaotpuXciZi'Siz, 2 and the 
soldiers vuoffovooi, or trugffougfiett, from fusel;, a torch, with which they 
intimated the approach of the enemy. 3 When their fortifications were 
thought strong enough to secure them from the assault of their enemies, 
it was customary to drag their ships to shore, which the Greeks called 
UuXxuv, the Romans subducere.* Around the ships the soldiers placed 
their tents, as appears everywhere in Homer, Thucydides, 5 and others: 
but this seems only to have been practised in winter, when their enemy's 
fleet was laid up, and could not assault them ; or in long sieges, and when 
they lay in no danger from their enemies by sea, as in the Trojan war, 
where the defenders of Troy never once attempted to encounter the 
Greeks in a sea-fight : at other times the ships only lay at anchor, or were 
tied to the shore, that upon any alarm they might be ready to receive the 
enemy. 



CHAP. XXI. 

OF THE ENGAGEMENTS, &C. BY SEA. 

In preparing for an engagement at sea, the first business was to disburden 
their ships of war of all provisions, and other lumber, not necessary in the 
action, lest by too heavy a load they should be rendered unwieldy, and 
unfit for service, being neither able with force and vigour to assail their 
enemies, nor by lightly tacking about to avoid their onsets. When 
the enemy appeared in view, they took down their sails, lowered 
their masts, and seemed whatever might expose them to the winds, 
choosing rather to be governed by oars, which they could manage at 
their pleasure. On this account we read that Hanno the Carthaginian 



1 Hem. Iliad, 436. 

2 Tiiucyd. i. 



3 Polyaenus, iii. Offic. iii. 

4 Liv'ius, xxu. iS. Cicero de 5 Lib. vi. 



552 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



being pursued by a fleet of Dionysius the Sicilian, to which he was much 
inferior in strength and number, and having no way to make his escape, 
took down his sails as preparing to fight ; whereby, decoying the Sicilians 
to do the like, whilst they were busy and observed him not, he unexpect- 
edly hoisted again his sails, and made away. 1 

As to their order of battle, that was varied as time, place, and other 
circumstances required ; being sometimes formed like a half-moon, and 
called ffroXos pyvoz^ris, the horns jutting out towards the enemy, and con- 
taining the ablest men and ships ; sometimes, on the contrary, having its 
belly nearest the enemy, and its horns turned backwards, whence it was 
termed xugr* <7raga,rci%i; : nor was it unusual to range them in the form of 
a circle which they called xvxXov Toirrnv ; or, to mention no more, in the 
figure of the letter V, 2 with the horns extended in a direct line, and meet- 
ing at the end; which order was named l<^iK»^hs ^a,^a,ra > %is 1 in Latin 
forceps; and was usually encountered by the enemies ranged in the same 
order inverted, whereby they resembled the figure of a wedge or beak, 
whence it was called cuneus or rostrum; this enabled them to penetrate 
into the body of the adverse battle. 

Before they joined battle, both parties invoked the gods to their assist- 
ance by prayers and sacrifices; and the admirals going from ship to ship 
in some of the lighter vessels, exhorted their soldiers in a set oration to 
behave themselves like men : then all things being in readiness, the sig- 
nal was given by hanging out of the admiral's galley a gilded shield, as 
we read in Plutarch, or a red garment or banner ; 3 which was termed 
cu^uv ffypiix. During the elevation of this, the fight continued, and by 
its depression, or inclination towards the right or left, the rest of the ships 
were directed in what manner to attack their enemies, or retreat from 
them. 4 To this was added the sound of trumpets, which was begun in 
the admiral's galley, 5 and continued round the whole fleet ; 6 it was like- 
wise usual for the soldiers, before the fight, to sing ^pcean, or 'hymn/ to 
Mars, 7 and after the fight, another to Apollo. 

The fight was usually begun by the admiral's galley, 8 and was earned 
on in two different manners ; for not only did the ships engage one an- 
other, and by their beaks and prows, and sometimes their sterns, endea- 
vour to clash in pieces, or overset and sink their opposers ; but the soldiers 
also annoyed their enemies with darts and slings, and, upon their nearer 
approach, with swords and spears. 9 

Nor can it be wondered at that they approached so near one another, 
when we find it usual to link their vessels together with chains or grap- 
pling irons. 10 

Sometimes for want of irons, they so fixed their oars as thereby to hin- 
der their enemies from retreating. 11 

1 Polyajnus, v. 5 Plutarch. Lysandro. 9Lucan,iii. 

2 Vegetius. 6 Diodorus, xiii. 10 Sil. Hal. \W. 

3 Uiod. Sicul. xui, Polygen. 1. 7 Suidas. 11 Lucaru iii. 

4 Leo Tact. 8 Diodoms, iii. PolvMus, xv>. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



553 



This sort of combat was not unlike a siege, where the stronger party 
prevailing over their enemies, entered their vessels by laying bridges be- 
tween them, and having killed or taken prisoners all they found in arms, 
seized and dragged away their ships. 

When a town was besieged by sea, they used to environ its walls and 
harbour with ships ranged in order from one side of the shore to the other, 
and so closely joined together with chains and bridges on which armed 
men were placed, that without breaking their order, there could be no 
passage from the town to the sea; this leaguer Diodoms calls ^syy^a. 1 
The better to prevent any attempts of the besieged, Demetrius is said to 
have invented a sort of boom armed with spikes of iron, winch swam upon 
the waters ; this he placed at the mouth of the harbour of Rhodes , when 
he besieged that city. 8 Sometimes they blocked up the harbour, or made 
a passage to the town by raising a vast mole before it, as we read of Alex- 
ander, in the siege of Tyre ; 3 or by sinking ships filled with stones and 
sand, as we find practised by the Romans. 

The attacks were usually carried on by men standing upon bridges be- 
tween the ships, and thence with darts and stones forcing the besieged 
from their walls. Thus Alexander in the siege of Tyre so ordered his 
galleys, that two of them being joined at the head, and the stern somewhat 
distant, boards and planks were laid over in the fashion of bridges, for sol- 
diers to stand upon, who were in this manner rowed close to the wall, 
where, without any danger, they threw darts at their enemies, being 
sheltered behind the fore-decks of their own galleys. 4 Here also, that they 
might throw their missive weapons with greater advantage, and batter the 
walls with their rams and other engines, they erected towers so high as to 
command the city walls, from which having repelled the defenders, they, 
by this means, had opportunity to descend by ladders. 

The besieged were not at a loss for ways of defeating these stratagems ; 
they pulled asunder with iron hooks the ships linked together ; the pas- 
sage to the town they blocked up in the same manner the enemy had done 
that of the harbour, or otherwise :5 if they could not hinder their approach, 
they failed not to gall them with darts, stones, fire-balls, melted pitch or 
metals, and many other things; and lastly, to trouble you no farther, it 
was frequent for those in the town to destroy the vessels and works of the 
besiegers by fire-ships, as we find done by the Tyrians, 6 who, taking a 
large vessel, put a great quantity of ballast into the stern, covered the 
head with pitch, tar, and brimstone, then by the help of sails and oais, 
brought her close to the Macedonian fortress, where having set the com- 
bustible matter on fire, they retreated into boats prepared for that purpose : 
the fire immediately seized the towers of the fortification, and by the help 
of torches and fire-brands cast by those in the boats, the work itself took 
fire, and that vast pile on which so much time and labour had been be- 



1 Lib. xiii. 

2 Diodoms, xx 4 



3 Curtius, iv. 

4 Idem ibid?m. 

3 A 



5 Thucydides, iv. 

6 Curtius, iv. 



554 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



stowed was in a few moments quite demolished. The use of fire-ships we 
likewise meet with amongst the Rhodians. 1 



CHAP. XXII. 

OF THE SPOILS, MILITARY REWARDS, PUNISHMENTS, &C. 

Victory being obtained, the conquerors sailed home triumphant, laden 
with the spoils of their enemies, and dragging after them the captive 
ships, as appears from the instances of Alcibiades in Plutarch, and of 
Lysander in Xenophon : 2 the latter, according to the invariable custom of 
the Greeks, had crowns or garlands presented him by all the confederate 
cities of Sparta, as he passed by them ; which custom was constantly prac- 
tised by the Greeks, from whom it seems to have been derived to Rome: 
nor was the admiral or the soldiers and mariners only adorned with gar- 
lands^ but their ships were likewise bedecked with them ; 4 whereby the 
Rhodians were once reduced to extreme danger; for their enemies, having 
made themselves masters of their ships, crowned them with laurel, and 
entering them, were received with great joy into Rhodes f which strata- 
gem was frequently practised in Greece. 6 Nor were they beautified with 
garlands only, but hung likewise about with wrecks and broken pieces ol 
the ships destroyed in battle : especially the cc<phcc<rroi, uzgoo-roXiot, Ko^vp- 
P>x, and other ornamental parts, which the conquerors were industrious in 
procuring to grace their triumphs. 7 These they called ocK^urri^x, and to 
deprive a ship of them a,K^r'/igiu^uv3 In this manner the victors returned 
home, filling the sea with their shouts, acclamations, and hymns; which 
were sweetened by the harmony of musical instruments. 9 

Being received into the city, they went straightway into the temples of 
the gods, where they dedicated the choicest of their spoils. Thus we read, 
that the Syracusans having defeated the Athenians, and the Rhodians, 
after a victory over Demetrius, filled the temples of their gods with wrecks 
of ships. Nor was it unusual to present entire vessels to them ; for we 
find that Phormio, having overcome the Lacedaemonians, consecrated a 
ship to Neptune ; 10 and the Greeks, after their great victory over the Per- 
sians at Salamis, are reported to have dedicated three Phoenician tri- 
remes. 11 

Having paid their homage to the gods, they bestowed the remainder of 
their spoils in the porticos, and other public places of their city, to pre- 
serve the memory of their victory: to which end they were likewise hon- 
oured with statues, inscriptions, and trophies, the last of which were 

1 Diod. Sic. xx. 5 Vitruv. ii. 8. 9 Plutarch. Lyaandro. 

2 Hist. ii. 6 Polyaerms. 10 Diodorus, xii. 
3-Polyasnus, iv. 7 Horn. Iliad, t'. 24]. 11 Herodotus, viii. 
4 Diudorus, xiit. 8 Xenophon, Hi?t. iv. 



OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE. 



555 



sometimes erected in their own country, but more frequently near the 
place where they had overthrown their enemies, and were adorned with 
arms, and broken wrecks of ships, which, for that reason, were looked on 
as a sign and testimony of victory. Thus 1 in a fight between the Athe- 
nians and Corinthians, where both parties made pretensions to victory, 
the former were by most esteemed to have the justest title to it, as having 
possessed themselves of their enemy's wrecks; and king Philip, though 
worsted by Attalus, yet because he made a shift to keep his fleet among 
the adverse party's wrecks, would have persuaded the world that the day 
was his own. 2 

These were the principal rewards peculiar to those who had served 
their country by sea ; they seem also to have been frequently honoured 
with others, but these were common to those who had been useful in other 
stations. 

The chief punishment was whipping with cords, which was sometimes 
inflicted on criminals, having their lower parts within the ship, and their 
heads thrust out of port-holes, and hanging into the sea. Thus one Scy- 
lax, master of a Myndian vessel, was treated by Megabetes for not being 
careful to keep watch and ward. 3 

There seems to have been a punishment by which offenders were tied 
with cords to a ship, and dragged in the waters till they were drowned ; 
Scylla was so treated by Minos, after she had betrayed to him her father 
and kingdom. 

Others were thrown alive into the sea. 

' AvuvfA&xoi, or such as refused to serve at sea after a lawful summons, 
were, at Athens, themselves and their posterity, condemned to ccn^loc, 
ignominy, or disfranchisement. 4 

Auwovaurai, deserters, were not only bound with cords and whipped, 5 
but also had their hands cut off. 6 

1 Thucyd. vii. 3 Herodotus Terpsichore. 5 Demosthenes. 

2 Polybius, Hist. xvi. 3. 4Suidas. 6 Suidas. 



3 a 2 



ARCELEOLOGIA GR^ECA; 

OR, THE 

ANTIQUITIES OF GREECE. 



BOOK IV CHAP. I. 

OF THE FUNERALS OF THE GREEKS. 

Pluto was the first who instructed the Greeks 1 in the manner of perform- 
ing their last offices to the deceased; hence the inventors of fables have 
assigned him a vast and unbounded empire in the shades below, and con- 
stituted him supreme monarch of all the dead. And since there is 
scarcely any useful art, the inventor of which was not reckoned amongst 
the gods, and believed to patronize and preside over those artificers he had 
first instructed, no wonder if he who taught the rude and uncivilized ages 
what respect, what ceremonies, were due to the dead, had the honour to 
be numbered amongst the deities of the first rank, since the duties be- 
longing to the dead were accounted of far greater importance, and the 
neglect of them a crime of a blacker character, than those required by the 
living: for the dead were ever held sacred and inviolable even amongst 
the most barbarous nations ; to defraud them of any due respect was a 
greater and more unpardonable sacrilege than to spoil the temples of the 
gods: their memories were preserved with a religious care and reverence, 
and all their remains honoured with worship and adoration ; hatred and 
envy themselves were put to silence, for it was thought a sign of a cruel 
and inhuman disposition to speak evil of the dead, and prosecute revenge 
beyond the grave: no provocation was thought sufficient to warrant so 
foul an action: the highest affronts from themselves whilst alive, or after- 
wards from their children, were esteemed weak pretences for disturbing 
their peace. Offenders of this kind were not only branded with disgrace 
and infamy, but, by Solon's laws, incurred a severe penalty. 2 

But of all the honours paid to the dead, the care of their funeral rites 
was the greatest and most necessary ; for these were looked upon as a debt 
so sacred, that such as neglected to discharge it were thought accursed ; 
hence the Romans called them justa, the Greeks oixatu, vopifAK, vout^o- 
ftivx, sfafix, off tot, &c, all which words imply the inviolable obligations 
which nature has laid upon the living to take care of the obsequies of the 
dead. And no wonder that they were thus solicitous about the interment 



1 Diod. Siculus, v. 15. 



2 Demosthen. Orat. in Leptin. Plutarchus Solone. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



557 



of the dead, since they were strongly possessed with an opinion that their 
souls could not be admitted into the Elysian shades, 1 but were forced to 
wander desolate and without company, till their bodies were committed 
to the earth f and that, if they never had the good fortune to obtain human 
burial, the time of their exclusion from the common receptacle of the 
ghosts was no less than a hundred years; whence in most of the poets, we 
meet with passionate requests of dying men or their ghosts, after death, 
for this favour. I will only give you one out of Homer; 3 who introduces 
the soid of Elpenor earnestly beseeching Ulysses to perform his funeral 
rites : ' . 

N5r Si ere rZv SnQtv yovvaZo/iai, ov irapFovrwv, By thy fond consort! by thy father's cares! 

n^t r" a\6xou ko.1 varpit-, 8j Zrpe(pe rvrGiv edrra, By lov'd Telemachus's blooming years! — 

IriXenixou S', ov povvov ivl nty6.pot.aiv IXsiTrer" There pious on my cold remains attend, 

M?; fj.' 5«Xai'ffTCf, a^awroK iar EviOev /earaXsiireiv There call to mind thy poor departed friend! 

No<r0totf«Jj, ftj, toC ti S-eiv fj.lvifj.a ykvasft.ii' The tribute of a tear is all I crave, 

But lend me aid, I now conjure thee, lend, And the possession of a peaceful grave. — POPE. 

By the soft tie and sacred name of friend! 

This was the reason why, of all imprecations, the greatest was to wish 
that a person might urcKpog Ixntixrrui, %6m6$, die destitute of burial ; and 
of all forms of death the most terrible was that by shipwreck, as in it 
the body was swallowed up by the deep: whence Ovid, though willing to 
resign his miserable life, yet prays against this death: 

Dcmitte nau/ragium, mors mihi munus exit. Death would my soul from anxious troubles ease, 

But that I fear to perish by the seas. 

Wherefore when they were in danger of being cast away, it was customary 
to fasten to some part of their body the most precious of all their stores, 
with a direction to the first that found thejr dead corpses, if the waves 
chanced to roll them to the shore, entreating of him the favour of a human 
burial, and proffering what they carried about them as a reward, or desiring 
him to expend some part of it upon their funeral rites, 4 and accept the 
rest himself. But though the carcase brought no reward along with it, 
yet was it not therefore lawful to pass it by neglected, and deny it what was 
looked on as a debt to all mankind ; for not only the Athenian laws 5 for- 
bade so great an act of inhumanity, but in all parts of Greece it was looked 
upon as a great provocation to the infernal gods, and a crime that would 
call up certain vengeance from the regions below: nor could the guilty 
person be freed from the punishment of Ins offence, or admitted to con- 
verse with men, or worship the gods, but was looked upon as profane and 
polluted, till he had undergone the accustomed purifications, and appeased 
the incensed deities. Yet it was not always required that all the funeral 
solemnities should be nicely performed, which the haste of travellers that 
should light upon the dead body might oftentimes not permit, but it was 
sufficient to cast dust or soft earth upon it three times together. Of these 
three handfuls, one at least was thrown upon the head. 



1 Homerus Iliad. 

2 Odyss. X'. 66. 72. 

o Synesius, Epist. Enterpres 
HiaAorUe Apol. Tyiii, Mew. Lu 



Lycophr. Cassand. ver. 367. 

4 .-Elian. Var. HisL v. 14. 

5 Soph. Schol. Antigone. 

3 a 3 



6 H»rat. i. 23. 36. Ouinetili in. 
Declam. v, vi, Cceiius Rhod^i- 
nus, xvii. 20. 



553 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



This, in cases of necessity, was looked upon as enough to gain the 
ghost's admission into the dominions of Pluto, and to free such as happened 
upon their bodies from the fear of being haunted, yet was far from afford- 
ing them entire satisfaction; wherefore, such as had been interred clan- 
destinely, or in haste, and without the customary solemnities, if afterwards 
good fortune discovered them to any of their friends, were honoured with 
a second funeral. 1 

Nor was it sufficient to be honoured with the solemn performance of 
their funeral rites, unless their bodies were prepared for burial by their 
relations, and interred in the sepulchres of their fathers ; the want of these 
requisites was looked upon by themselves and their surviving friends as a 
very great misfortune, and not much inferior to death itself, Thus Leon- 
idas the Tarentine, in his epitaph, complains— 

TloWov aw "lTaXi??y /cclpai x®° v ^ Is Te Tapatroj From my dear native land remote I lie, 
Tldrpw, tovto ii not iriKpoTtpov davarov. O, worse than death! the thought is misery. 8 — P. 

Thus too Electra in Sophocles, having preserved Orestes from Clytsem- 
nestra, by sending him into a foreign country, and many years after hear- 
ing he had ended his days there, wishes he had rather perished at first, 
than after so many years' continuance of life, have died from home, and 
been destitute of the last offices of his friends. 3 

For this reason, the ashes of such as died in foreign countries were 
usually brought home and interred in the sepulchres of their ancestors, or 
at least in some part of their native country ; it being thought that only 
the same mother which gave them life and birth was fit to receive their 
remains, and afford them a peaceful habitation after death. Hence 
ancient authors afford us innumerable instances of bodies conveyed, some- 
times by the command of oracles, sometimes by the good will of their 
friends from foreign countries to the sepulchres of their fathers, and with 
great solemnity deposited there. Thus Theseus was removed from Scy- 
rus to Athens, Orestes from Tegea, and his son Tisamenes from Helice 
to Sparta, and Aristomenes from Rhodes to Messene. 

Nor was this pious care limited to persons of free condition, but slaves 
also had some share therein: for we find the Athenian lawgiver com- 
manding the magistrates called demarchi, under a severe penalty, to 
solemnize the funerals, not so much of citizens, whose friends seldom 
failed of paying the last honours, as of slaves, who frequently were desti- 
tute of decent burial. 4 

But if any person was backward in paying due respect to his dead 
friends, or sparing in his expenses upon their obsequies and monuments, 
the government looked upon him as void of humanity and natural affec- 
tion, and excluded him from any office of trust and honour ; for one special 
inquiry concerning the lives and behaviour of such as appeared candidates 
for the magistracy at Athens was, whether they had taken due care in 



1 /En. Hi. fi2 et C7. 

2 Antliol. Epigr. iii. 25, ep. 7, 



3 Sophoc!. Electra, ver. 1134. 

4 Demosth. Orat. iu IWacart. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 559 



celebrating the funerals, and adorning the monuments of their relations. 1 
To appear cheerful and gay before the ordinary time of mourning expired, 
was also matter of no small scandal; for we find it objected by iEschines 
to Demosthenes, as a crime of a very heinous nature, that after the death 
of his only daughter, he sacrificed to the gods in white apparel, and 
adorned with garlands, before due respect was paid to the memoiy of such 
a relation. 

The great concern they had about funerals may farther appear from the 
respect paid to persons officiating therein; for we find that the Cretan 
xccrxxauTat, who had the care of funerals, were reverenced equally with 
their priests; and when the laws of Crete permitted to steal from others, 
as was likewise customaiy at Sparta, these men were exempted from the 
common calamity, it being looked on as a kind of sacrilege to convey away 
any part of their goods. 2 

There were nevertheless some so unhappy, as, by their actions whilst 
alive, or from the aggravating circumstances of their death, to be unwor- 
thy of all title to the common funeral rites, and some to any funeral at all. 
Such were these that follow: 

1. Public or private enemies; for though it was looked upon as inhuman 
to deny an enemy the common privilege of nature, yet we find it prac- 
tised by the ancient Greeks upon some extraordinary provocation. Homer 
has introduced Ulysses threatening Socrus therewith ; a Hector likewise 
promising the same treatment to Patroclus ; 4 and Achilles revenging his 
cruelty by the like usage of him. 5 The same poet has furnished us with 
several instances of heroes made xvtrt fc'sjurnfya, a sport to dogs, and 
xvnffiriv oieovoTa-'i <rs Ikuoiec, a prey to birds and beasts. No better treat- 
ment had the bones of Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, when treacherously 
murdered by Orestes. 6 And however this might be thought the practice 
of primitive and uncivilized men, yet there are not instances wanting of 
it in more refined ages ; for Lysander, the Spartan admiral, having routed 
the Athenian fleet, caused Philocles, one of their commanders, and four 
thousand Athenian prisoners, to be put to death, and refused to give them 
human burial. 7 

2. Such as betrayed or conspired against their country. s On which 
account Aristocrates being convicted of treason against the Arcadians, 
was stoned to death, and cast out of the bounds of their country unburied ; 9 
for it was thought but reasonable, that villains conspiring the ruin of their 
country should be deprived of all privilege in it. Pausanias likewise, 
after he had delivered Greece from the Persians, being found, upon some 
discontent, to maintain a correspondence with them, was starved to death, 
and denied burial; 10 and the famous Phocion being unjustly condemned by 
the Athenians, as conspiring to deliver the Piraeus into their enemies' 



1 Xenop. tie Diet. Socratis, ii. 5 Iliad. x '- S Diod. Sic. xvi. 6. 

2 Pint. Grsec. Quest. 21. 6 Cvid. in Ibin, ver. 304. 9 Pausanias Messemcis. 

3 Iliad.,.'. 7 Pausan. Bceot. p. 501, edit, 10 Plutarchus Pdusaiiia. 



560 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



hands, had his body cast out of Attica, and a severe penalty was decreed 
against any that should honour it with interment. 1 So exact were they 
in the observation of this custom, that when the pestilence raged at 
Athens, and the oracle gave out that the only remedy was to fetch the 
bones of Themistocles from Magnesia, they refused to do it publicly, but 
conveying them privately, and as it were by stealth, hid them in the 
ground. Amongst the betrayers of their country, we may reckon those 
who were not active in defending it, for they were likewise frequently 
denied human burial. Hence Hector is introduced by the poet, threat- 
ening this punishment to all who would not help him in destroying the 
Grecian fleet: 2 

*Ov <5' av lylav airdvevOe vewv eripaySt voriaat, And whom I find far lingering from the ships, 

Airov ol ScLvcltov fAriTt<roofji,ai' ov&s w t6p ye Wherever, there he dies; no funeral fires 

YvwTot t« yvairal re wvphs XeXa^axrt Bavovra, Brother on him, or sister, shall bestow, 

'AXXa kvvbs Ipvovoi irpb So-tsoj ^usrepoto. But dogs shall rend him in the sight of Troy. 

Some scholiasts would have this the first example of the practice I am 
speaking of, but Homer sufficiently refutes this opinion, by making Aga- 
memnon threaten the same punishment to the Greeks in the second 
Iliad: 3 

*Ov it «' iyi>v &-rrdvsv9e n&xns eOlXovra vofaat Who dares to tremble on this signal day; 

MipvaZetv vapd. vr,val icopwvloiv, oC ol 'iirstra That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power 

"Apiciov ioo-elrat <pvyhiv Kvva S , olatvovs. The birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour. 

Who dares inglorious in his ships to stay, POPE. 

Before this instance, Palamedes being condemned as a traitor by the 
treachery of Ulysses, had wanted burial, had not Achilles and Ajax, in 
opposition to the commands of Agamemnon, adventured to pay him that 
office. Nor was the custom begun here ; for in the former age we find 
Antigone buried alive by Creon for interring her brother Polynices, by 
whose means the famous war against Thebes was carried on, which is the 
subject of the Antigone of Sophocles. 

3. To these we may subjoin tyrants, who were always regarded as ene- 
mies of their country, and treated in the same manner as those that endea- 
voured to betray it to foreign powers, there being no difference between a 
domestic and foreign slavery. So the Pherscans having slain Alexander, 
who had cruelly oppressed them, threw his carcase to the dogs ; and Plu- 
tarch, speaking of the passage of Homer, 4 where Nestor tells Telemachus, 
that had Menelaus found iEgisthus alive after his murder of Agamemnon 
and tyranny over the Myceneans, he would not have vouchsafed him 
burial, 5 observes, that this was not a late or modern custom, but practised 
5n the most early ages. The Myceneans were not insensible of the wrongs 
they had suffered by him ; and thinking him unworthy of an honourable 
funeral, cast him, with the adulteress Clytasmnestra, out of the city, and 
there interred them. 6 

4. On the same account, such as were guilty of suicide forfeited their 



1 Plut. Cornell. Nepos Phg 3 Ver. 391. 
cione, Val. Maximus, v. 8. \ Lib. de Homero, 

2 Iliad o\ 318. 



5 Odyss. /. 256. 

6 Pausauias Corinlhiacis. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



561 



n'ght to decent burial, and were secretly deposited in the ground, without 
the accustomed solemnities ■ for they were looked on as enemies to their 
country, whose services they deserted. 1 For this reason Ajax, the son of 
Telamon, was not reduced to ashes, according to custom, but privately 
interred; it being declared by Calchas to be a profanation of the holy ele- 
ment to consume in it the bodies of such as had occasioned their own 
death. 2 After the battle of Plata?a, when the bodies of the slain were 
honoured with the customary solemnities, Aristodemus alone, though he 
was generally confessed to have acquitted himself in the fight with the 
greatest valour of any man in the army, lay unregarded, because he 
Seemed resolved to sacrifice his life, as an atonement for the disgrace he 
had contracted by surviving his fellow-soldiers at Thermopylae. 3 Yet, to 
put a period to their lives on just occasions, seems rather to have been 
reputed the effect of a necessary and laudable courage than any way 
criminal or blameworthy. Demosthenes and Hannibal are said to have 
been constantly provided with an effectual poison with which they might 
dispatch themselves, before they should fall into their enemy's hands. 
Cato, Cleopatra, Brutus, Otho, and several others, have not at all lessened 
their esteem and character in the heathen world by becoming their own 
executioners. Plato himself, when he commands those only who, out of 
cowardice and unmanly fear, butchered themselves, to be interred in 
lonesome and desolate places, without the ordinary solemnities, seems to 
excuse others, whom he thought compelled to it by a great disgrace, or 
any unavoidable and incurable misfortune: 4 and it is no wonder if epicu- 
reans, who expected no future state, and stoics, who thought that all 
things lie under an irresistible necessity, pursuant to their principles, 
abandoned themselves to such fatal courses. Many other instances might 
be produced, not only from the Greeks and Romans, but from the Indian 
philosophers, and almost the whole heathen world. 

5. To these we may add villains guilty of sacrilege, 5 to inter whom was 
an affront to the deities they had robbed. The gods were sometimes 
thought to inflict this punishment on such malefactors ; wherefore Archi- 
damus, the Spartan king, being slain in Italy, and deprived of burial, 
Pausanias 6 concludes it w r as a judgment upon him for assisting the Pho- 
cians in pillaging the city and temple of the Delphians, 

6. Persons killed with lightning, being thought hateful to the gods, 
were buried apart by themselves, lest the ashes of other men should receive 
pollution from them. Hence Adrastus in Euripides, speaking of Capa- 
neus, says, 

*H *<op!y, lep'ev iy vtxphv, S-fycn SiAsiy 5 Shall he apart be buried as accurs'd ? 

Some are of opinion that they were interred in the place where they died ; 7 
others collect out of Plutarch's Symposiacs, that they had no interment, 



1 Aristot. Ethic. Nicom. v. 2. 4 De Legibus, ix. 6 Laconicis. p. 178, edit. Han, 

2 Philostratus Heroicis. 5 Diod. Sic. Biblioth. xvi. 6. 7 Artemidorus, ii. S. 

3 Herod. Calliop. cap. 70. 



562 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

but were suffered to rot in the place where they fell, which it was unlawful 
for any man to approach; 1 and which for this reason was hedged in, lest 
any person should unawares contract pollution from it. It may be observed 
in general, that all places struck with thunder were avoided, 2 and fenced 
round, out of a fancy that Jupiter having taken some offence, fixed on 
them that mark of his displeasure. 

7. Those who wasted their patrimony forfeited the right of being buried 
in the sepulchres of their fathers: hence we find that Democritus was in 
danger of wanting a burial-place for spending his paternal inheritance in 
travel to foreign countries, and searching after the mysteries of nature. 3 

S. To these we may subjoin such as died in debt, whose bodies belonged 
at Athens to their creditors, and might not receive burial till satisfaction 
was made. Hence it is reported that Cimon had no other method to 
redeem the body of his father Miltiades, but by taking his debt and fetters 
upon himself. 

9. Some offenders who suffered capital punishment were likewise de- 
prived of burial ; those especially who died upon the cross or were impaled, 
whom they frequently permitted to be devoured by beasts and birds of 
prey. 4 

The interpreters of fables allege that the punishment of Prometheus 
was an emblem of this. If the carcase was spared by the beasts, it com- 
monly remained upon the cross or pale till the weather consumed and 
putrefied it. 5 

This inhuman custom was practised not only in barbarous nations, but 
by those who made greater pretensions to civility and good manners, as 
may appear from the dream of the daughter of Polycrates, who fancied 
she saw her father's face washed by Jupiter and anointed by the sun; 
which was accomplished not long after, when he was hung upon the cross, 
and exposed to the rain and sunbeams. 6 Hither also may be referred 
the answer of Theodorus the philosopher, who being threatened with cru- 
cifixion by king Lysimachus, replied, "Threaten those dreadful things to 
your effeminate courtiers, clothed in purple ; it matters not to Theodorus 
whether he rots on the earth, or in the air." 7 

10. In some places it was customary to inter the bodies of infants who 
had no teeth, without consuming them to ashes. 8 

If persons who had incurred public hatred had the good fortune to ob- 
tain burial, it was customary to leap upon their tombs, and to cast stones 
at them in token of detestation and abhorrence. 9 

Nor was it unfrequent to punish notorious offenders by dragging their 
remains out of their retirement, and depriving them of the graves to which 
they had no just pretension. Sacrilegious persons were commonly thus 
treated. A remarkable instance of this we find at Athens, where Cylo, 



1 Pers. Satir. ii. 27. 

2 Plutarchus Pyrrjjo. 

3 DiogeiiPs Laertius Demncr. 

4 Horat. i. ej<. 1G-, Juven. Sat. 



xvi. ver. 77. 
5 Sil. Ital. xiii. 
G Hero<lot. Thalia. 324. 
7 Cicero Tusc. Ouajst. i. 



8 Plinius Nat. Hist. vii. Ju« 
ven. Satir. xv. 139. 

9 liuripid. Eltctia. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



563 



an ambitious nobleman, having seized the citadel, and being there straitly 
besieged, found means to escape with his brother, leaving his accomplices 
to the mercy of the besiegers ; they fled therefore, for protection to the 
altars, whence there was no method to draw them, but by promising them 
pardon ; but no sooner had they left their sanctuaries, than the magistrates 
contrary to their covenant, put them to death ; upon which facts, them- 
selves were afterwards arraigned and banished, the deities so command- 
ing: nor was this alone satisfactory to divine vengeance, till their graves 
were rifled, and their remains, which had been conveyed into Attica, cast 
out of the country. 1 

Traitors were condemned to the same punishment: thus Phrynichus 
the Athenian, being arraigned and condemned for treason, some time 
after his funeral, was disinterred, and his relics thrown out of Attica. 2 
. The same was sometimes inflicted upon enemies, when their malice and 
fury were extended beyond the ordinary bounds of martial law, and hur- 
ried them on to despoil the sacred temples, and commit unsufierable 
villanies; otherwise, thus to treat a lawful and honourable enemy was al- 
ways censured as barbarous and inhuman. 

But, above all, it seems to have been the fate of tyrants, who were 
esteemed of all savage beasts the most hurtful and pernicious to mankind: 3 
hence Dion was extremely censured for hindering the Syracusans from 
breaking up*the tomb of the elder Dionysius, and scattering his bones. 
Periander the Corinthian tyrant, by some reckoned amongst the seven 
wise men, to prevent his incensed subjects from venting their fury upon 
his relics, contrived this method: he commanded two young men to walk 
in the depth of the night in a certain path, and killing the first man they 
met, to bury him privately ; to dispatch and inter these, he commissioned 
four, after whom he sent others ; and after these a greater force, to treat 
the former in the same manner ; and thus the tyrant himself, meeting the 
first pair, was interred in a place unknown to any man. 4 

Other methods were likewise used to secure peace to their ashes, the 
disturbance of which was looked on as the highest affront, and the greatest 
misfortune in the world : thus, we find Medea resolving to bury her sons 
in Juno Acrsea's temple, in the hope that the holiness of the place would 
protect them from the malice of her enemies. 5 



CHAP. II. 

OF THE CEREMONIES IN SICKNESS, AND DEATH. 

When any person was seized with a dangerous distemper, it was usual to 
fix over his door a branch of rhamn and laurel. 6 



1 Pint, de Vindicta. 3 Plutarch. Dioiie. 

2 Lyeur, Orat. in Leocratem. 4 Diogenes Laert. Periandro. 



5 Euripirl. Medea, ver. 1378. 
G D:og. Laert. in Biune. 



564 



GRECIAN ANV/QU1TIES. 



The former was designed to keep off evil spirits: against which it \>as 
reputed a sovereign amulet ; and on that account was sometimes joined 
with the epithet aXtfyxocxos. 1 

The latter was added, to render the god of physic propitious, who, they 
thought, could purpose no harm to any place in which he found the monu- 
ment of his beloved Daphne. These boughs they termed avrvvov;. 2 

All sudden deaths of men were imputed to Apollo; hence Hector- 
having lain unburied twelve days, ,and being, by the special favour of hea- 
ven, preserved fresh and free from corruption, Hecuba compares him to 
one dead, not of a lingering and wasting distemper, but by a sudden death ; 
the former being thin and emaciated, the latter fat and fleshy: 3 

NCv <5! fj.01 epor'ieis K al irp6<r<pa.Tos iv fj.eyd poitn. No mark of pain, or violence of face, 

Keloai, rZ IvfAoy, ov r agyvp6ro^o S ' AizoXkwv Rosy and fair, as Phoebus' silver bow 

Oly iyavoZg fi<>~kks<ro<.v tTrotx^^yog Ka.Tsnt<pvBv Disniiss'd thee gently to the shades below. 
Yet glow'st thou fresh with every living grace, POPE. 

The sudden death of women was attnbuted to Diana.- 4 

Tt)v xo\a><raf*.evr) xpwriyos "Apre^iy £«ra. Incens'd Diana her depriv'd of life. 

The ground of this opinion was, that Apollo was usually taken for the 
sun, and Diana for the moon, which planets were believed to have a great 
influence on human life. 5 

All dead persons were thought to be under the jurisdiction of the infer- 
nal deities: and therefore no man could resign his life till some of his 
hairs were cut, to consecrate him to them: hence Euripides introduces 
Death with a sword, going to cut off some of the hair of Alcestis, whom 
the Fates had adjudged to die instead of her husband Admetus:6 

'H 5' ovv yw^i KaTEto-iv ei$ Siov o^owy, Be sure of that, to Pluto's dark domain. 

SreCxw <5' ^tt' alr^y, <L f Karap't-vfiai Zl<pei, I go, and with this sword assert my claim ; 

'lepbs yap ovtos twv Ka-rd zQovbs SeJiv, For sacred to the infernal gods that head, 

"Qrov t<S<5' ey^roy itparbs ayvlaet rglx*. Whose hair is hallow'd by this charmed blade.' 

■ This woman goes, POTTER. 

The ground of this opinion cannot be certainly defined ; but it seems not 
improbable that it proceeded from a ceremony at sacrifices, in which they 
cut off some hairs from the victim's forehead, and offered them to the gods 
as first fruits of the sacrifice ; hence some imagine the same was thought 
to be done by death upon men sent as victims to the infernal gods. 

When they perceived the pangs of death coming upon them, they made 
supplications to Mercury, whose office it was to convey the ghosts to the 
regions below. An instance of this we have in a Cean matron, who, 
being about to rid herself of life by a draught of poison, first called upon 
Mercury to grant her a pleasant journey, and convey her to a commodious 
habitation in Pluto's dominions. 8 These prayers, whether offered to Mer- 

1 Euphorio. 205, et Iliad. T '. 59, &c. fore struggled some time, as un- 

2 Etymologici Auctor. 6 Alcestid. ver. 74. able to resign her life, till Iris 

3 Horn. Iliad, a.'. 757. 7 This passage is imitated by was commissioned by Juno to 

4 Horn. Iliad, r'. 205; Iliad, t'. Virgil, [Macrobiu* Saturnul. v. do her that kind office.— .£>ct?;'d. 
59 ; Odyss. o'. 4U6; lb. X'. 16:9. 19 ) where he tells us, that Dido iv. 693. 

5 Heraciides (vel potius Hera- ridding herself out of the world S Valerius Maximus, ii. fc. 
clitus) Ponticus de Allegor. before her time, had not her hair 

Homer. Eustathius, Iliad, cut oft' by Proserpine, and there- 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



565 



cury or to any other god, were termed l%trrioioi s^a/, which is a general 
name for all prayers before any man's departure, whether by death, or only 
to take a journey. 1 

Their friends and relations perceiving them at the point of resigning 
their lives, came close to the bed where they lay, to bid them farewell, 
and to catch their dying words, which they never repeated without rever- 
ence. The want of opportunity to pay this compliment to Hector fur- 
nishes Andromache with matter of lamentation. 3 

They kissed and embraced the dying person, so taking their last fare- 
well : this was a very ancient custom, being derived from the eastern 
nations ; for we find in the holy writings, that Joseph fell upon his father 
Jacob's neck, when he lay upon his death-bed, and kissed him. 3 They 
likewise endeavoured to receive into their mouth his last breath, as fancy- 
ing his soul to expire with it, and to enter into their bodies: and at the 
time of its departure it was customary to beat brazen kettles, which was 
thought an excellent method to drive away evil spirits and phantasms, 
whose airy forms were not able to endure so harsh a noise : 4 they imagined 
that the dead man's ghost was thus secured from the Furies, and quietly 
conveyed to a peaceful habitation in the Elysian fields. For it was an old 
opinion, that there being two mansions in the infernal regions, one on the 
right hand, pleasant and delightful, the other on the left, appointed for the 
souls of the wicked, the Furies were always ready to hurry departed souls 
to the place of torment. 5 

Death and all things concerning it were ominous and ill-boding, and 
are therefore frequently expressed in softening terms: thus to die is com- 
monly termed a<royUnr$ai, to which the Latin denasci answers: sometimes 
it is called ot^i^ou^ to depart, and the dead ot%o/xivor. so also Chio, in an 
epistle to Plato, says, \\ kt6%mew uvritevtropeu, I will depart out of the 
ivorld. In the same sense we find the Latin word abitio, 6 which is a 
synonymous term for death ; and abiit: as when Pliny writes, that Virgi- 
nius Rufus plenus annis abiit, plenus hanoribus, 7 c departed full of years 
and honours:' thus also the Greeks use /3«/SiWs, he once lived ; and the 
Romans, vLvit and fuit? Sometimes they used vexpnxe and jtccp'ovns,* 
But the most frequent are names taken from sleep, to which death bears 
a near resemblance: whence the poets feign them to be brothers, and 
xotpci<r$cu or tuluv are generally used for dying. 10 So common was this 
way of speaking with the primitive Christians, that their burying-places 
were called xoiftnrigia, cemeteries, which is a term of the same sense with 
Lycophron's iviatrrr.oiet: 11 

SiOmvos t\s Srv/arois elvatrrriptov. To the sleeping place of Sithon's daughter. 

1 Etymologici Aurtor. 5 Virgil. ^Eneid. vi. 540. bull. ifi. eleg. 5. 

2 Horn. Iliad. 743. 6 Festus. 9 Horn. Iliad. /. Odyss. A.' 

3 Genes. 50. 7 Lib. ii. epist. 1. 10 Callirn. epiaram. xv. xxii. 
i Theocriti Seholiastes. S Virgil. JEneid. ii. 325. Ti- 11 Cassandr. ver. 583. 

3 B 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. III. 
OF THE CEREMONIES BEFORE THE FUNERAL. 

As soon as any person had expired, they closed his eyes ; to do which, 
they termed xa£cu(>uv, o-uvc&tu'orruv, <rvyx.\i'iztv, <rov; cxp^ukftovs, or ru fi>A- 
(puouy &c: this custom was so universally practised, that no person who 
has the least acquaintance with ancient writers can be ignorant of it. 
Hence xotrafAvuv came to be used for §vn<rx.uv. The design of this custom 
seems to have been, not only to prevent that horror which the eyes of 
dead men, when uncovered, are apt to strike into the living ; but also to 
satisfy the dying, who are usually desirous to die in a decent posture. 
Thus Polyxena, in Euripides, is said to have ordered herself in such a 
manner, that nothing unfit to be seen should appear in her fall; 1 and 
Augustus Caesar, upon the approach of death, called for a looking-glass, 
and caused his hair to be combed, and his fallen cheeks decently composed. 2 
For the same reasons, the mouth of the dead person was closed. Hence 
the ghost of Agamemnon, in Homer, complains that his wife Clytaemnes- 
tra had neglected to perform this ceremony. 3 This being done, the face 
was covered: hence Hippolytus in Euripides, when about to expire, calls 
upon his father Theseus to do him that office: 4 

Kpi-^ov Ik ftov irp6<raiirov iLy rd^oj wtTrXoty. Veil my face over quickly with a sheet. 

Almost all the offices about the dead were performed by their nearest 
relations ; nor could a greater misfortune befall any person, than to want 
these last respects : Electra in Sophocles seems to prefer death itself before 
it. All the charges expended on funerals, and the whole care and man- 
agement of them, belonged also to relations, saving that persons of extra- 
ordinary worth were frequently honoured with public funerals, the 
expenses of which were defrayed out of the exchequer. Thus we find 
Democritus at Abdera, Zeno and Aristides at Athens, Epaminondas at 
Thebes, Gryllus, Xenophon's son, at Mantinea, with many others, had 
their funerals celebrated at the public expense. 

Before the body was cold, they composed all the members, stretching 
them out to their due length: this they termed Ixnlvav, or hoQovv? 

After this the dead body was washed. 6 

Plato tells us, that Socrates washed himself before his execution, to save 
the women the trouble ; 7 for this office was commonly performed by women 
related to the party deceased ; only in cases of necessity others were em- 
ployed therein; so we find that poor Theagenes, having neither wife nor 
child, nor any near relation of his own, was washed by the Cynics. s At 



1 Eurlpid. Hecubae, ver. 563. 4 Eurip. Hippolyto, ver. 1453, 7 Pluedone. 

2 Suetonius in Augusto. xcijr. 5 Id. ih. v^r. 786. 8 Galenus de Methodo Meden- 

3 Odyss. \\ 419. 6 Enrip Alcest. ver, 159. di, *iii. 13. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 557 



some places there were vessels in the temples designed for this use ; these 
were called in Latin labra, whence some derive the word delubrum} 

This done, the body was anointed. Pliny reports that the Greeks never 
used ointment till the time of Alexander the Great, when they had it 
conveyed out of Persia; 2 and Homer, though frequently mentioning the 
custom of anointing the dead, yet useth no other materials beside oil. 3 But 
Athenseus will by no means allow Homer's oil to have been distinguished 
from pvgov, or ointment properly so called ; 4 and we find that Solon allowed 
his citizens the use of ointments, forbidding only slaves to perfume them- 
selves therewith. 5 Hence it seems probable, that although the Greeks 
might not have any knowledge of the costly ointments with which the 
Persians furnished them, yet they were not unacquainted with the use of 
another sort. 

After the body was washed and anointed, they wrapped it in a garment, 
which seems to have been no other than the common pallium or cloak 
they wore at other times, 6 as we find the Romans made use of their toga. 
Thus Misenus, being first washed and anointed, then, as the custom was, 
laid upon a bed, was wrapped in the garments he had usually worn. 7 

After this, the body was adorned with a rich and splendid garment ; 
hence we find, that before Socrates took the fatal draught, Apollodorus 
brought him a cloak, with a garment of great value, 8 it being the philoso- 
pher's desire to prepare himself for his funeral before he died. It is re- 
ported also, that Philocles the Athenian admiral, being overcome and 
sentenced to death by Lysander the Spartan, washed himself, and put on 
his best apparel, before he was executed. 9 The whole body was covered 
with this garment. Its colour was commonly white. 10 Whence Artemi- 
dorus reckons it an unlucky omen, and a presage of death, for a sick per- 
son to have white apparel. 11 This colour seems to have been used to 
denote the simplicity and harmlessness of the dead. 12 So concerned were 
the Greeks about this garment, that, as some think, they frequently pre- 
pared it for themselves and friends during life. 13 

But it maybe disputed, whether these were made on purpose for funeral 
garments, or only designed to be worn, and applied to the former use, in 
case the person should die, it being usual to wrap dead bodies in the gar- 
ments they had used when alive. The latter opinion seems more probable. 
However that be, it is observable, that the Lacedaemonians, as in most 
other things, so here also ran counter to the rest of the Greeks ; for, whilst 
in other places the dead were clothed with costly apparel, which none 
except the poorer sort ever wanted, the Spartan lawgiver ordered, that 
persons of the greatest valour and merit should be buried in nothing but a 
red coat, which was the common habit of soldiers ; to others even this was 



1 Asconius de Diviaatione. 7 Virgil. iEneid. vi. 219. 11 Oneirocrit. ii. 3. 

2 Nat. Hist. xiii. 1. 8 Laertius Socrate, iElianus 12 Plutarchus Ou&est. Rom. 

3 Horn. Iliad, o . 350. Var. Hist. i. 16. 13 Odyss. 94. Virg. M 

4 Asnrro<ro0. xv. 9 Plutarchus Lysandro. Eu- ix. 4S6. 
Plutarchus Snlone. rip. Alcest. 

6 Apuleius Florid, i. 10 Horn. Iliad. '. 352. 

3 b 2 



568 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



denied j 1 for he thought it wholly absurd and unreasonable that those who, 
through life, had been accustomed to contemn riches and superfluous orna- 
ments, should be decked with them when dead. Nor were any ointments 
or costly perfumes used there, being looked on as conducing nothing to 
the felicity of the dead, and unworthy of the Lacedaemonian gravity. 

The next ceremony was the bedecking of the dead body with chaplets 
of flowers and green boughs. 2 When persons of worth and character died 
in foreign countries, their remains were brought home in urns, and hon- 
oured with the ceremonies customary at other funerals, but more especially 
. with this I am speaking of. All the cities through which the ashes of 
Demetrius were conveyed sent mourners to meet the sacred urn, with 
others to perform the rites usual on such occasions, or at least to crown it 
with garlands. 3 Philopoemen's relics were attended by captives in chains, 
and his urn so covered with ribands and chaplets, that scarce any part of 
it was to be seen. 4 This ceremony was either taken from the games, in 
which the conquerors were rewarded with crowns of leaves, as signifying 
that the dead had finished their course, 5 or was designed to express the 
unmixed and never-fading pleasures the dead were to enjoy upon their 
removal out of this painful and troublesome world ; 6 for garlands were an 
emblem of mirth and joyfulness, and therefore usually worn at banquets 
and festivals. The same may be observed of ointments and perfumes, the 
constant attendants of gaiety and pleasantness. To both these ceremonies 
we have an ingenious allusion of an old poet in Stobaeus : 

Ov fxev yap o»r<oy &v 7tot' lt7Tt<pava>nivoi, But 'cause -we're sure of that more happy state, 

npov/cetfieO' 1 3.v6ev oiie icaTaKexp^^evot, To which kind death doth every soul translate, 

El p.}) Karapavras 6v0so>y irlve.iv %&et. Which here by drinking we anticipate? 

Ati ravra yip rot K al KaXovvrai fiaitiptoi, For soon as death his fatal shaft has hurl'd, 

nsj yap Xiyst rtj , 6 fnaicaptTTjs ol'^srai. And us transmitted to the other world, 

Not that we less compassionate are grown, We drinking sign the immortal beverage, 

Do we at funerals our temples crown, And in sweet joys eternity engage. 

Or with sweet essences adorn our hair, Hence they by every one are only said 

And all the marks of pleasing transport wear; To be right happy that are truly dead, H. H. 

They next proceeded fgorttio-ticn, collocare, 'to lay out the dead body;' 
sometimes they placed it upon the ground, sometimes upon a bier called 
Xszrgov, (p'sgrgov, or Qigirgov, which they bedecked with various sorts of 
flowers. Some are of opinion that the corpse was first laid out upon the 
ground, and afterwards lifted upon a bier. This office, like most of the for- 
mer ones, was performed by the nearest relations ; whence Lysias, 7 amongst 
other aggravating circumstances which attended the death of Eratosthenes, 
who was condemned bythe thirty tyrants of Athens, reckons this as none of 
the least, that they laid him out, assuming thereby an office which belonged 
of right only to the nearest and most tender relations. Tiberius Csesar is like- 
wise censured by Dio, not only as neglecting to visit Livia when sick, but 
because he laid her not out with his own hands when she was dead. 8 The 
place where the bodies were laid out was near the entrance of the house, winch 

1 iElianus, Var. Hist. v. 11. 4 Plutarch. Philopcemene. ii. 8. 

2 Euripid. Troad. ver. 1143 5 Suidas. 7 Orat. deCaede Eratosthenis. 

3 Plutarch. Demetrio. 6 Clemens Alexandria Srpo^. 8 Lib. lriii. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 560 



being sometimes termed trgovuvrtov, dead men were hence called vr^ovu- 
<Ti7$} The reason of this ceremony was, that all persons might have 
opportunity to search whether the party deceased had any wounds or other 
marks of an untimely and violent death. 2 It may be further observed, 
that the feet were always turned toward the gate. 3 By this ceremony 
they signified that they were never to return after being carried out. 
Whilst the body lay in this place, it was customary to give it constant 
attendance, to defend it from any violence or affront that might be offered: 

&fi<pl <T iraZpoi Round the dead corpse his sad companions mourn. 

Thus we find Achilles so passionately concerned lest flies and vermin 
should pollute the corpse of his friend Patroclus, that he could not be 
drawn from it to the battle till Thetis had promised to guard it. 4 When 
any person died in debt at Athens, there was something more to be feared ; 
for the laws of that city gave leave to creditors to seize the dead body, and 
deprive it of burial till payment was made ; whence the corpse of Miltia- 
des, who deceased in prison, being like to want the honour of burial, his 
son Cimon had no other means to release it but by taking upon himself his 
father's debt and fetters. 5 

Some time before interment, a piece of money was put into the mouth 
of the corpse, which was thought to be Charon's fare for wafting the de- 
parted soul over the infernal river. This was by some termed zaeK^ovra, 6 
by others ^ccvd'/i," }xvaz'/}, or tnvtixr,?, from ^avaj, a price; or because it 
was given ro7; $avo7$ 9 to dead men, so called from 2ava, dry sticks. 8 It 
was only a single oft>o\o$ ; Aristophanes, indeed, introduces Hercules tell- 
ing Bacchus he must pay two oboli. 9 But the comedian seems to speak 
this only by way of jeer to the judges in some of the Athenian courts, who 
were presented with two oboli at the end of their session ; whence Bac- 
chus presently subjoins: 

*s5, f*h a &vva.s9ov ir%vTaxov 6V ofioXw. I find two oboli can much prevail 

In either world. 

Meursius, therefore interpreting this place of the common custom to- 
wards the dead, and adding out of the scholiast that the price was after- 
wards raised to three oboli, seems not to have reached the author's mean- 
ing ; for nothing can be more plain than that the scholiast is to be 
understood of the liKcca-rjyJ; (ucrQo?, reward allowed the judges, which 
was two oboli, and was afterwards increased to three. The ceremony was 
not used in those places which they fancied to be situated in the vicinity 
of the infernal regions, and to lead thither by a ready and direct road. 10 

1 Euripid. Alcestide. creditors may stay the body of the executors had agreed with 

2 Pollux, viii. 7. their dettor from burial til they one that claimed to be lord of 

3 Pers. Sat. iii. 103. Horn, be fully satisfied their debt, and the soile where the church stood, 
Iliad, t'. 211. the glosse upon Linwoode al- but never of any other interrup- 

4 Ibid. t'. 23. ledgeth this to be a law in Eng- tion of funerals." 

5 There is a vulgar error, that land, but I ihinke no man ever 6 Snidas. 

a similar power is given by the heard any such thing practised in 7 Hesychius. 

English law to creditors: upon Englanrie. I have read that 8 Etymologici Auctor. 

which belief Mr Tait has written William the Conqueror's body 9 Ranis, p. 217, edit. Aurel. 

as follows [Heartie s Collection, i. could not be committed to the A llob. 

No. &).): "Some sny that the ground iu Caen in Normandy, till 10 Etvrco'.og- Auct. \\ iav&w 

3 b 3 



570 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Strabo particularly mentions that the Herraionians pleaded exemp- 
tion, 1 

Besides this, the mouth of the corpse was furnished with a certain cake, 
composed of flour, honey, &c. and therefore called ^KirrovToe.? This was 
designed to appease the fury of Cerberus, the infernal door-keeper, and 
to procure of him a safe and quiet entrance. 3 

The whole ceremony of laying out and clothing the dead, and some- 
times the interment itself was called avyxopibn.*- In the same sense ancient 
writers use o-uyxop'iguv, with its derivatives. 5 

During this time the hair of the deceased person was hung upon the 
door, to intimate that the family was in mourning. And till the house 
was delivered of the corpse, there stood before the door a vessel of water, 
called K$d,viov, 6 cc^ana,, ya.<rr£ot -J and from the matter it was frequently 
made of, Ut^cckov. 8 The design of this was, that such as had been busied 
about the corpse might purify themselves by washing, which was called 
kf>uicr0cu ano nxgov. For not only the Jews, 9 but the greatest part of the 
heathen world thought themselves polluted by the contact of a dead body ; 
death being contrary to nature, and therefore abhorred by every thing en- 
dued with life. Hence the celestial gods, those especially who were 
thought to give or preserve light or life, would not endure the sight of a 
corpse. Diana, in Euripides, professes it unlawful for her to see Hippo- 
lytus, her favourite, when dead : 

Kol x°"p\ s/iol yap ol 3i/xiy (p9irovi 6p$v, Farewell, for 'twere in me a sinful act 

Ov6' S/jt/jLo. xpalvnv Savaaty.oi.o-iv lic-irvoais. To view the dead, or to defile mine eyes 



Nor was the house where the corpse lay free from pollution. 10 
The air proceeding from the dead body was thought to pollute all things 
into which it entered; hence all uncovered vessels which stood in the 
same room with the corpse were accounted unclean by the Jews. On 
this account it was customary to have the whole house purified as soon as 
the funeral solemnities were over. 



The next thing to be observed is their carrying the corpse forth, which is 
in Greek termed Ixxopdri, and InQo^u,, in Latin elatio, or crportatio j 
whence the Latin ejferre, cxportare, and the Greek IxQiguv, and Ixzop'iguv, 
are words appropriated to funerals. Kirchman would have ■ra^x^/n 



With the sad sight of an expiring soul, 
iv free from nollution. 10 



CHAP. IV. 



OF THEIR FUNERAL PROCESSlOiNS. 



1 Ueog. viii. 

2 Suidas, &c. 

3 Lysistrale. Virgil. JEneid, 
V:. 417 



4 iEschyii Scholiastes. 
. r > Sophocl. -Aiac. 1067. 
(i Suidas, Pollux, viii. ? 
7 llesychius. 




OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 571 



to he used in the same sense ; but the place he produces out of Eunapius 
to that purpose 1 seems rather to denote the pretervection of the body by 
some place, than its elation from the house wherein it was prepared for 
burial ; for vagux,op,%av is usually spoken with respect to a place in the 
middle way of any motion ; lUxopXCpi* belongs to the end, or place where 
the motion ceases; but Ixzoft't^&t, or ixQtguv, are only proper when we 
speak of the place whence the motion begins, being the same with sg» 
<p'i£uv, carrying forth ; which words are taken by Theocritus in the sense 
I am speaking of: 2 

'Aw9ev <5' Ififtst v»i» d>a <5prf<rco i9g6ai «?<u When mom with pearly dew lias overspread 

OlotO^ey worl n^ar' ««•' aLovi tttvovto.. The bending grass, we will bring forth our dead 

Down to the rivers side. 

Plautus likewise for efferre has floras ferre : 3 

Qhce eras ve/iiat perendi". foras feratur soror. To-morrow's sun shall see my sister carried forth. 

The time of burial seems not to have been limited. The author of the 
Geniales Dies tells us, 4 that bodies were usually kept seventeen days and 
seventeen nights before they were interred ; which he seems to have out 
of Homer, who reports that the body of Achilles was committed to the 
flames, after seventeen days and as many nights of mourning. 5 

Servius was of opinion, that the time of burning bodies was the eighth 
day after death, the time of burying the ninth : 6 but this must only be un- 
derstood of the funerals of great persons, which could not be duly solem- 
nized without extraordinary preparations: men of inferior rank were com- 
mitted to the groimd without so much noise and pomp. The ancient 
burials seem to have been upon the third or fourth day after death. 7 

It was not unusual, however, to perform the solemnities, especially of 
poor persons, on the day after their decease ; this appears from an epigram 
of Callimachus: 

Aalfiova. rl<; 6' e.Z oTIe rov alpiov \ 4)vlta ko.'. oe, Who knows what fortunes on to-morrow wait, 

Xap^i, rov 6<p9a\^oli ^-fojox e.- ^,u.f=rff)oty, Since Charmis one day well to us appeared, 

Ty erepp *Xav«ravT«y edaxrofisv. And on the next was mournfully interred ! 

Pherecydes alludes to this custom in his epistle to Thales, s telling him 
he expected every minute to breathe his last, and had invited his friends 
to his funeral the day following. 

The ceremony was performed in the day, for night was looked on as a 
very improper time ; because then Furies and evil spirits, which could not 
endure the light, ventured abroad. Hence Cassandra, in a quarrel with 
Talthybius, foretels, as one of the greatest mischiefs that could befall him, 
that it should be his fortune to be buried in the night: 9 

'H *a*oj Ta<pr,cy vvktos, ov\- Iv ypeppm An evil fate attends thy obsequies ; 

Thy funeral rites shall be performed at night. 

Young men only, that died in the flower of their age, were buried in the 
morning twilight; for so dreadful a calamity was this accounted, that they 



1 Jamblicho. 

2 Idyll, xv. 132. 
5 Aululai ia. 



4 Lib. iii. 7. 

5 Odyss. 63. 

6 .Eneid. v. 



7 Apollon. Argon, ii. 837. 

8 Ue.t.Vit. Pherecyd. sub fia. 

9 Earip. Troad. ver. -146. 



572 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



thought it indecent, and almost impious to reveal it in the face of the sun. 
Hence, as the expounders of fables tell us, came the stories of youths stolen 
into Aurora's embraces ; for when beauteous and hopeful young men suf- 
fered an untimely death, it was customary to alleviate the disaster by 
giving it a more pleasant and agreeable name; whence, instead of calling 
their departure death, they term it "H^loa; uon&yriv. 1 Because these 
funerals were celebrated by torch-light, it became customary to carry 
torches at all other burials, though performed in the day; whence came 
that proverbial expression, by which old men are said to approach \m <rhv 
^S.1a rov fiiov, to the torch of their life. 2 The Athenians went counter to the 
rest of the Greeks ; for their laws enjoined them to celebrate their funerals 
before sunrise: which command Cicero 3 will have to be not more ancient 
than Demetrius the Phalerean: but Demosthenes ascribes it to Solon. 4 
It is not improbable that it might be first instituted by Solon, and after- 
wards revived by Demetrius. The design seems to have been, to moder- 
ate the expensive extravagance of funerals, which a more open and public 
celebration seemed to require. 

The bearers usually mounted the corpse upon their shoulders, which 
Euripides calls ci^nv (pi^.iy. 5 

7rpo<r7ri5Xoi The servants to the grave the corpse do bear 

Gipovoiv apdriv 7rpoj rafpovTS koi vvpai'. Upon their shoulders. 

The body was sometimes placed upon a bier, instead of which the La- 
cedaemonians commonly used their bucklers ; whence that remarkable 
command of one of their matrons to her son, % tccv, % \xi ryh, either bring 
this (pointing to his buckler) back, or be brought upon it. This custom 
was not unknown in other places.6 

But the most ancient Greeks seem to have conveyed their dead bodies 
to their funerals without any vehicle ; thus when Patroclus was carried' 
forth by the Myrmidons, Achilles went behind to support his head;7 

i hiriOEv 6s Kapn %x* 'AfctAAguj. Achilles next, oppressed with mighty -woe, 

Supporting with his hands the hero's head. POPE, 

This seems to be the meaning of the expression QodAv vr&fuiruv, of which 
Euripides makes use in speaking of the funeral of Rhesus : s 

Tls i-rrep Kt(pa\^ 5eos, £ /?<u-tX»v, What god, O king, mov'd with becoming care, 

Toy veo5/*7jTov Iv %epoiv Shall with his hand behind support thy head ? 

The persons present at funerals were the dead man's friends and rela- 
tions, who thought themselves under an obligation to pay this last respect 
to their deceased friend. Besides these, others were frequently invited to 
increase the solemnity, where the laws restrained them not from it ; but 
in some places, either to prevent the disorders which often happened at 
such promiscuous meetings, or to diminish the excessive charges of funer- 
als, this was not permitted. Thus we find that Pittacus established a law 

1 Heracl. Ponticus de Allegor. 3 De Leg. ii. 7 Iliad. i/<'. 
Hompric. sub fin. Eustathias. 4 Qiat. in Macartatum. 8 Rheso, ver. SS6. 

2 Piut. lib. An seni cspess. sit 5 Alcest. ver. COT. 
Resp. 6 Virg. iEaeid. x. 506. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



573 



at Mitylene, that none but the relations of the deceased should appear at 
funerals: Solon also laid some restraint upon his Athenians, wholly ex- 
cluding all women under threescore years of age from these solemnities ; 
yet female relations were admitted whilst under that age, as appears from 
Lysias' oration in defence of Eratosthenes, who had murdered his wife's 
gallant, whose first acquaintance with her, he tells us, proceeded from see- 
ing her at a funeral. They seem, however, not to have gone promiscu- 
ously among the men, but in a body by themselves. 1 

The habit of these persons was not always the same ; for though they 
sometimes put on mourning, and at common funerals as frequently retained 
their ordinary apparel ; yet the exequies of great men were commonly 
celebrated with expressions of joy for their reception into heaven. Thus 
Timoleon's hearse was followed by many thousands of men and women in 
white garments, and bedecked with garlands, as in festival solemnities ; 2 
the funeral of Aratus was likewise celebrated with paeans or songs of tri- 
umph and dances. 3 

When the body was conveyed out of the house, they took their last 
farewell, saluting it in a certain form of words: 4 

'Yfi$Zs <5e ttjv Savovoav, &>j vo/j.iZerai y Do you, since ancient custom so requires, 

npoaeliraT s%tov<rav wrertjv oSov. Salute the corpse, and take your last farewell. 

The procession was commonly made on horseback or in coaches, but at 
the funerals of persons to whom a more than ordinary reverence was 
thought due, all went on foot: this respect the Athenians paid to the me- 
mory of Theophrastus, as an acknowledgment of his excellent virtues. 5 
The relations went next the corpse, the rest walked at some distance: 
sometimes the men went before it, with their heads uncovered, the women 
following it. Patroclus was carried to his funeral surrounded by the Gre- 
cian soldiers. 6 But the ordinary way was for the body to go first, and the 
rest to follow ; 7 the survivers were thus reminded of their mortality, and 
taught to remember that they were all following in the way the dead per- 
son was gone before. 8 At the funerals of soldiers, their fellow-soldiers 
attended with their spears pointed towards the ground, and the uppermost 
part of their bucklers turned downwards. This was not done so much, as 
some fancy, because the gods were carved upon their bucklers, whose faces 
would have been polluted by the sight of a dead body, as that they might 
recede from their common custom; the method of mourning being to act 
contrary to what was usual at other times ; and therefore not only their 
bucklers, but their spears, and the rest of their weapons, were inverted. 
Nor was this only a martial custom, but practised likewise in peace ; for 
at the funerals of magistrates, their ensigns of honour were inverted. 9 

To perform this ceremony, they termed Ikti^uvj 7rccgct<z'l/*<z'iiv, and 
*£9ir'cfAxuv ; the first with respect to the house, out of which the body was 



1 Terent. Andr. i. 1. 90. 5 Diog. Laertius Theophrasto. Alexand. ab Alex. iii. 8. 

2 Piutarchus Timolennte. ti Horn. Iliad. 9 Pedo Albinovan. Eleg. ad 

3 Idem Arato. 7 Terent. Andria. Liviara. 

4 Eurip. Alcest. ver. 608. 8 Donatus in lop Terentii, 



574 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



carried forth; the second with respect to the places by which it passed; 
and the last, to the place whither it was conveyed. 



CHAP. V. 

OF THEIR MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 

The ceremonies by which the Greeks used to express their sorrow upon 
the death of friends, and on other occasions, were various and uncer- 
tain: but it seems to have been a constant rule amongst them to recede as 
much as possible, in habit and in all their behaviour, from their ordinary 
customs; by which change they thought it would appear that some extra- 
ordinary calamity had befallen them. Hence, mourners, in some cities, 
demeaned themselves in the very same manner as persons who in other 
places designed to express joy ; for the customs of one city being contrary 
to those of another, it sometimes happened that what in one place passed 
for an expression of mirth, was in others a token of sorrow. The most 
ordinary ways of expressing sorrow were these that follow: 

1. They abstained from banquets and entertainments, and banished 
from their houses all musical instruments, and whatever was calculated 
to excite pleasure, or bore an air of mirth and gaiety. 1 

They frequented no public solemnities, nor appeared in places of con- 
course, but sequestered themselves from company, and refrained even 
from the comforts and conveniences of life. Wine was too good a friend 
to cheerfulness to gain admission into so melancholy a society ; the light 
itself was odious, and nothing courted but dark shades and lonesome 
retirements, which they thought bore some resemblance to their misfor- 
tunes. 2 Whence Artemidorus lays it down as a certain forerunner of 
death, for any one to dream of a fire's being extinguished during the 
sickness of any in the same family. 3 

2. They divested themselves of all ornaments, and laid aside their 
jewels, gold, and whatever was rich and precious in their apparel. 4 

This custom is frequently mentioned in the poets, but was not peculiar 
to mourners for the dead ; being likewise, with several other ceremonies 
mentioned in this chapter, practised by all that lamented any great cala- 
mity. Whence Hecuba had no sooner heard the fortune assigned to 
herself and Cassandra, than she cried out, 

{iline, rixvov, Za9eov S Cast from thee, O my daughter, cast away 

KXrj-ttaSi * ? Vo ^.pooy Iv- Thy sacred wand, rend off the honourd wreaths 

tvTwv orecpiwy iepois <ttoX^ov S .5 The splendid ornaments that grace thy brows. 

POTTER. 



1 Eurip. Alcest. v. 343. 3 Lib. ii., cap. 9. consuls. 

2 Gloss, vet. Plutarchus Con- 4 Lycoph. Cassandr. ver. 859, 5 Euripid. Troadf v. 256. 
solat. ad Uxorenu . nostrumque ibi Commentarium 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



575 



Their mourning garments were alvvays black. 1 To this custom Peri- 
cles had respect when he boasted, that "he had never given cause to any 
citizen to put on black." 2 Hence Artemidorus will have it to be a pre- 
sage of recovery for a sick person to dream of black clothes, since not 
those that die, but those who survive to mourn are apparelled in black. 3 
The Egyptians are said to have introduced this custom, when they 
mourned for the death of Liber, otherwise called Osiris, who was treach- 
erously circumvented and murdered by his brother Typho. Farther, 
mourning garments differed from ordinary apparel not only in colour but 
likewise in value, as being of cheap and coarse stuff' 4 

3, They tore, cut off*, and sometimes shaved their hair; and it was not 
sufficient to deprive themselves of a small part only, for we find Electra 
in Euripides finding fault with Helena for sparing her locks, and thereby 
defrauding the dead. 5 This custom is too well known to need any confir- 
mation by examples. They had several ways of disposing of their hair: 
it was sometimes thrown upon the dead body, as we learn from the fune- 
ral of Patroclus, where the Greeks, to show their affection and respect to 
him, covered his body with their hair. 6 It was likewise customary to cast 
it into the funeral pile, to be consumed with the body of their friend; as 
Achilles appears to have done at Patroclus's funeral. 7 Sometimes it was 
laid upon the grave. 8 Canace in Ovid bewails her misfortune, because 
she was debarred from performing this ceremony to her beloved Macareus: 

Non mihi te limit lacrymis perj 'under ejuslis, Nor weeping could I follow to the grave, 

In tua non tonsas ferre sppidchra comae. Nor on thy tomb could offer my shorn hair. 

Thy unoffending life 1 could not save, DRYDEN. 

Some confine this practice to sons, or very near relations; but it 
appears to have been common to all who thought themselves obliged to 
express their respect or love to the dead ; insomuch that, upon the death 
of great men, the inhabitants of whole cities and countries were commonly 
shaved. 

The practice may be accounted for two ways: it was used, partly to 
render the ghost of the deceased person propitious, which seems to be the 
reason why they threw hair into the fire to burn with him, or laid it on 
his body; partly that they might appear disfigured, and careless of their 
beauty, for long hair was looked on as very becoming, and the Greeks 
prided themselves in it ; hence they are so frequently honoured by Homer 
with the epithet of xagyvco/xGuvris. 

It may be farther observed, that in solemn and public mournings, it 
was common to extend this practice to their beasts, that all things might 
appear as deformed and ugly as might be. Thus Admetus, upon the 
death of Alcestis, commands his chariot-horses to be shorn : 9 

TtSpnrra. re {ovymoee, k*1 >ova,u7ruvay My chariot-horses, too, shall share my pain ; 

II<S,Xouy ctSripu, re/jtver' avx^vwv <p6^r]v. Let them be shorn, and lose their comely mane. 

1 Ovid. Metara. vi. 8. Metam. 3 Lib. iii., 3 Thebaid. vi. 
viii. 4. 4 Terent. Heaut. act.ii.,sc. 3. 7 Iliad. 

2 Piutarchus ir^l roS kavrhv !> Orest. 128. 8 ^.schvl. Coeph. 

irratieXu ivsTn<peJ,, /a) c. 6 Horn. Iliad, f. 135, Stat. 9 Euripides Alc^stide, ver.42S5. 



576 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Thus likewise the Thessalians cut off their own hair and their horses' 
manes at the death of Pelopidas ; l when Masistius was slain in a skirmish 
with the Athenians, the Persians shaved themselves, their horses, and 
their mules ; 2 but Alexander, as in the rest of his actions, so in this 
went beyond the rest of mankind ; for at the death of Hephsestion, he not 
only cut off the manes of his horses and mules, but took down the battle- 
ments from the city walls, that even towns might seem mourners ; and 
instead of their former beauteous appearance, look bald at the funeral. 3 

It may be objected, indeed, to what I have been stating, that shaving 
was a sign of joy ; whereas to let their hair grow long was the practice of 
persons in affliction: hence Joseph is said to have been shaved when he 
was delivered out of prison; and Mephibesheth, during the time kin, 
David was banished from Jerusalem, let his hair grow, but on his return 
shaved himself. Thus likewise mariners, upon their deliverance from 
shipwreck, used to shave themselves. 4 Whence Artemidorus will have 
mariners that dream of having their whole head shaved, to be forewarned 
by the gods, that they are to undergo very great hazards, but to escape 
with life. 5 Pliny also, in one of his epistles, interprets his dream of cut- 
ting off his hair, to be a token of his deliverance from some imminent 
danger ; and the poets furnish us with several examples to our purpose. 
Lycophron, for instance, thus describes a general lamentation: 6 



vas le Xvyalav X«ij Neglected hair shall now luxuriant grow, 



t Ea9riTa ■Kgoarp6iraiov gy^Xcuvov/xsvoy, And by its length their bitter passion show; 

Avxnv vivaiirii Xvirpbv ip-ngtboii ploy- They shall incessant of their loss complain, 

Kpcnbs 6' anovpos vwra. KaWwel <j>6$7) And all their life be one sad mournful scene; 

WvtfiT)v traXatZv T7?ynsXo5<r' iivpfiarwy. Thus they the never-dying names shall save 

In mournful black shall every soul appear; Of ancient patriots from the conquered grave. 
Each shall with loathsome dirt his face besmear; H. H. 

Plutarch, undertaking to solve this difficulty, reports that the men let 
their hair grow, but the women were shaved; it being the fashion for 
men to wear their hair short at other times, and for women to suffer 
theirs to grow: 7 but, on the contrary, it plainly appears from the instances 
already produced, and many others, that the men frequently wore Ion 
hair, which they cut off upon any great calamity ; nor can it be doubted 
that the women frequently wore long hair in sorrow, since it is remarked, 
as a badge of a woman in mourning, that she has her hair dishevelled, and 
carelessly flowing about. 

Wherefore two things maybe observed for the solution of this difficulty: 
first, the manner of being shaved: for though to be shaved or trimmed 
by barbers was a token of cheerfulness, yet those that cut off their own 
hair, and that in a negligent and careless manner, were looked on as 
mourners : whence, though Artemidorus reports that no man under the 
pressure of misfortunes was ever shaved, 8 yet he adds, in the same chap- 



1 Plutarchus Pelopida, 

2 Idem Aristide. 
- 3 Idf^m Pelopida. 



4 Juvenal. Sat. xii., S2. 

5 Lib. i. 23. 

6 Cassandr. ver. 973. 



7 Roinanis Ouaest. Terent. 
Beaut, act. ii., sc. 3. 

8 Lib. i. 23. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 577 



tor, that for a man to dream of shaving himself was a presage of some 
great calamity ; because men in such circumstances were wont to shave 
themselves. Secondly, the different fashions of several nations are to be 
considered : for where it was customary to wear short hair, there the 
length of hair was a token of mourning; but where long hair was in 
fashion, there mourners shaved themselves. It is reported by Herodotus 1 
and others/ 2 that the Argians having lost Thyrea to the Spartans, made a 
decree, that their whole city should cut their hair, and never permit it to 
grow again to its accustomed length till they recovered that place. The 
Spartans, on the contrary, who used to wear their hair short, put forth a 
decree that from that time they should nourish their hair, in reproach to 
their enemies. Now, in these cities, when the fashion was to wear short 
hair, then mourners were distinguished by long hair; but long hair com- 
ing into fashion, mourners were shaved. 

4. It was frequent for persons overwhelmed with grief, and unable to 
bear up under it, to throw themselves upon the earth, and roll in the 
dust; and the more dirty the ground was, the better it served to defile 
them, and to express their sorrow and dejection. 3 

5. They covered their heads with ashes. Thus Achilles, upon the 
news of Patroclus' death : 4 

'A.u<po7epy<ri. is A'«P J *" alOaXSeaa-av, And seizing the burnt ashes with both hands, 

Xrvaj-o Kj.mcnpa\iis He o'er his head them sprinkled. — ' 

These customs were likewise practised in the eastern countries ; whence 
we find so frequent mention of penitents lying upon the ground, and put- 
ting on sackcloth and ashes. 

6. When any occasion required their attendance abroad, their heads 
were muffled up, as appears from these verses in the epigram : 5 

<pxpos yap eTrncpsfiss i/i<pl irpCaairra Her face, wrapt in a veil, declared her woes. 

Tlrjj.ara xai itiicvva-iv, 



Whence Orestes, persuading Electra to leave off mourning, bids her be 
unveiled: 



Nor was this the fashion of women only; for Adrastus came to Theseus 
after his loss at Thebes, Karri^r,; p^Xccv^lo/s, wherefore Theseus speaks 
thus to him: 6 



Thus likewise Haman, upon the defeat of his plot against Mordecai, is 
said to have ' hasted to his house mourning, and having his head cov- 
ered ; :? and the Jews are represented by Jeremiah as being * ashamed 
and confounded, and covering their heads/ in the time of a grievous 
famine. s 

1 Lib. i. 82. 52S. Horn. Iliad, i.. 637. 6 Euripid. Supplic. 110. 

2 Plutarch. Lvsandro, Alex. -i Iliad, a'. 23. 7 Esther, vi., VZ, 
ab A!.-*. Gfin. Dier. lib. v. &c. 5 Anthoiog. lib. v. 33. 8 Cap. xir.,'3, 4. 

3 Ovid. Metamorpli. lib. viii., 



Pull off you 
This grief.- 



veil, dear sister, and forbear 




Speak out, unfold your head, refrain from tears. 



8 C 



57S 



GRECIAK ANTIQUITIES. 



7. Another token of dejection was, to decline their heads upon their 
hands. Whence Helen speaks thus of the calamitous Trojans: 1 

'EttI ce Kparl x tZ P a s td-nnay. They with their hands support their drooping head. 

8. They went softly to express their faintness and loss of strength and 
spirits. Thus Ahab, king of Israel, being terrified by the judgment 
Elias denounced against him, * fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went 
softly.' 2 And Hezekiah, king of Judah, being told by the prophet that 
he was never to recover of a distemper he then lay under, amongst 
other expressions of sorrow hath this : * I shall go softly all my years, in 
the bitterness of my soul." 3 

9. They beat their breasts and thighs, and tore their flesh, making 
furrows in their faces with their nails; these actions, though practised 
sometimes by men, were more frequent among women, whose passions 
are more violent and ungovernable. 4 

Solon thought fit 5 to forbid this amongst other extravagances at funerals. 
The Lacedaemonians bore the death of their private relations with great 
constancy and moderation ; but when their king died, they had a barbarous 
custom of meeting in vast numbers, where men, women, and slaves, all 
mixed together, tore the flesh from their foreheads with pins and needles. 
The design of this was not only to testify their sorrow, but also to gratify 
the ghosts of the dead, who were thought to feed upon, and delight in no- 
thing so much as blood. 6 

10. They accused and cursed their gods.7 Nor was this the effect of 
extravagant passion, or practised only by persons of weaker understand- 
ings in the extremity of their sorrow, but frequently done by men of all 
qualities, and that in the most grave and solemn manner that could be. 8 
For the gods being thought subject to human passions, it was very easy 
for men tinder misfortunes to impeach them of cruelty or envy. Thus, 
when Hylas, the darling of Hercules, perished in the waters, the deities 
residing there were said to have been enamoured with him, and to have 
stolen him: and when any great and public blessing was taken away, 
the immortal beings were said to envy mankind so great felicity. 9 

Sometimes their impious rage against the gods proceeded to the pulling 
down of their altars, and the sacking of their temples ; of this we have an 
example in Neoptolemus, who being informed that Apollo was accessary 
to his father's death, resolved to demolish the Delphic temple, and per- 
ished in the attempt. 10 

11. Another custom they had of drawling out their words, and with 
tears repeating the interjection s, s, g, s. Hence funeral lamentations were 
called tXiyoi, elegies. 11 



1 Eiiripid. Helen. 377. 5 Plut. Solone, Cicero de Leg- 8 Stat. Theb. iii. 196. 

2 1 Reg. xxi., 27. jbus. 9 Virg. Mn. vi., 869. 

3 Isaiah, xxxviii., 15. 6 JEn. iii. et xii. 10 Euripid. Andromach. 

4 Nonn. Dionys. lib. ix., 18. 7 Stat, Sylv. v. 22. U SchoL Aristoph. Av.ver.217. 
VWgil. Ma. iv. 672. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 579 



12. When public magistrates or persons of note died, or any public 
calamity happened, all public meetings were intermitted; the schools of 
exercise, baths, shops, temples, and all places of concourse, were shut up, 
and the whole city put on a face of sorrow: thus we find the Athenians 
bewailing their loss of Socrates, not long after they had sentenced him to 
death. 1 

13. They had mourners and musicians to increase the solemnity, 
which custom seems to have been practised in most parts of the world. 
The Roman prceficce are remarkable enough, and the eastern countries 
observed the same practice ; whence we find mention of ' mourners going 
about the streets,' and ' mourning women,' in several parts of the sacred 
scripture. Jeremiah having foretold the calamity of the Jews, advises to 
' consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may make haste, 
and take up a wailing for us. that our eyes may run down with tears, and 
our eyelids gush out with waters/ 2 These Homer calls S^'wav 
because they endeavoured to excite sorrow in all the company, by beating 
their breasts, and counterfeiting all the actions of the most real and pas- 
sionate grief. They are likewise termed aotto), tf^otriuSo), &c, from the 
songs they sang at funerals ; of these there seem to have been three, one 
in the procession, another at the funeral pile, a third at the grave: these 
were commonly termed oXoipuopo), xUoi, alXivoi, though the last two names 
seem not peculiar to funeral songs, but applicable to others. We find 
them sometimes called l&Xzpoi, from Talemus, one of Clio's sons, and the 
first author of these compositions; for the same reason, songs at mar- 
riages were termed vfiivccioi, from his brother Hymenasus. Funeral 
dirges were also called caA?^/, whence t«Xs- 
(t's&iv is expounded in Hesychius by §ovivz~v, to 
mourn; and t^As^/Vt^o^ is another name for 
mourning-women. Hence to. roLXi^A sig- 
nify empty and tuorthless things, and TuXipou 
'^vXi ori i 0i * s proverbially applied to insipid 
and senseless compositions; 3 for the songs used 
on these occasions were usually very mean and 
trifling. 4 

What the design of their musical instru- 
ments was is not agreed: some suppose they 
were intended to affright the ghosts andFurie? 
from the soul of the deceased person ; others, 
agreeably to the notions of Plato and Pytha- 
goras, would have them to signify the soul's 
departure into heaven, where they fancied the 5 . 




1 Diogenes Laertius Socrate, 

2 Cap. is. J?. 

3 Suidas, Zenodotus. 



4 Plaut. Asinaria. iv. 1. 63. 

5 The above cut represents a 
woman playing on a double flute, 

3 c 2 



dressed in the x* T <» y i and outpj 
slip or bib, sucli as were worn a» 
funerals. 



5S0 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



motion of the spheres made a divine and eternal harmony: others say, 
they were designed to divert the sorrow of the dead man's surviving 
relations. The most probable opinion is, that they were intended to 
excite sorrow, and hence the lyra, being consecrated to Apollo, and fit 
only for pteans and cheerful songs, was never used at such solemnities. 
Admetus, indeed, commands the flute likewise to be banished out of 
his city upon the death of Alcestis. 1 But we are only to infer from this 
that the ancients had different sorts of flutes, some of which were proper in 
times of mirth, others in times of mourning; for it appears by many 
examples, that some of their aukoi, or tibia, were of all instruments the 
most common at funerals. 2 

Some indeed will have the Lydian flutes more suitable to funerals; the 
Phrygian, of which Statius speaks, to agree with mirth and cheerfulness, 
and to be used only at funerals of infants or youths, which were ordinarily 
solemnized in a manner quite different from those of grown persons, which 
they think confirmed by Statius's words: but as these may bear a quite 
different sense, not the instrument, but the song, of which he there speaks, 
being proper for the funerals of persons under age ; so it appears farther, 
that the most common flutes used at these solemnities were of the Phry- 
gian fashion, though perhaps neither the Lydian nor some others might be 
wholly excluded: hence ncenia, which is the Latin word for funeral 
dirges, seems to have been derived from the Greek vjjv/arav, which is 
used by Hipponax ; and (however Scaliger deduces it from the Hebrew) 
affirmed by Pollux to be of Phrygian original; vyvu0i£scr0cci is of the same 
descent, and expounded by §o-/ivi7v. The Carian flute was likewise 
used on these occasions, whence the musicians and mourners were termed 
Kawv/a/, 3 and Kcioizyi poZtru is a funeral song: now r this was the very same 
with that used by the Phrygians, from whom Pollux tells us it was first 
conveyed into Caria. 4 I shall only mention two more ; the first is the 
Mysian flute, an instrument likewise fit for sorrow; hence iEschylus: 5 

Kai aripv apatraei^ K^mpor. to Mvaiov. He beats his bresst, and sounds the Mysian flute. 

The last is the Lydian flute, which, as Plutarch reports out of Aristoxe- 
mis, was first applied to this use by Olympus at Python's death. 



CHAP. VI. 

OF THEIR MANNER OF INTERRING AND BURNING THE DEAD. 

It would be needless to prove that both interring and burning were prac- 
tised by the Greeks ; yet which of these customs has the best claim to 



1 Euripid. Alcest. ver. 430. 4 Lib. iii. ti De Musics 

2 Stat. Tlieb. lib. vi. 120. 5 Persis, ejusque Scholiastes, 
'6 Hesychius. ibid. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 5S1 



antiquity may perhaps admit of a dispute. But it seems probable, that 
however the later Greeks were better affected to the way of burning, yet 
the custom of the most primitive ages was to inter their dead. It is 
plain the Athenians, however afterwards addicted to burning, used inter- 
ment in Cecrops' reign, if any credit may be allowed to Cicero; 1 and the 
scholiast upon Homer 2 positively affirms, that interring was more ancient 
than burning, which he reports to have been first introduced by Hercules. 
However, it appears that the custom of burning was received in the Tro- 
jan war, and both then and afterwards generally practised by the Greeks: 
insomuch that when Lucian enumerates the various methods used by dif- 
ferent nations in disposing of their dead, he expressly assigns burning to 
Greece, and interment to the Persians. 3 But this is not so to be under- 
stood, as if the Greeks in the ages he speaks of never interred their 
dead, or thought it unlawful so to do; but only that the other custom was 
more generally received by them. Socrates, in Plato's Phcedon, speaks 
expressly of both customs ; and it appears that some of them looked on the 
custom of burning as cruel and inhuman; whence a poet cited by Eusta- 
thius, 4 introduces a person exclaiming against it, and calling out upon 
Prometheus to haste to his assistance, and steal, if possible, from mortals, 
the fire he had given them. The philosophers were divided in their 
opinions about it; those who thought human bodies were compounded of 
water, earth, or the four elements, inclined to have them committed to 
the earth. But Heraclitus, with his followers, imagining fire to be the 
first principle of all things, affected burning: for every one thought it the 
most reasonable method, and most agreeable to nature, so to dispose of 
bodies, as "they might soonest be reduced to their first principles. 

Eustathius assigns two reasons why burning came to be of so general 
use in Greece ; s the first is because bodies were thought to be unclean 
after the soul's departure, and therefore were purified by fire; whence 
Euripides speaks of Clytajmnestra: 

— ■ r»pi KaSriyi-mrat otfxa^. The body is purified by lire. — — 

The second reason is, that the soul being separated from the gross and 
inactive matter, might be at liberty to take its flight to the heavenly 
mansions. 6 Wherefore the Indian philosophers, out of impatience to 
expect the time appointed by nature, used to consume themselves in a 
pile erected for that purpose, and so loose their soul from its confine- 
ment. A remarkable example of this we have in Calanus, who followed 
Alexander out of India, and finding himself indisposed, obtained that 
king's leave to prevent the growth of his distemper by committing him- 
self to the flames. 7 Hercules was purified from the dregs of earth by she 
same means before his reception into heaven. And it seems to have ij$en 
the common opinion, that fire was an admirable expedient to refine £ke 

1 De Legib. lib. i. 4 Iliad, a', p. 32. 6 Ouintilianus Declatn.. -~ 

2 Iliad. <i'. 5 Loco citato. 7 Q. Curtius. 

3 De Luclu. 

3 c 3 



582 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



celestial part of man, by separating from it all gross arid corruptible mat- 
ter, with the impure qualities which attend it. Thus Scylla, being slain 
by Hercules, was raised from the dead and rendered immortal by her 
father Phorcys: 1 



The piles on which they burned dead bodies were called vrv^ui. They 
seem not to have been erected in any constant form, or to have consisted 
always of the same materials, these being varied as time, place and other 
circumstances required. 

The body was placed upon the top of the pile, but was rarely burned 
without company; for besides the various animals they threw upon the 
pile, we seldom find a man of quality consumed without a number of slaves 
or captives: besides these, all sorts of precious ointments and perfumes 
were poured into the flames. 2 The body was covered with the fat of beasts 
that it might consume the sooner ; 3 for it was looked on as a singular 
blessing to be quickly reduced to ashes; wherefore, in funerals where 
numbers of bodies were burned on the same pile, they were so disposed, 
that those of moist constitutions and easy to be inflamed, being propor- 
tioned to bodies of contrary tempers, should increase the vehemence of the 
fire : whence for ten men it was the custom to put in one woman. 4 

Soldiers usually had their arms burned with them.s 

It seems likewise to have been the custom for the garments they had 
worn in the time of their lives to be thrown into the pile. Some were so 
solicitous about this, that they gave orders in their last wills to have it 
done: and the Athenians were, as in all other religious observances, so in 
this, the most profuse of all the Greeks ; insomuch that some of their law- 
givers were forced to restrain them, by severe penalties, from defrauding 
the living by their liberality to the dead. 6 Lycurgus allowed nothing to 
be buried with bodies but one red garment, or, at the most, a few branches 
of olive ;7 and these only when the person had been eminent for virtue and 
fortitude. Solon allowed three garments and one ox. 8 At Chseronea, 
those that were convicted of extravagance at funerals were punished as 
soft and effeminate by the censors of women. 9 

The pile was lighted by some of the dead person's nearest relations or 
friends, who made prayers and vows to the winds to assist the flames, that 
the body might be quickly reduced to ashes. 10 

At the funerals of generals and great officers, the soldiers, with the rest 
of the company, marched in solemn procession three times round the pile, 
to express their respect for the dead. 11 This action was called in Greek 

1 Lycophr. Cassandr. vor. 44. nerals, some estimate may be xxiii. 

2 Iliad, i//. 161. formed from a statement by 7 Plutarchus Lycurgo. 

3 Eustathius. Pliny (xxxiii. 47.), that G. Cssci- 8 Idem Solone. 

4 Plutarch. Sympos. iii. qiuest. lius Claudius Isidorus left by 9 Idem ibidem. 

4. Macrob. Saturn, vii. 7. will uudecies sestertium, some- 10 Horn. Iliad, vi-'. 194. 

3 Kom. Odyss. A'. 74. what more than L.9000 for this 11 Horn. Iliad, vfr'. 

6 Of the immoderate expense purpose; and he was a private 

occut-ianally attendant upon fu- indi vidua! —Envy. Mctrop, part 



2ap«oj KaraiQuiv \o(pvioiv So/j,r><Taro, 
Adrrvvcv ov r(ikft,ovcrav oviatuv 5sav. 



■ into Avhose stift'en'd limbs 

Phorcys by quickening flames new life inspir'd, 
And rais'd her high above the fears of death. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



583 



tftofyofifit in Latin decursio; we find frequent mention of it in the poets. 1 
When the motion in the decursio was towards the left hand, it indicated 
sorrow; as, on the contrary, motion to the right was a sign of joy. 2 

These motions were accompanied with shouts and the sound of trum- 
pets. 3 The language of some authors seems to intimate that 
the decursion was made before the pile was lighted, whereas it 
appears from others to have been made whilst the pile was 
(fJtl|jL burning. 4 

K f I^^r During the time the pile was burning, the dead person's 
friends stood by it, pouring forth libations of wine, and calling 
upon the deceased. 5 

When the pile was burned down, and the flames had ceased, 
they extinguished the remains of the fire with wine, and then 
they collected the bones and ashes. 6 This last ofhce, it appears, 
was performed by near relations. 

The bones were sometimes washed with wine, and, which 
commonly followed washing, anointed with oil. 7 Agamemnon 
is introduced by Homer, informing Achilles how this ceremony had been 
performed to him: 8 




Ai-d ? lirtl (5t? at <p\o% fyvofiv 'H<paiaToio But when the flame your body had consum'd, 
'h<20«i/ i-fi toi Xeyopev \svk oars', 'A^tXXttJ, With oils and odours we your bones perfum'd, 
Owai ey aKpfjTu icaX dAst'i^ar* And wash'd with unmix' d wine. 

The remains of Patroclus were inclosed in fat. 9 

It may here be demanded, how the relics of the body were distinguished 
from those of the beasts and men burned with it? In answer to this in- 
quiry, omitting those groundless stories of the stone amianthus, and the 
Indian hemp, which could not be consumed by fire, I shall produce two 
instances, from which it appears the method they took to effect this was 
by placing the body in the middle of the pile, whereas the men and beasts 
burned with it lay on the sides. Thus Achilles tells the Greeks it would 
be easy to discover the remains of Patroclus : 

llpZrov niv Kara w*»p«caiV jr/Seffar' aldovi olvt? First let us quench the yet remaining flame 

Uaaav, '6uoo<rov lirev^s Trrpoj fxho S ' avTap 'ewetra, With sable wine; then as (the rites direct) 

'Omen narpd/cXoio Msvotnaiao Xiyaa^ev, The heroes bones with careful view select-, 

e5 iiayiyvuioitovjes, dLptpoaiea U rervKrai' Apart, and easy to be known, they lie 

'Kv picmy yap sksito 7rup|, rot <5' aXXoi Hvevdev Amidst the heap ; and obvious to the eye 

'Eaxcmr) *ai'ni/r' liri/j.1% 'Ltttcoi. n ital Svopej. The rest around the margin may be seen 

Ye kings and princes of the Achaian name, Promiscuous, steeds and immolated men. POPE. 

The bones of Achilles are said to have been similarly distinguished. 11 

twine, 

Ah r6it irvp/cathv oZwjj epko-av, oarka. 6' airov When the remaining flames they'd quench'd with 

*at'v6T' apKpf, &ia>s' ewel ov^' KTspotaiv Zfxota Which were the hero's bones was plainly seen; 

'Hv, dXX' oI<* ylyavros Aietpsoy* oiSi fj.lv aXXa Nor like the rest which fell his sacrifice, 

•Ziiv kelvots 6fj.ifj.tKJo' end 06*s, ??6e *<" wrn-ot, But of a larger and gigantic size; 

Kal iralies Tpwa>v ftiyi* KTau.tvoi.oi Kal SXXoif Nor could his bones be with the vulgar mix'd 



1 Stat. Thebaid. vi. 213. 

2 Ibid. vi. 221. 

3 Val. Flac. Argon, iii. 

4 Virgil. Mneid. xi. 187. 
Horn. Iliad, f '. 218. 

b Horn, Iliad. 791. Tibull. 



i. 3, 5. 

7 The oil was kept in urns or 
vases, such as that represented 
in the above cut. They are 
called in Greek X»/*v0oj, dXd/?u<x- 
rpoi. &C. 



8 Odyss. «/. 71. 

9 Iliad, f. 252. 

10 Loc. cit. 

11 £>uintus Smymeaus, iii. T20, 



£84 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Bato* «ira>0t kiovto irtoi viicw 3f i' Sri fiieiroi S Upen the outworks of the pile had lain, 

PiTrp i(p' *H(pa,loToio &t&)ir)pivos olo% ?«*iT , There burned some distance from the nobler dead, 

Since his rich corse remote from them was fix'd; Who on the middle of tbe pile was laid. H. H. 
The captive Trojans, beasts, and horses slain, 

The bones thus discovered, they seem to have gathered the ashes which 
lay close to them ; nor does it appear that there was any other method of 
distinguishing the remains of the men from common ashes. 

The bones and ashes thus collected, were deposited in urns called x«X- 
vrui (pl^Xa-i, K(>a)<T<ro), Xagvaxis, o<rro^?ixoci f hffroho^i7a t <rooo), 1 &C. and formed 
of wood, stone, earth, silver, or gold, according to the quality of the de- 
ceased. When persons of eminent virtue died, their urns were frequently 
adorned with flowers aod garlands ; but the general custom seems to have 
been to rover them with cloth till they were deposited in the earth, that 
the light might not approach them: 

'Ev «X«trtj?ot Si Sivrts can? XitI KaXvJsav. Within the tent his costly urn was laid, 

And ever it a linen cloth was spread. 

Concerning their interment, it may be observed that their bodies lay 
in their coffins with the faces upwards, it being thought more proper, and 
perhaps more conducive to the welfare of the deceased, to have their faces 
towards heaven, the abode of the celestial gods, and fountain of light, ra- 




1 The earliest urns were rrade 
©f clay, and were rude in form; 
but as luxury and refinement in- 
creased, they were executed with 
greater elegance, and made of 
more costly materials. The earth 
of which urns and vases were 
made was light and porous, and 
of a yellowish red colour. Be- 
fore undergoing the action of 
fire, an instrument containing a 
portion of black liquid pigment, 
was employed hy the artist in 
Jrawing the outline of the fig- 
ares and composition. They were 
then done over with a sort of 
varnish of a reddish tint, and 
baked. In the annexed cuts fig. 
1 represents a very ancient urn 
or vase, clone after this manner, 
in the possession of J. P, An- 
derson, Esq, 




Two others in the British Muse- 
um are represented in figs. 2&3. 
Theheigl.tof the first is 6| inch- 
es ; that of the second 3^ inches. 




Fig 4 represents another an. 
cient vase, also in the British 
Museum. Its height is 12 
inches. 

Ancient vases and urns difrei 
greatly in their forms, but they 
are almost invariably distinguish 
ed by their beauty and grace. 
The paintings or sculptured de- 
signs upon them are valuable, as 
conveying a variety of particulars 
relative to the history, mytholo- 
gy, and customs of the Greeks, 
which otherwise wou <d havebeen 
wiihout a record. The subjects 
displayed upon them had gener- 
ally a reference to the purpoce 
for which the vase was designed. 
Ihose set apart for sacred use 
were adorned with mythologicai 
designs: those intended as prizes 
to victors in public games dis- 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 585 



they than towards the dark mansions of the infernal deities: whence 
Diogenes the Cynic, being asked in what posture he would be in- 
terred, answered, its ^oc-cwptov, with my face downwards; the reason 
of which being demanded of him, he replied, that in a short time the 
world would be turned upside down; 3 which answer seems designed to 
ridicule the Grecian superstition in this point. 

It may be observed farther, that the heads of the deceased persons were 
so placed in the grave, that they might look towards the rising sun. 4 Plu- 
tarch, indeed, informs us, that the Megarensians placed their dead to- 
wards the east ; and the Athenians, whose custom seems in this respect 
to have been the same with that of the rest of the Greeks, towards the 
west; and iElian, as far as concerns the Athenians, agrees with him: 5 
but it must be considered, that to place the face so that it should look to- 
wards the rising sim, it was necessary the head should lie towards the 
west; whence also the head and uppermost part of the sepulchre, being to 
face the rising sun, was likewise placed at the west end. 

The Megarensians commonly put two, three, or four dead bodies into 
the same sepulchre; but at Athens, and in other parts of Greece, one 
sepulchre, much less one coffin or urn, seldom contained more than one 
body ; 7 only those that were joined by near relation or affection were usu- 
ally buried together, it being thought inhuman to disunite those in death, 
whom no accidents of life could separate. Many examples of this nature 
occur in ancient writers ; hence A gathias' epigram concerning two bro- 
thers, twins: 

Ety iv' i$s\<povs wd' sirs*" ra(pos, 'iv yap sTretf^of Two brothers lie interr'd within this urn, 
7 H^ap khI yevtijs oi dvo «ai Bavarov. Both died together, as together born. 

Lovers thought this no small accession to their happiness ; Thisbe's last 
request was, that she might be interred with Pyramus: 8 Admetus in 
Euripides declares his resolution to lie in the same coffin with his wife 
Alcestis. 9 Patroclus appearing after death to Achilles, begs of him that 
he would deposit his bones in the same urn he designed for his own: 10 and 
when Achilles was dead, we find that the Greeks put the ashes of his 
friend Antilochus into the same urn with his ; but those of Patroclus were 
not only deposited in the same vessel, but mingled together. 11 Halcy- 
onc's love carried her still farther; for her husband Ceyx having perished 
in a tempest at sea, she comforts herself in this, that though his body 
could not be found, yet their names should be inscribed upon the same 
monument, and, as it were, embrace each other. 12 

played gymnastic exercises ; and and was finally placed by the first apprehended, 

those designed foi funereal pur- Duke of Portland in the British 2 Horn. Iliad, a/, fine, 

poses were distinguished by em- Museum. Objections have been 3 Laertius Dionene. 

blems illustrative of the history made to the ancient vases now 4 Thucydides Scholiastes. 

of the deceased. The most ce- extrnt being called Grecian vases, 5 Solone. 

lebrated ancient urn in preserva- inasmuch as they have been 6 Var. Hist. vii. 19. 

tiou is that known by the name chiefly found in Italy and Etru- 7 Piutarchus Solone. 

of the Portland vase, which was ria, but as their designs are all S Ovid. Metam. iv. 154. 

discovered in a tomb in the vici- Grecian, and as it is well known 9 Alcestid. ver. 365. 

nity of Rome, about the end of that Grecian artists settledearly 10 Horn. Iliad. 

the sixteenth century, became the in these countries, the name is 11 Horn. Odyss. to'. 76. 

property of the Portland family, less a misnomer than might beat 12 Ovid. Met. \\. 701- 



586 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. VII. 

OF THEIR SEPULCHRES, MONUMENTS, CENOTAPHIA, &C. 

The primitive Greeks were buried in places prepared for that purpose in 
their own houses. 1 The Thebans had once a law, that no person should 
build a house without providing a repository for his dead. It seems to 
have been customary, even in later ages, to bury within their cities ; the 
most public and frequented places of which seem to have been best stored 
with monuments: but this was a favour not ordinarily granted, except to 
men of great worth, and public benefactors ; to such as had raised them- 
selves above the common level, and were examples of virtue to succeeding 
ages, or had deserved, by some eminent service, to have their memories 
hououred by posterity. The Magnesians raised a sepulchre tor Themisto- 
cles in the midst of their forum; 2 Euphron had the same honour at Co- 
rinth ; 3 and it appears to have been common for colonies to bury, in the 
midst of their cities, the remains of the leaders under whose conduct they 
had possessed themselves of new habitations. 4 

Temples were sometimes made repositories for the dead ; of this the 
primitive ages afford us so many instances, that some have been of opinion 
that the honours paid to the dead were the first cause of erecting temples. 5 
Nor were later times wholly void of such examples, for the Plataeans are 
said to have buried Euclides in the temple of Diana Euclea, for Iris pious 
labour in going a thousand stadia in one day to fetch some of the hallowed 
fire from Delphi : 6 from which, with many other instances, it appears that 
this was looked on as a very great favour, and granted as a reward for 
public services. Sometimes it was desired for protection, as we learn 
from Medea's case, who interred her two sons in Juno Acraea's temple, 
to secure them from the malice of her enemies. 7 

But the general custom, in later ages especially, was to bury the dead 
without their cities, and chiefly by the highways. This seems to have 
been done, either to preserve themselves from the noisome smells where- 
with graves might infect their cities, or to prevent the danger to which 
their houses were exposed when funeral piles were set on fire ; or it may 
be, to fill the minds of travellers with the thoughts of mortality, or to ex- 
cite themselves to encounter any dangers, rather than permit an enemy 
to approach their walls, and despoil the monuments, or disturb the peace 
of the dead. Others think it most probable that this custom was first in- 
troduced by a fear of contracting pollution from the dead. 

But Lycurgus, as in most of his institutions, so in this too, differed 



1 Plato Mmoe. 

2 Plutarchus Themistocle. 

3 Xenopbon, 'EWtjvik. vii. 



4 Pindari Scholiastes. 

5 Vide Aicbaeolog. ;.ost. ii. 2. 

6 PluUrchus Ar is tide. 



7 Euripid. Med. ver. 1S76. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 587 



from the rest of the Grecian lawgivers ; for, to cut off the superstition of 
burying-places, he allowed his Lacedaemonians to bury their dead within 
the city, and even round about their temples, that their youth, by being 
used to such spectacles, might not be afraid to see a dead body: and withal, 
to lid them of the conceit, that to touch a corpse, or tread upon a grave, 
would defile a man. 1 

Every family was wont to have its proper burying-place ; to be deprived 
of which was reputed one of the greatest calamities that could happen ; 
hence, when the Lacedaemonians were resolved to conquer the Messenians, 
or to lose their lives in the attempt, we read that they bound tickets to 
their right arms, containing their own and their fathers' names ; that if 
all should perish in the battle, and their bodies be so mangled that they 
could not be distinguished, those notes might certify to what family they 
belonged, that so they might be carried to the sepulchres of their ances- 
tors. 2 The rest of the Greeks had the same custom ; whence (to trouble 
you with only one instance more) there being a law, that such as preserved 
not their inheritance should be deprived of the sepulchre of their fathers, 
Democritus, having spent his estate in the study of philosophy, was in 
danger of incurring that penalty. 3 

The common graves of primitive Greece were nothing but caverns dug 
in the earth, 4 and called vvoyuia, but those of later ages were more curi- 
ously wrought ; they were commonly paved with stone, had arches built 
over them, and were adorned with no less art and care than the houses of 
the living, insomuch that mourners commonly retired into the vaults of 
the dead, and there lamented over their departed relations for many days 
and nights together. 5 

Kings and great men were anciently buried in mountains, or at the foot 
of them. 6 

Whence appears to have originated the custom of raising a mount upon 
the graves of great persons : 7 

Et regum cineres extructo nwnte quiescunt. Beneath a mount their monarch's ashes rest. 

This consisted sometimes of stone ; whence Theseus in Euripides tells 
Hercules the Athenians would honour his corpse: 

\ait>oi<rl t* l%oyK£tpaot. With high-built monuments of stone. 

But the common materials were nothing but earth ; whence it is usually 
called %eopx. 8 To cast it up, Homer calls %Utv <r^a.9 Antipater terms 
it %Mvvutr0c&i roctpov' 

It is sometimes expressed by the more general names of lyxuircci, 
v'J/uoroii, &c. Thus Euripides: 

— M^rsp' sZ&yKow raipq,, O'er my dead mother's corpse a tomb I rais'd. 

1 Piutarchus Lycurgo. 6 Servius, ^n. xi. Aurelius 9 Iliad. &. fine. Iliad, f. An« 

2 Justinus, lib, iii. de Orig. Gent. Roman. Virg. tholog. Epigr. lib. iv. tit. alt 

3 Laertius Democrito. JEn. xi. •Sjpwaj 

4 Etymologici Aucter, v. foU, 7 Lucan. viii. 695. 
6 Petron, de Matron, Ephes, 8 Hecuba. 



58S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The author of the following epigram has such another expression -i 

AoxpUo; Iv vLfj** onucpZ, vlievv 'Uniitoio What care and love the nymphs to Hesiod show'd! 

Nv/A*at Kp-qvia&oir AoO<rav imo o<p*rep£ji>, At their own fountains in the Locrian wood 

Kai T&<pov v-JsUaavTo, They bath'd his lifeless corpse, and o'er it re-ar'd 

a tomb. 

Whence the Latin tumulus, which in its proper sense imports no more 
than a ' hillock/ came to signify a ' grave.' 

Whatever the materials were, they were usually laid together with care 
and art: 2 

Topvixravro ce o7ju.a^ SenelXid. re TTfm^dXovro And cast the deep foundations round the pyre; 

Afi<pl rrfpV eZ9ap 6» x^'i* Irri yalav ex^vav. High in the midst they heap the swelling bed 

That done, they bid the sepulchre aspire, Of rising earth, memorial of the dead. POPE, 

Where by some understand the lorica, or inclosed ground round 

the grave, sometimes termed by the metaphorical names of StiyyJc yua-ov, 
&c, and called by Pausanias Ki^outohopri and xgntrh, by others, 
&c. : for the ancient pvnpua. were composed of two parts; one was the 
grave or tomb, which, in a strict sense of the word, was likewise termed 
pwipuQv, and is known by several other names, mostly taken from its 
form, as (r^Xeuov, rupfio;, &c. ; the second part was the ground surround- 
ing the grave, which was fenced about with pales or walls, but usually 
open at the top, and therefore sometimes called vxurfpov. Tombs of 
stone were polished and adorned with greater art: whence there is so fre- 
quent mention of \iffToi tu.$oi. z 

The ornaments with which sepulchres were beautified were numerous. 
Pillars of stone were very ancient, as appears from the story of Idas' 
striking Pollux with a pillar broken from the monument of his grandfather 
Amyclas : 4 

1 t<Z 61 Itvrtgav iff* Idas shall Pollux with a pillar strike, 

Wx-qyTjv &eau.phs *p'£>j iy/copl-if/erai, A pillar from the hallow' d monument torn 

*Aya\fji.a Tr^Xaj rwv 'AfrvxXaiwy ripw. Of Amyclas. ' 

Pindar calls it ayak^ oci^ao, ^irrov vlrgov/ and Theocritus takes notice 
of the same accident. 6 

The pillars were termed <rr%Xcti, and frequently contained inscriptions 
declaring the family, virtues, and whatever was rem.arka.ble in the de- 
ceased ; which were commonly described in verse. The Sicyonians had 
no such inscriptions. 7 Lycurgus also would by no means allow of talka- 
tive grave-stones, nor suffer so much as the names to be inscribed, except 
of such men as had died in the wars, or of women who had died in child- 
bed. 8 Nor was it unusual at other places to omit the names of the 
deceased, writing instead of them some moral aphorism, or short exhorta- 
tion to the living, such as this: 

tots ArAeors kai ganontas eterpetein aei. 
The virtuous even when dead ought to be respected. 

Besides this, especially when there was no inscription, they commonly 
added the dead man's effigies, or some other resemblance pertinent to the 

1 Antholog. lib. iii. tit t\ s Idem Helen, ver. 992. 6 Dioscuris. 

«-<HTjr/i f . 4 Lycophron. Cassandr. ver. 7 Pausanias Corinth iacis. 

2 Iliad. V« 557. S Plutarch us Lycurgd. 

3 Euripid. Alcest. ver. £36. — 5 Nemeon. Od. x. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



589 



occasion, and intimating his temper, studies, employment, or condition. 
Virgins had commonly upon their tombs the image of a maid with a 
vessel of water: 1 the former to represent the deceased, the latter to denote 
a custom the young men had of carrying water to the sepulchres of un- 
married maids. A careful housekeeper was represented by such figures 
as are mentioned in the following epigram of Antipater upon Lysidice : 

Nao-T'vu) -i's croi", rt'j int ffraXriTici irarpa, What mean these curious figures round thy tomb? 

Avn&ca, yXvvrof t'ov 8' ejapa?* v6av\ What are they all designed for, and by -whom? 

Ta n 'tv aveypousvav iror el'pta vvkteoos ogvi%' ' I tell you, Sir, and first that bird of night 

'Avla 6' avodost bitfunos ijvloxov Shows how I us'd to spin by cand.e-light : 

'IwTaffT^p 6' '66e kv/*'°s aetaeraL ov iroXv fivdov, That weil-carv'd bridle on the side is meant 

Oil XaXiv, aXX<i *aXa S I/*ttXsov Vit^S- ' My well-rul'd family to represent: 

I've often ask'd, tell me, Lysidice, My peaceful temper next the muzzle shows, 

What is the meaning of this imagery? That I no scold or busy tattler was.' H. H. 

Diogenes the Cynic had a dog engraven upon his monument, to 
denote the temper of his sect, or his own. The tomb of Isocrates was 
adorned with the image of a syren; that of Archimedes with a sphere 
and cylinder: by which were signified the charming eloquence of the 
former, and the mathematical studies of the latter. Nor was it unusual 
to fix upon graves the instruments which the deceased had used. The 
graves of soldiers were distinguished by their weapons ; those of mariners 
by their oars ; and, in short, the tools of every art and profession accom- 
panied their masters, and remained as monuments to preserve their 
memory. Hence Elpenor is introduced by Homer 2 begging of Ulysses to 
fix upon his tomb the oar with which he used to row. 3 iEneas in Virgil 
performs the like office to his trumpeter Misenus. 4 

These, with many other ceremonies, were designed to perpetuate the 
memory of the deceased ; and hence their graves were termed c^ar^, 
ptwf&ua, pv/iftczrci, &c. Agamemnon reckons it a great happiness to 
Achilles that he was honoured with a monument which would transmit 
his name to posterity. 5 

But later ages grew so extravagant in these structures, that their law- 
givers were forced to keep them within bounds, by inflicting severe pen- 
alties upon such as exceeded their prescriptions. Solon, in particular, 
ordered that no statues of Mercury (as had been customary, because 
Mercury was an infernal god), or arched roofs, should be made in the 
Athenian monuments, and that the monuments should never be greater 
than ten men were able to erect in three days; and Demetrius the 
Phalerean enacted a law, that not more than one pillar, and that not 
exceeding three cubits in height, should be placed upon any monu- 
ment. 6 

It may not be improper to mention their custom of praying for their 
friends, and for men of piety and virtue, that the earth might lie light upon 
them; for their enemies, and all wicked men, that it might press heavy 
upon them ; for they thought the ghosts that still haunted their shrouds, 

1 Pollux, viii. 7. 3 Lib. iii. cap. xi. p. 10b'. 5 Odyss. <L. v. 36. 

2 Odyss, X'. v. 75. 4 iEr.eid. \v. ti Cicero de Legibus, lib. ii. 

3d 



590 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



and were in love with their former habitations, had a very acute sense of 
all the accidents which befell their bodies: hence the chorus prays for 

Alcestes : 

— Kova cot I wish the earth may fall upon you light. 

\9mv Wivai viaeie, yvvat. 

Menelaus is introduced by the same poet, 2 arming himself against 
death by this consideration, that the gods took care that such as died with 
honour should have no sense of any pressure from the earth, whereas 
cowards should be crushed under it: 

Theseus prays this punishment may be inflicted upon wicked Phaedra: 

■ islam terra defossam premat, And may the earth that is upon her laid, 

GravUque tdlus impio capiti incubet. Lie heavy on her corse, and crush her impious 

head. 

Ammianus has ingeniously inverted this order in the following epi- 
gram ; 4 

Ejj7 trot fcatTCi yvfi %6v$'/i xovis, oizt°) Nc'jt«^;, 
''OQgoc, <ri pii'ihiCii; i^inruo'i xvvig. 
Which Martial translates thus-. 5 

Sit tibi terra levis, niollique tegarts arena, Let there be one, who lighter dust or sand 

Ne tua nonpossint eruere ossa canes. Shall sprinkle o'er your corse with sparing hand, 

So to the dogs you'll be an easy prey. 

Monuments erected in honour of the dead, but not containing any of 
their remains, were thence called Htvorcc(pix, and zivy^ct. 

Of these there were two sorts : one w^as erected to such persons as had 
been honoured with funeral rites in another place ; of w r hich we find fre- 
quent mention in Pausanias, 6 who speaks of such honorary tombs dedicated 
to Euripides, Aristomenes, Achilles, Dameon, Tiresias, &c. 

The second sort was erected for those that had never obtained a proper 
funeral ; for the ancients were possessed with an opinion that the ghosts 
of men unburied could have no admittance into the blessed regions, but 
were forced to wander in misery one hundred years ; and that when any 
man had perished in the sea, or in any other place where his corpse could 
not be found, the only method of giving him repose was to erect a sepul- 
chre, and by repeating three times, with a loud voice, the name of the 
deceased, call his ghost to the habitation prepared for it; which action was 
termed •^v^uywy'ia,. 

This practice seems to have been very ancient: Pelias is introduced in 
Pindar, 7 telling Jason he must recall the soul of Phryxus, who died in 
Colchis, into his native country. iEneas in Virgil performs the same 
office to Deiphobus: 8 Ausonius has elegantly described, and assigned the 
reason of this custom : 9 

Hoc. satis et twnulis, satis et telluris egenis; Small is the privilege the unburied crave, 

Voce ciere animat funeris instar habet: No grave or decent burial they have; 

1 Euripid. Alcest. ver. 462. 4 Antholog. lib. ii. tit. els iw /3\ K'n**fe*R 

2 Helen, ver. 857. Senec. vpovf. 7 Pythonic Od. iv. 
Hippolyt. fine. 5 L ; .b. ix. Epitaph. Philaen. 8 ifcneid. vi. 505 

d Seneca. 6 Att'cis, Messeuicis, Eli&c. 9 Prasfat. Parentalium. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 591 

Gaudent compoiiti cineres sua nomina did; This they command, with this they most are pleas'd, 

Frontibus hoc scriptis et monument a jubent : And empty monuments with inscriptions rais'd \ 

Ille etiam mossti cui defuit urna sepulchri, For he, whose manes have been so recall'd, 

Nomine ter dicto pene sepultus erit. Though his dead corpse of fit interment fail'd, 

Only instead of pompous funeral, Is nigh as happy, and as fully blest, 

Aloud upon their wandering ghosts we call : As he whose bones beneath a tombstone rest. 

B. H. 

Many other instances of this nature may be met with in the poets. The 
sign by which honorary sepulchres were distinguished from others was 
commonly 'U^tov, a wreck of a ship, to signify the decease of the person in 
some foreign country. 

Sepulchres, with all other things belonging to the dead, were had in so 
great esteem, that to deface, or violate them in any way, was a crime no 
less than sacrilege, and was thought to entail certain ruin upon all who 
perpetrated it. 1 

It has been a question, whether the cenotaphia had the same religious 
regard which was paid to the sepulchres where the remains of the deceased 
were deposited : for the resolution hereof, it may be observed, that such of 
them as were only erected in honour of the dead were not held so sacred 
as to call for any judgment upon such as profaned them ; but that the 
others, in which ghosts were thought to reside, seem to have been in the 
same condition with sepulchres, the want of which they were designed to 
supply. 



CHAP. VIII. 

OF THEIR FUNERAL ORATIONS, GAMES, LUSTRATIONS, ENTERTAINMENTS, 
CONSECRATIONS, AND OTHER HONOURS OF THE DEAD, &C. 

Before the company departed from the sepulchre, they were sometimes 
entertained with a panegyric upon the dead person. Such of the Athe- 
nians as died in war had an oration solemnly pronounced by a person 
appointed by the public magistrate, which was constantly repeated upon 
the anniversary day. 2 These customs were not very ancient, being first 
introduced by Solon, or, as some say, by Pericles, but were generally re- 
ceived, not in Greece only, but at Rome. It was thought no small acces- 
sion to the happiness of the deceased to be eloquently commended ; whence 
we find Pliny completing his account of Virginius Rufus' felicity in this, 
that his funeral oration was pronounced by one of the most eloquent tongues 
of that age. 3 

It was further customary for persons of quality to institute games, with 
all sorts of exercises, to render the death of their friends more remarkable: 
of this the funeral of Miltiades in Herodotus, of Brasidas in Thucydides, 
and of Timoleon in Plutarch, afford examples. Nor was it a custom of 

1 Theocrit. Idyll. K p. 207. 2 Cicero de Orat. 3 Lib ii. Ep. 1. 

3 d 2 



592 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



later ages, but very common in the primitive times: the funeral games of 
Patroclus take up the greatest part of one of Homer's Iliads; 1 and Aga- 
memnon's ghost is introduced by the same poet, telling the ghost of 
Achilles that he had been a spectator at great numbers of such solemni- 
ties. 2 

In the age before, we find the funeral of CEdipus solemnized with sports, 
and Hercules is said to have celebrated games at the death of Pelops. a 
The first on whom this honour was conferred was Azan, the son of Areas, 
the father of the Arcadians, whose funeral 4 was celebrated with horse- 
races. The prizes were of different sorts and value, according to the qua- 
lity and munificence of the person that celebrated them. The garlands 
given to victors were usually of parsley, which was thought to have some 
particular relation to the dead, as being feigned to spring from the blood 
of Archemorus ; whence it became the crown of conquerors in the Ne- 
mean games, which were first instituted at his funeral. 5 

It was a general opinion that dead bodies polluted all things about them: 
this gave rise to the custom of purifying after funerals, which Virgil has 
thus described : 6 

Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda, Then Chorinaeus took the charge to place 

Spar gens rote levi, et runw/elicis olivce The bones selected in a brazen cise : 

Zrustravitque viros. A verdant branch of olive in his hands, 

He mov'd around and purified the bands. PITT. 

Several other modes of purification may be met with, but they contain 
nothing peculiar to funerals, and have been already described. Till this 
purification was accomplished, the polluted person could not enter the 
temples, nor bear a part in the worship of the gods: 7 

"Hrcy, ftporZv fj.iv rjv rtf a^rrrai cp6vov, Or hath at child-birth given assisting hands, 

'H iea.1 Ao^ei'ay 17 vixpov Srl^-g #epo7i<, Or chane'd to touch aught dead, she as impure 

-Bto^Zv dirtZpyy ptvaapb* a. y yyov^evT). Drives from her altars. 

Whoe'er of mortals is with slaughter stain'd, POTTER. 

Nor was it Diana alone, of whom the poet speaks, that had such an 
aversion to these pollutions, but the rest of the gods and goddesses were of 
the same temper. Lucian, in his treatise concerning the Syrian goddess, 
tells us that when any person had seen a corpse, he was not admitted into 
her temple till the day following, and not then, unless he had first puri- 
fied himself; and the general prevalence of this custom 8 shows that the 
rest of the celestial beings were equally afraid of defilement. This may 
farther appear from its being unlawful for those persons to enter the tem- 
ples, who were called veri^'otforpoi, or }iUTZgoT07fACi, 9 suck as were thought 
dead, but who, after the performance of their funeral rites, recovered ; or 
such as were reported to be dead in some foreign country, and unexpected- 
ly returned: these men were prohibited from worshipping any of the gods. 
Hesychius mentions only the Eumenides, but others speak of the gods in 



1 Iliad. 5 Vid. Archasolog. nostr. ii. 8 Suidas, v. xaraXoi-et. Arh- 

2 Odyss. o,'. 85. penult, et ult. tophan. Scho!. Nubibus. 

3 Dionysius Haiicarnass. v. 6 JSneid. vi. 229. 9 Kesychius in utraque voce. 

4 Pausan. Arcadicis. 7 Eurip. Iphigen. T auric. 350. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE, 593 



general ; whence Aristinus was forced to send messengers to consult the 
Delphian oracle what method he should use to be freed from pollution, 
where he received this answer: 

"0<r<r a ev Ae V e'e<r<7i, ywy TtKrovcra reXtUti, All forms and customs which childbirth attend, 

T<Wa ^Iv av rtXiaavra Svsiv ua/capeoerj $eoZ<rt. The same must you to the angry gods commend. 

Upon which he was washed, swaddled, and treated in all other respects as 
newborn infants, and then received into communion : but 1 others make 
this custom more ancient than Aristinus, carrying it up as high as the 
primitive ages. And it is certain the opinion that dead bodies polluted 
all things about them was very ancient, as appears from the Jewish laws. 
The house was also purified: 2 

oTcre 5€stov, ypqv, kukwv ilkos, dlae 6s poi nvp, Fetch sulphur hither, nurse, and fire, that I 

v O<ppa 5seKi(Taj ftiyapov. My tainted dwelling* house may purify. 

The Lacedaemonians were taught by their lawgiver to contemn these 
superstitious follies, and to think it unreasonable to fancy that such as 
lived a virtuous life, and conformably to their discipline, should contract 
any pollution from death ; on the contrary, they esteemed their remains 
worthy of respect and honour, and therefore thought no places so fit to 
contain them as those adjoining to the temples of their gods. 3 

After the funeral was over, the company met together at the house of 
the deceased person's nearest relations, to divert them from sorrow ; here 
there was an entertainment provided, 4 which was termed tf&gfiuvrvov, vix- 
goSwarvov, rd<pos ; in Latin, circumpotatio, according to Cicero, who in- 
forms us that the Attic laws prohibited the use of this ceremony at the 
funerals of slaves. 5 The custom was very ancient ; the Trojans, having 
celebrated Hector's funeral, w r ere splendidly entertained at king Priam's 
palace : 6 

Xtvavres is r'o ar;pLa, izaXtv k'iov' alrap Iiret-o A solemn, silent, melancholy train: 

E? owaysi.pafj.svoi. Saivwr' epixviia ialra. Assembled there, from pious toil they rest, 

Ai>p.aotv iv npidfx.010 itorptcpaos /?ait>fjo$. And sadly share the last sepulchral feast. 

All Troy then moves to Priam's court again, POPE. 

The same may be observed in the Grecian camp, with this difference, 
that Achilles entertained them before Patroclus' funeral:? 

Kia <5' "Xov irapa. vrjt -rro&iiicsos AlaxiSao Frequent and full the genial feast to share. 

Mvpiot' alrdp 6 rotoi. ra.(pov fitvosucka oalw. Now from the well-fed swine black smokes aspire, 

HoAXoL fxev /Soev apyol opsx^tov atupl o~i&fipa> The bristly victims hissing o'er the fire: 

a^afd^evot, iroWal &' S??$ «al /j,t)ko.5ss aiyey. The huge ox bellowing falls : with feebler cries 

JloXXoi o' apyi65ovres t'ff SaXsOovTss d\oi<by Expires the eoat; the sheep in silence dies. 

Evdftevot ravvovro Sii <p\oyl>s 'Hrpaloroio- Around the hero's prostrate body flow'd, 

nivr-r) &' vskvv KorvX^pvTov tZpeev al/xa. In one promiscuous stream, the reeking blood. 
All to Achilles' sable ship repair, POPE. 

By which last words it appears that the dead person had some interest in 
these entertainments; and as the blood of the beasts was designed for the 
ghost of Patroclus, so even in later ages, Ave are told the broken morsels 
which fell from the tables were looked on as sacred to the departed souls, 
and not lawful to be eaten. 8 To this fancy the aphorism of Pythagoras, 

1 Plutarchus Ouajst. Roman. 3 Plutarchus Lycurgo. 6 Iliad. <«'. fine, 
haud longe ab initio. 4 Demosth. Orat. de Corona " Iliad. 2. 

2 Horn. Odyss %' . 4S1. ; ver. Lucian. Dialog, de Luctu. 8 Athenuei btinvooof. %. 
482. b Lib ii. de Leeibus. 

3 d 3 



594 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



though perhaps containing a more mystical sense, -was an undoubted allu- 
sion, 1 Ta. vricrovra p/i avaigitffPou, take not up things fallen down ; or, as 
others express it, M>,Bs yivia-Qai «W av Ivro: <r^a^rs.Z ) m xa,ra,9r\<rri, do fiot 
so much as taste things fallen under the table. These fragments were 
carried to the tomb, and there left for the ghost to feast upon ; whence, to 
denote extreme poverty, it was usual to say, that a person stole his meat 
from the graves? 

The entertainments of later ages consisted not, like those in Homer, of 
flesh only, but of all sorts of pulse, 3 beans, pease, with lettuces, parsley, 
eggs, and many other things. The chief subjects of discourse at these 
meetings were the praises of the dead, especially if they had been eminent 
for any virtue or commendable quality ; otherwise, so great was the sim- 
plicity of primitive ages, that they looked upon it as most expedient to say 
nothing, when by speaking they must unavoidably offend the dead man, 
or transgress the rules of truth, both which were thought equally criminal ; 
afterwards, however, they grew more lavish of their commendations, be- 
stowing them on all without distinction ; hence came the proverb, Obx 
ivrxivthlvs obV h vsgilu you would not be praised even at a funeral 
entertainment, which was only applied to the greatest villains, and such 
as had not the least shadow of a good quality to recommend them. 

There was a custom at Argos, which obliged those who had lost any 
of their kindred or acquaintance, to sacrifice to Apollo presently after 
mourning, and thirty days after to Mercury, from an opinion, that as the 
earth received their bodies, so their souls fell into the hands of Mercury. 
The barley of the sacrifice they gave to the priest of Apollo, the flesh they 
took themselves; and having extinguished the sacrificial fire, which they 
accounted polluted, they kindled another on which they boiled the flesh, 
calling it 'iyKvurpa,,^ from the fumes ascending from the burnt sacrifice, 
which were termed »vW#. 

The honours paid to the sepulchres and memories of the deceased were 
of various sorts ; it was customary to place lamps 5 in the subterraneous 

1 Laertius Pythagora. 4 Plutarchus Quaest. Graec. p. traditions, were invented by Vul- 

2 Tibull. i. 5, 53. 296, 297, edit. Paris. can, supplied with oil by Pallas, 

3 Plutarchus Problemat 5 Lamps, according to Grecian and lighted by Prometheus. Ihia 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 595 



vaults of the dead, to which such as would express an extraordinary affec- 
tion for their relations retired, and cloistered themselves up. 1 

They had a custom of bedecking tombs with herbs and flowers, amongst 
which parsley was chiefly in use; hence it was that when Timoleon ? 
marching up an ascent, from the top of which he might take a view of 
the army and strength of the Carthaginians, was met by a company of 
mules loaded with parsley; his soldiers conceived it to be a very ill-boding 
and fatal occurrence, that being the very herb with which w r e adorn the 
sepulchres of the dead. Hence also the despairing proverb applied to one 
dangerously sick, ^iladoci ai\Uov, that he has need of nothing but parsleys 
which is in effect to say, he is a dead man, and ready for the grave. All 
sorts of purple and white flowers were acceptable to the dead, as the 
amaranthus, which was first used by the Thessalians in adorning the 
grave of Achilles ; 2 vr'o9os Xiukos? which some will have to be the jessa- 
mine, with lilies, and several others. 4 The rose too was very grateful. 5 

T6oe kclI vBiepoli dfj.vvst. And after death its odours shed 

A pleasing fragrance o'er the dead. BROOME. 

Nor was the use of myrtle less common : 6 

'Ayj,f*£fivovos ie TVfx./3o<; r?T< 



ar/j.svof 



With no libations, nor with myrtle boughs, 
Were my dear father's manes gratified. 



account is said to have been re- 
ceived from the Egyptians. As 
they are noticed in some of the re- 
motest periods of the Sacred His- 
tory, it has been asserted that 
all other nations derived their 
knowledge of them from the an- 
cestors of the Hebrews. Who- 
ever invented them, they are 
undoubtedly of the greatest anti- 
quity. In Egypt, no rejoicing or 
festival could" be carried on 
without an illumination. At 
the sacrifice solemnized at Sais, 
the assembly was held by night; 
they suspended before their 
houses in the open air lamps 
which were filled with oil mixed 
with salt; a wick floated on the 
top, which burned all night; this 
solemnity was called the feast of 
lamps. Such of the Egyptians 
as could not attend to the cere- 
mony, in like manner burned 
lamps before their houses ; thus, 
on this night not Sais only, but 
all Egypt was illuminated. — 
Herod. Eut. 62. In heroic ages 
public rejoicmes were celebrated 
with lamps. — Hesych. Agam. 92. 
The Romans, on public festivals, 
adorned the front of their houses 
with branches of laurel and rows 
of lighted lamps. Caesar, to give 
greater splendour to his triumph 
over the Gauls, went to the cap- 
ital with elephants carrying can- 
delabra. — Sueton. Individuals 
illuminated their houses with 
lamps upon their appointment to 
some public office, or upon their 
nuptials. Lamps were usually 
placed in the tombs of the an- 



cients. Sometimes in the sep- 
ulchres of princes men were em- 
ployed to watch the rlame, and 
keep it perpetually burning. 
The will of Maevius, which has 
been preserved, sets some slaves 
free, on the condition of their 
keeping the lamp burning in his 
tomb. I sot free Saccus my slave, 
with Eutyclua and Irene my fe- 
male slaves, c?i condition that 
each of them in their turn shall, 
from month to month, supply with 
oil the lamp which shall burn in 
my tomb. The stories of some 
writers concerning lamps which 
burned perpetually, and were 
unextinguishable, have long 
since been treated as fables. Al- 
though lamps were used for 
sacred, public, domestic, and 
sepulchral use, it is not possible 
now to distinguish one kind 
from another. Indeed, it seems 
very probable, from the situations 
in which the lamps have been 
found in Herculantum and Pom- 
peii, that there was no settled 
form for those used for particu- 
lar purposes, but all were used 
indiscriminately. The most an- 
cient lamps were made of clay, 
and then hardened by fire. Those 
made of bronze were in the next 
degree most common. Th- y 
were also made of iron and of 
glass ; but few remains of the 
former, and still fewer of the 
latter have been discovered. 
Lamps with one wick were 
principally used by the poor. 
The lights were more or less 
numerous, according to the cir- 



cumstances of those who used 
them. They varied exceedingly 
in their form. Sometimes they 
were shallow, flat, circular, or 
oval, with one or more orifices 
in their circumference to receive 
the wick, and with an aperture 
in the field of the lamp to re- 
ceive the oil, and to admit the 
air necessary to keep alive the 
flame j sometimes they were tall 
and deep, assuming every shape, 
whether real or grotesque, which 
the artist could imitate or ima- 
gine. Their upper surface was 
for the most part ornamented 
with mythological or allegorical 
subjects in relief. When in use 
they were placed on candelabra, 
fig. 5, and on low tripods, figs. 2, 
4, or suspended from the wail or 
ceiling, or from stands designed 
for the purpose, figs. 1, 3. 

1 The numberless vessels of 
terra cotta, lamps, lacrymatones, 
patera, &c, still found in 
Grecian sepulchres, are believed 
by Dr Clarke (Travels iii. 666) to 
belong to the complimentary 
tokens («<5o>*nt) to the deceased, 
which were brought as marks of 
respect by the attendants at the 
funeral, or perhaps to the ve.prk- 
paiv AyiA/j.stTa, a phrase never 
yet clearly explained.— Ency. 
M'trcp. part 23. 

2 Philostratus Heroicis. 

3 Theophrastus, lib. vi. 0*™- 
kZv. Athenanis xiv. 

4 Virg. Mneid. v. 79. vi. 883. 

5 Anacreon, ode 53, ver. 25. 

6 Euripid. Electra, ver. 323. 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



In short, graves were bedecked with garlands of all sorts of flowers: 1 

Tztyi.crTf.tp7j kvkXco Wherein he lies inurn'd, with wreaths of flowers, 

ivtwv 3<r' IbtIv avdiwy Srix-qv TroTpJy. G lowing in all their various dyes, hung round. 

- the sepulchre, 



These were commonly called z^earts ; 2 either from their design to 
express love and respect to the deceased person, or from 'igavos, because 
they were usually composed of a collection of several sorts of flowers ; or 
from as being laid upon the earth; though neither of these last rea- 
sons are constant ; for the garlands were some- 
times composed of only one sort of flowers, 
and were frequently hung upon the pillars, and 
not laid upon the grave-stone. Several other 
things were frequently laid upon the graves, 
as ribands; and hence, when the soldiers of 
Epaminondas were discouraged at seeing the 
riband that hung upon his spear carried by 
the wind to a Lacedsemonian sepulchre, he 
bid them take courage, for that it portended 
destruction to the Lacedtemonians, it being 
customary to deck the sepulchres of the 
dead with ribands. 3 Another thing dedi- 
cated to the dead was their hair. 4 Electra 
in Sophocles says, that Agamemnon had com- 
manded her and Chrysothemis to pay him this 
honour. 5 

'H/xtli Si irarpbs t'V/?ov, dy ?0t«ro, But cut thou off thy hair and crisped curls, 

Aoi/3alo- t npS>Tov ical KapcnSpois #XioaZj And from my wretched head (small gift indeed, 

Xrifavres. But all I have to give) these squalid locks, 

With them present. POTTEF. 

It was likewise customary to perfume the grave-stones with sweet 
ointments: 6 




1Y Se Set XlQov ixvplXeiv, 
Tt St yg X * eiv parata. 

Why do we precious ointments shower, 



Noble wines why do we pour, 

Beauteous flowers why do we spread, 

Upon the monuments of the dead? COWLKV. 



All expiatory fires, all rites are vain, 
Wine only can my fruitless ashes stain : 
Come, let's carouse, let's revel while we live, 
'Twill elevate our souls, 'twill ease to troubles 
give. J. A. 



Whence Leonidas seems to have borrowed the sense of this epigram: 

Mr? fj-vga., nv OTMpavovs, Aiflteaty aTfjXaien xapt£oi 

Mr,6e to -rrvp (p\e%yc, els kivov tj Savivr}' 
Zu>VTt (tot, et ti 5«X]?y, ^aptoat - rkcp^v 6e iie.9vatca> 
Hr)\bv 7roi>7<Tety, ov% b Savuiv Titrat. 
When cold and lifeless in my grave I'm laid, 
No fragrant oil then pour, no chaplets spread: 

To these practices we find another added, viz. running naked around 
the sepulchres ; 7 when Alexander arrived at Troy, he honoured the mem- 
ories of the heroes buried there with solemn libations, anointed the grave- 
stone of Achilles, and, according to ancient custom, together with his 
friends, ran naked about his sepulchre, and crowned it with garlands. 



1 Rophocl.Ele*:»r. ver. 895. Epist. Csmnc. ad Macar. 

2 Favorinus, Etymolog, Auct. 4 The ab-tve figure represents 

3 Fronimis, i. 2. Ovid. Electa a mourning for Orestes. 



5. Sophocl. Elect r. ver. 50. 
<i. Anaoreon, ode iv. 11. 
7. Plut. Alexandro. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 597 



Sacrifices and libations were also offered to the dead: the victims were 
black and barren heifers, or black sheep, as being of the same sort with 
those offered to the infernal gods, to denote the contrariety of those re- 
gions to light and fruitfulness. 1 

These sacrifices were offered in ditches ; the first thing they offered 
was the hair upon the victim's forehead, which, for that reason was 
termed ccpsoco^u,), and to offer it a.^a^ia&a.i: but though these terms are 
sometimes used for the sacrifices of the ghosts, yet the custom of offering 
these first-fruits was common to the sacrifices of the celestial and other 
deities, as appears from several instances. Homer mentions it at one of 
IVI inerva's sacrifices ;2 and in another place speaks of it as acceptable to 
the gods. 4 

But their ordinary offerings were nothing but libations of blood, honey, 
wine, milk, water, &c. 4 Solon forbade the Athenians Ivocy'^av fiovv, to 
offer an ox on this occasion. 5 Upon the sacrifice they commonly sprin- 
kled barley-flour. 6 Honey was rarely omitted, being accounted Sa.va.roo 
av^(ooXo)i, a symbol, or emblem of death? Hence, as some think, the 
ghosts of the deceased came to be termed piXitro-ou, the infernal gods ^siX- 
iX,">h and their oblations ^sA/y^ara. 

These oblations were designed to render the ghosts kind and propitious, 
and were therefore termed %oxt nbuvrwotoi, or B-iXarwotot. Iphigenia in 
Euripides thus describes them-. 8 



T Qt, racis 

Hr,ydf r' ovpsiwv Ik ^(Jo-^cov, 
Bawfceu r' olfTjpas Xot|3tif 
EavOav ts Trdvri/j.a /juRXiaaav, 
'A vtKpoi\ Se^KTJjpta ksZt'. 



For him, as dead, with pious care, 
This goblet I prepare 
And on the bosom of the earth shall flow 
Streams from the heifer mountain-bred, 

The grape's rich juice, and mix'd with these 
The labour of the yellow bees, 
Libations soothing to the dead. 

POTTER. 



They were sometimes offered upon altars, which were commonly placed 
near the ancient sepulchres, with tables for the sacrificial feasts ; some- 
times they were poured forth upon the ground, or grave-stone, and, in a 
certain form of words, offered to the deceased. 9 



1 Horn. Odyss. \'. 29. the utensils with which the whom the sacrifice was offered. 

2 Odyss. y'. 445. priest poured the libations upon They were made of baked clay, 

3 Iliad. 422. the offering, whether they were bronze, silver; or gold. Those 

4 Paterae were used for all of wine, oil, milk, or other made of baked clay exhibit some 
kinds of libations. These were liquor, in honour of the deity to of the most elegant specimens of 




these instruments; see fi^. 1. 
taken from Moses' vases. Fig- 
ure 2 represents another of the 
many dishes used at t&ciiliccs 



and in libations ; it is called 

SttokS-..., and w.is used by the 

5 riuturchus Soione. 



6 Horn. Odyss. V. 26. 

7 Porphyr. de Antro Nymph. 

8 Iphigen. Tauric. ver. 159. 

9 Euripid. Orest. ver. 112. 



598 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The water thus employed was termed Kovr^lv, 
xO'oviov Xout^ov, and at Athens, utrovtpfAu. When 
persons died who had been married, it was cus- 
tomary for women to carry water to their graves, 
who from pouring it forth were termed \yx. v ~ 
r^Wr^tat? When a young man or maid died, the 
water was carried by a boy,s or, which appears 
to some more probable, by a boy to the sepul- 
chres of young men, by a maid to the sepulchres 
of maids; whence came the custom of erecting 
images, representing maids with vessels of 
water upon the sepulchres of such as died in 
their virginity. 4 Those that died in their in- 
fancy were honoured with no libations, and 
had no right to the rest of the funeral solemni- 
ties. 5 

These honours were paid to the dead on the ninth and thirtieth days 
after burial, 6 and were repeated when any of their friends arrived that 
had been absent at the solemnity, and upon all other occasions which 
required their surviving relations to have them in memory; but some 
part of the month Anthesterion seems to have been especially set apart 
for these ceremonies in several of the Grecian cities. The Apolloniatse,7 
for example, paid the dead the customary honours in this month ; 8 and 
the same custom was observed at Athens, where the days appointed for 
those solemnities were termed (iiafttu hpi^cu, and by others u*o<P(>£&isp 
as being polluted by their dedication to the dead, whose ghosts were 
thought to ascend from their subterraneous habitations to enjoy the kind 
entertainment of their friends ; i0 the want of which was thought a great 
calamity, and therefore it is reckoned by Cassandra among the manifold 
misfortunes of the Trojans, that they should have no surviving friends to 
offer sacrifices at their tombs: 




■ olos Trpoy To.cfrotj 



Nor shall one friend remain 

To stain their desert sepulchres with blood. 



On these public days they called over the names of their dead relations 
one by one, excepting such as had died under age, or had forfeited their 
title to these honours by dissipating their paternal inheritances, or 
by other crimes. There was likewise another occasion on which they 
called over the names of the dead ; it was when they lost their friends in 
foreign countries ; whence before they departed they called over the names 
of all that were missing out of their company three times. 11 This they 
did partly that such as were left behind might, upon hearing the noise, 



1 Enstathius. Odyss. &, 

2 Etymologici Auctor. 

3 Idem. 

4 The accompanying figure re- 
presents a Grecian lady going to 



perform funeral rites. 

5 Plutarchus, lib. Consolat. ad 
Uxorem. 

6. Pollux, Pi. 10. 

7 Athena?, ^sirrvoacp. viii. 



8 Voce Utapat. 

9 Suidas. 

10 Lucianus 'EirierKoirovviv. 

11 Odyss. t'. 64. Theocrit. 
Idyll. ,y'. 58. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 599 



repair to their ships, and partly to testify their unwillingness to depart 
without their companions. 1 

To return : they had anniversary days, on which they paid their devo- 
tions to the dead: these were sometimes termed Ns^s?**, as being cele- 
brated upon the festival of Nemesis, who was thought to have especial 
care for the honours of the dead ; 2 sometimes 'faccTx, 3 as also r*vg««* 4 the 
reason of which seems to be, that it signifies the anniversary day of a 
man's nativity, which after his death was solemnized with the same cere- 
monies that were used upon the anniversary of his death, 5 which were 
properly termed Nsxvc/a; hence it is, that these two words are commonly 
thought to signify the same solemnity. 

The honours of the dead were distinguished according to the quality 
and worth of the person on whom they were conferred : such as by their 
virtues and public services had raised themselves above the common level, 
had 'aoco'ikocs rifjcci?, the honours of heroes; the participation of which was 
termed avn^aveQcci, or TiTiv^hcci rt/^wv rigaax&v, itrotfiav, or ItroXvftTriwv : 
others, who had distinguished themselves from the former, were raised a 
degree higher, and reckoned among the gods; this consecration was 
termed Siovroiia,, and was very different from the former, to worship the 
former persons being only termed huy'fyw, but the latter Svuv. The 
latter honour was very rare in the heroic times, but in subsequent ages, 
when great examples of virtue were not so frequent, and men were more 
addicted to flattery, it became more cheap, insomuch that those whom 
former ages had only worshipped as heroes, were afterwards accounted 
gods ; of this we have an instance (to omit several others) in Lampsace 
one of Plutarch's heroines. 6 The Athenians were especially remarkable 
for immoderate and profuse distributions of those honours, and it is gener- 
ally observed that that nation exceeded all the rest of the Greeks in flat- 
tery and superstition. 

These and the other honours of the dead were thought most acceptable 
when offered by their nearest friends ; when by their enemies they were 
rejected with indignation. 7 For men were thought to retain the same af- 
fections after death which they had entertained when alive. This appears 
from the story of Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of (Edipus, who, hav- 
ing killed each other in single combat, and being burned on the same pile, 
the flames of their bodies would not unite, but, by keeping apart from 
each other, demonstrated the irreconcilable and immortal hatred of the 
brothers.8 

Lycophron has furnished us with the parallel example of Mopsus and 
Amphilochus, who, having slain each other, were buried in the opposite 
sides of a hill, lest their ghosts should be disturbed by having their sepul- 
chres within sight of one another. 9 

1 Chiliad. V. Hist. 14. 5 Suidas, Hesychius, Phavo- 7 Soj hocl. Electra, ver. 432. 

2 Mfschopiilus, Suidas. rinus, Moschopulus, &c. 8 Anthol. lib. Hi. 14. epigram, 

3 Hesychius, Phavorinus 6 Lib. de Mulierum Claris fac- 11. 

4 Suidas, &c, tis. 9 Cassandr. ver. 413. 



600 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. IX. 
OF THEIR LOVE OF BOYS. 

Who it was that first introduced the custom of loving boys into Greece is 
uncertain: however (to omit the infamous amours of Jupiter, Orpheus, 
Laius of Thebes, and others), we find it generally practised by the ancient 
Greeks, and that not only in private, but by the public allowance and 
encouragement of their laws; for they thought there could be no means 
more effectual to excite their youth to noble undertakings, nor any greater 
security to their commonwealths, than this generous passion. This the 
invaders of their liberties so often experienced, that it became a received 
maxim in the politics of tyrants, to use all their endeavours to extirpate 
it out of their dominions ; l on the contrary, free commonwealths, and all 
those states that consulted the advancement of their own honour, seem to 
have been unanimous in establishing laws to encourage and reward it.- 

The practice was so generally adopted, and so highly esteemed in 
Crete, that such of their well-born and beautiful youths as never had any 
lovers, incurred the public censure, as persons some way or other faulty 
in their morals ; as if nothing else could hinder, but that some one's af- 
fections would be placed upon them : but those that were more happy in 
being admired, were honoured with the first seats at public exercises, and 
wore, for a distinguishing badge- of honour, a sort of garment richly 
adorned ; this they still retained after they arrived to man's estate, in 
memory that they had once been zkuvoi, eminent, 21 which was the name 
the Cretans gave to youths who had lovers. The lovers themselves were 
called QiXnro^;. One thing was remarkable in this place, that the lovers 
always took their boys by force ; for having placed their affections upon 
any one, they gave notice of it to his relations, and informed them on 
what day they designed to take him: if the lover was unworthy of the boy 
they refused to yield him up ; but if his quality and virtues were answerable 
they made some slight opposition, to satisfy the law, and pursued him to 
his lodgings, but then gave their consent. After this, the lover carried 
the boy whither he pleased, the persons that were present at the rape 
bearing him company. He entertained him some time, two months at 
the farthest, with hunting, and such diversions, and then returned him 
home. At his departure, it was ordered by law that the boy should 
receive a suit of armour, an ox, and a cup, to which the lover usually 
added out of his own bounty several other presents of value. The boy on 
his return home sacrificed the ox to Jupiter, made an entertainment for 
those who had accompanied him in his flight, and gave an account of the 
usage he had experienced from his lover; for in case he was rudely 



l Athenac. xiii. 



2 Strabo, x. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 601 



treated, the law allowed him satisfaction. 1 During all the time of their 
converse together, nothing unseemly, nothing repugnant to the ancient 
laws of virtue, passed between them; 2 and however some authors are 
inclined to have hard thoughts of this custom, yet the testimonies of 
many others, with the high characters given by the ancients of the old 
Cretan constitutions, by which it was approved, are sufficient to vindi- 
cate it from all false imputations. The same is put beyond dispute by 
what Strabo tells us, 3 that it was not so much the external beauty of a 
boy, as his virtuous disposition, his modesty, and courage, which recom- 
mended him. 

From the Cretans pass we to the Lacedaemonians, several of whose 
constitutions were derived from Crete. Their love of boys was remark- 
able all over Greece, and for the whole conduct and excellent consequences 
of it everywhere admired; for it was generous, and worthy of the Spartan 
education; it was first entertained from a mutual esteem of one another's 
virtue ; and the same cause which first inspired the flame alone served to 
nourish and continue it ; it was not tainted with so much as a suspicion of 
immodesty. Agesilaus is said to have refused so much as to kiss the boy 
he loved, 4 for fear of censure: and if a person attempted any thing but 
what was consistent with the strictest rules of modesty, the laws, however 
encouraging a virtuous love, condemned him to disgrace, 5 by which he 
was deprived of almost all the privileges of free denizens. The same 
practice was allowed the women toward their own sex, and was so much 
in fashion among them, that the most steady and virtuous matrons would 
publicly own their passion for a modest and beautiful virgin; 6 which is a 
farther confirmation of the innocency of this custom. Maximus, the Ty- 
rian, 7 assures us the Spartans loved their boys no otherwise than a man 
may be enamoured with a beautiful statue, and he proves this from the 
fact, 8 that though several men's fancies met in one person, yet did not 
that cause any strangeness or jealousy among them, but was rather the 
beginning of a very intimate friendship; whilst they all jointly conspired 
to render the beloved boy the most accomplished in the world ; for the ob- 
ject of this love was, that the young men might be improved in all virtu- 
ous and commendable qualities, by conversing with men of probity and 
experience; and hence the lover and the beloved shared the honour and 
disgrace of each other ; the lover especially was blamed if the boy offended, 
and suffered what punishment was due to his fault; 9 thus we read of one 
who was fined by the magistrates, because the lad whom he loved cried 
out effeminately whilst he was fighting. 10 The same love continued when 
the boy had attained to manhood ; he still preserved his former intimacy 
with his lover, imparted to him all his designs, and was directed by his 
counsels, as appears from the history of Cleomenes, who, before his ad- 



1 Strabo, x. 

2 Maxim. Tyr. Dissert, x. 

3 Loro citato. 

4 Pluiarchus Apophthegm. 



5 Xenophon de Rep. Laced. 
Flutarchus. Institut. Laconic. 

6 Flutarchus Lycurgo, 

7 Dissert, x. 

3 E 



8 Pint. Lycurgo. 

9 MWan. Var. Hist. xiii. 
10 Plut. Lycurgo. 



602 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

vaneement to the kingdom, was beloved by one Xenares, with whom he 
ever after maintained a most intimate friendship, till he went about his 
project of new-modelling the commonwealth, which Xenares not approv- 
ing, departed from him, but still remained faithful to him, and concealed 
his designs. 1 

If we pass from Sparta to Athens, we shall find that there Solon forbade 
slaves to love boys, making that an honourable action, and, as it were, 
inviting 2 the worthy to practise what he commanded the unworthy to 
forbear. 3 That lawgiver himself is said to have loved Pisistratus, 4 and 
the most eminent men in that commonwealth submitted to the same pas- 
sion. Socrates, who died a martyr for disowning the pagan idolatry, is 
very remarkable for such amours, yet seems not, whilst alive, to have in- 
curred the least suspicion of dishonourable conduct ; for what else could be 
the cause, that when Callias, Thrasymachus, Aristophanes, Anytus, and 
Melitus, with the rest of his enemies, accused him of teaching Critias to 
tyrannize, and of sophistry, contempt of the gods, and other crimes, they 
never so much as upbraided him with impure love, or for writing or dis- 
coursing upon that subject? And though some persons, especially in later 
ages, and perhaps unacquainted with the practice of the ancient Greeks, 
have called in question that philosopher's virtue in this point, yet both he 
and his scholar Plato are sufficiently vindicated from that imputation by 
Maximus the Tyrian, 5 to whom I refer the reader. The innocency of 
this love may farther appear from their severe laws enacted against im- 



1 Plut. Cleomene. 

2 Plut. Solone. 

3 I confess I am unwilling to 
coincide with Plutarch in the 
opinion which he here maintains. 
His conclusion appears to me to 
be drawn rather too hastily, 
especial ly as it depreciates the 
character of Solon, not less as a 
man than as a statesman. The 
biographer tells us, that the law- 
giver of Athens forbade slaves 
to indulge this guilty passion; 
not because it was a crime dis- 
graceful to manhood, but because 
it was an enjoyment too voluptu- 
ous for a slave. When an au- 
thor speaks from opinion, and not 
from fact, conjecture is still left 
open to those who shall follow 
him; and I think I shall pay a 
just tribute to the memory of 
Solon, if I rescue his fame from 
a slander which cannot fail to 
sully his reputation. 

It is well known that the vice 
which Plutarch mentions, and to 
which I have alluded, was the 
infamous but common crime of 
ancient nations. Greece was 
especially noted for this abomi- 
nable debauchery. The amours 
of Socrates, of Plato, and of Aris- 
totle, disgrace their philosophy. 
The reader, may, however, con- 
sult Maximus Tyrius, who has 
written several dissertations da 
Amaioria Socrutis. 

But whatever may be our sen- 



timents with regard to the indul- 
gence of such criminal desires, 
almost every ancient writer 
mentions them with as little cau- 
tion as delicacy. Many of the 
odes of Anacreon seem to breathe 
the unnatural desires of a Nero; 
and among many others, the story 
told by Athenaeus of Sophocles 
and the boy behind the walls of 
Athens, was unworthy of being 
recited at the supper of the so- 
phists. 

The first reason which leads 
me to differ from Plutarch is, 
that I cannot persuade myself but 
that Solon was at least the politi- 
cal enemy of a crime, which is 
not less obnoxious to policy than 
to morals. That legislator saw 
the difficulty of rooting out the 
evil which he condemned. He 
even probably found he could not 
entirely get rid of it. What then 
was to be done ? He would begin 
by banishing it from among 
those orders of society where his 
power could not be contested. 
But could he permit as an indul- 
gence to some, what he punished 
as a fault in others ? .Would he 
say, that though the crime was 
common, yet the punishment 
should be partial ? Would he de- 
clare the vice to be shameful alike 
to all, and yet only forbid its in- 
dulgence to certain orders of so- 
cietv ? If it be a crime, every 
citizen that is guilty of it must 



be punished. In this case Solon 
would have been perplexed with 
difficulties, which he could not 
have conquered. He therefore 
forbade to slaves as a luxury, 
what he was too wise not to con- 
sider as a crime, but which 
among the higher orders he 
knew it would be useless openly 
to condemn, 'and impossible imme- 
diately to destroy. Such is the 
interpretation I would put upon 
this law of Solon, which is also 
mentioned by Demosthenes. 

With regard to Solon's horror 
and aversion to this crime, I 
think there can be no doubt. 
iEschines mentions at length the 
statutes which existed in his 
time against catamites ; and 
Lysias informs us of the permis- 
sion given by the laws to the 
young men to frequent bagnios- 
Cornelius Agrippa, from whom I 
did not expect any information 
upon this subject, has nearly the 
following words: "Nam Solon, 
ille magnus Atheniensium legis- 
lator, atque unus de septem sa- 
pientibus Apollonis oraculo judi- 
catus, emptas juventuti meretri- 
culas comparavit. '' — Cornel. A' 
grip. cap. 63. — Drummond's Go- 
vernments of Sparta mid Athens. 
See also Montesquieu's Spirit of 
L'iws, book xii. cap. 6, last par- 
agraph. 

4 Idem. loc. oil. 

5 Dissert, S, 9, 10, 11. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 603 



modest love, by which the youths that entertained such lovers were de- 
clared infamous, and rendered incapable of public employments, and the 
persons that prostituted them condemned to die. Several other penalties 
were likewise ordered, to deter all men from so heinous and detestable a 
crime. 1 

The Theban lawgivers 2 encouraged this excellent passion, to temper 
the manners of their youth; nor were they disappointed of their expecta- 
tion, a pregnant evidence of which we have in the hgx <pac\a.y%, sacred band; 
it was a party of 300 chosen men, composed of lovers and their beloved, 
and therefore called sacred ; it gained many important victories, was the 
first that ever overcame the Spartans, whose courage till then seemed ir- 
resistible, upon equal terms, and was never beaten till the battle at Chse- 
ronea; after which king Philip, taking a view of the slain, and coming to 
the place where these 300, who had fought his whole phalanx, lay dead 
together, was struck with wonder; and understanding that it was the band 
of lovers, said, weeping, let them perish zvho suspect that these men either 
did or suffered any thing base. 

The lover was called by the Spartans £<WwX<js, siWvjjAo?, or, as others 
write it, iio-rvfavi' the beloved was termed by the Thessalians al'm;' 3 

Both the names are derived <ffu,ou, ro tov lodo/^itov uarainv kcu si<r<rvz7v rov 
i^cdroc, <7(i uycczravri, from the lover's being inspired tvith affection by his 
beloved. 



CHAP. X. 

OF THEIR CUSTOMS IN EXPRESSING THEIR LOVE, THEIR LOVE-POTIONS, 
INCANTATIONS, &C. 

Lovers had several ways of discovering their passion, and of expressing 
the respect they had for their beloved. Every tree in the walks they fre- 
quented, every wall of their houses, every book they used, had inscribed 
upon it the beloved's name, with the epithet of au.\n or kxXo$' whence 
Lucian, 4 relating a story of one desperately in love with Venus Cnidia, 
after other expressions of his passion, adds, that there was never a wall or 
tree but what proclaimed 'Atp^h'/i zx\b, Venus fair. Callimachus' lover 
has the same fancy, only that he wishes his mistress' name written on 
leaves. 5 

It was in allusion to this practice, that one in Euripides declared he 
should never entertain a good opinion of the female sex, though the pines 
in mount Ida were filled with their names 6 Aristophanes had an eye to 
the same custom when, jesting upon an old Athenian that was mightily 

1 Lib. i pp. 172, 173. 4 Abator. 6 Euslath. Iliad, r'. p. 490, ed. 

2 Flut. Pelopida. 5 Schol. in Aristoph. Acharn. Basil. 

3 Theociit. Idyll. «/»'. 12. 



3 e 2 



604 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



in love with deciding causes, he says that upon every place he writ xnifi's 
xccXos, which word signifies the cover of the judiciary um.i 

Lovers usually decked the doors of their beloved with flowers and gar- 
lands ; for, thinking that the persons on whom their affections were placed, 
were the very image of the deity of love, their house could be no less 
than Cupid's temple, which was accustomed to receive those honours. 2 
From the same origin, they seem to have derived that other custom of 
making libations before their mistress' doors, and of sprinkling them with 
wine, of which we have mention in the scholiast upon Aristophanes, 3 where 
he reports that many of the Thessalian gentlemen were in love with the 
beautiful Nais, and publicly owned their passion by sprinkling the doors of 
her house with wine. 

When a person's garland was untied, it was taken for a sign of being in 
love ; 4 and for a woman to compose a garland was another indication of 
her passion : 

'Ear rtj TrXiiey The wreathing garlands in a woman is 

Tvv>} <rri<pavov, egav ioKtl. The usual symptom of a love- sick mind. 

They had several methods of discovering whether their love would prove 
successful: that of the xorrxfios, which was very common at entertain- 
ments, is hereafter described. Two other ways mentioned by Theocritus, 6 
I have already described in one of the preceding books. 7 

When their love was without success, they had recourse to several arts 
to procure the affections of their beloved. The Thessalian women were 
famous for their skill in this, as well as other magical practices. The 
means by which it was effected were of various sorts: it was sometimes 
done by potions called (ptZ.rgu, which are frequently mentioned in authors 
of both languages. 8 

Their operations were violent and dangerous, and commonly deprived 
such as drank them of their reason, Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos report, 
that Lucullus, the Roman general, first lost his reason, and afterwards his 
life, by one of them. Lucretius the poet ended his life the same way ; and 
Caius Caligula was driven into a fit of madness by a philtre given him by 
his wife Ctesonia. 9 

Ovid likewise assures us that this was the usual effect of these potions: 

,\ec data pro/uerint pallentia philtra puellis, Ne'er move the scornful maids' relentless hearts, 

Philtra nocetit animis, vimque furoris habent. They but distract the senses, seize the brain, 

A.11 poisonous drugs and necromantic arts And Venus' rights and mysteries profane. J. A. 

The ingredients of which they were composed were of several sorts. 
Several of the most remarkable were these that follow; 

Hippomanes, a piece of flesh upon the forehead of colts newly foaled, of 
a black or brown colour, in bigness and shape like a fig, which the mares 
bite off as soon as they have foaled ; but if they be prevented, forsake their 
offspring ; whence it was thought a prevalent medicine to conciliate love, 



1 Vespis. ver. 97. 

2 Athena-us, xv. 

3 Pluto, act. i. seen. 1. 

4 Athenaeus, lib. cit. 



5 Aristophanes Thesmophor. 
G Idvll. iii. 28. 

7 Lib. ii. IS. 

8 Juvenal. Satsr. vi. 610. 



9 Sueton. in Calig. 50. Jur. 
SaU vi. 614. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



605 



especially when reduced to powder, and swallowed with some drops of the 
lover's blood. It is frequently mentioned by the writers of natural his- 
tory. Aristotle, Pliny, Solinus, Columella, with many others, have 
thought it worth their notice. The poets are full of its effects ; whence 
Dido, to omit other instances, has recourse to it, when pretending to re- 
call iEneas to her affection. 1 

The same word is frequently taken in another sense, and is described 
by Pliny to be virus distillans ab inguine equce coitum maris appetentis; 
et in furorem agens. This was no less powerful than the former, as ap- 
pears from Pausanias' story of a horse's statue, dedicated by one Phormis, 
an Arcadian, which being infected by a magician with the hippomanes I 
am speaking of, so enraged all the stallions that passed that way, that they 
would break their bridles in pieces, and throw their riders to come at it,* 
and could not without great difficulty and many stripes, be forced from it. 
Several of the poets speak of its effects. 3 

Virgil will have it to proceed from Lusitanian mares impregnated by 
the wind: 4 

In spring-tide most, when kindling Nature reigns, But where keen Boreas dwells, or Auster shrouds 
And warmth reviving throbs in fuller veins. Heaven's gloomy code, and chills with weep ng 

Lo • on the mountain brow the mares inhale clouds ; 

With fiery mouth soft Zephyr's amorous gale; There., while the genial warmth their bosom fills, 
And oft, unwedded, pregnant with the wind, The sovereign filter, drop by drop, distils, 

Scour o'er thy cliffs, and leave the vales behind: That, mix'd with herbs, and crown'd with baleful 
Not where bright Eurus blows, they shape their spell, 

flight, Cull'd by vile stepdames, drugs the bowl of hel!. 

Not where the sun first pours the golden light, ISothjjby. 

The same story is attested by Aristotle. Others make luppomanes to 
be a plant in Arcadia, which also was powerful in producing the effects 
already mentioned, 5 

"lii y| is the name of a small bird, the Latin of which is not agreed on ; 
some translate it passerculus, others will have it the same with torquilla, 
frutilla, or with regulus. This bird the writers of fables tell us, 6 was the 
daughter of Pan and Pitho, or Echo, and having inveigled Jupiter into 
the love of lo, was transformed by Juno ; upon this she became the dar- 
ling of Venus, and retaining the same inclinations she formerly had, still 
served to promote the affairs of love: the first time the goddess made use 
of her was in the Argonautic expedition, when she invented love-magic, 
with charms and potions (a chief ingredient whereof was this bird), which 
she communicated to Jason, to gain his access to Medea's affections. 7 

The part most valued by enchanters was the tongue, which they looked 
on as having a sovereign virtue in love potions: sometimes they fastened 
the whole bird to a wheel of wax, which they turned over the fire till both 
were consumed, thus inflaming the party in whom they had a mind to 
create love. Others will have 'iuy\ to signify nothing but a musical in- 
strument ; and some take it for all sorts of allurements. 

1 Vjrg. jEneid. iv. 515. 4 Georgic. iii. 271. Lycoph. ver. 3!0, ubi co;u- 

2 Eilac. a.', prope ftr.ein. 5 Theocritus., Idyll. 43. mentarius nosier arieundus. 

3 Ovid. i. eleg- 8. (5 Suidas, Isacius Tzetzcs in '/ Pindar. Pythian. Cd. iv. 

3 e 3 



605 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



To these may be added several herbs ; Insects bred out of putrid mat- 
ter, the fish called l%zvvU, or femora ; the lizard, with another animal 
not much unlike it, called stellio and stincus ; the brains of a calf : the 
hair upon the extremity of a wolf's tail, with some of the secret parts, and 
the bones of the left side of a toad eaten by ants; for these were thought 
to generate love, whereas those on the right side caused hatred. Others 
took the same bones, when the flesh was devoured by ants, and cast 
them into a vessel of water, wherein those that sunk, being wound up in 
a white linen cloth, and hung about any person, inflamed him with love, 
the others with hatred. The entrails of the toad were also used in poi- 
sonous compositions. 1 

To -these others add the blood of doves, the bones of snakes, screech- 
owls' feathers, bands of wool twisted upon a wheel, which were very much 
used on these occasions, for their resemblance to the soft ties of love, 
especially such as had been bound about one that hanged himself. 2 

Several other ingredients of love-potions are mentioned in the verses of 
Lcelius, cited by Apuleius: 3 

Philtra omnia undlqrte erunnt From every part they magic draughts procure, 

Antipathes illud quceritttr, For that much-fam'd antipathes they seek, 

Trochisci, iynges, tceniae, Pills, fillets, and those love enforcing birds, 

Radicular, fierbce, surculi, Roots too, and baneful herbs, and sappy sprigs, 

AuretB ilices, bichordike, With scarlet ouks, and dire hippomanes. 

Hinnientium dulcedines. 

Other ingredients were rags, torches, and, in short, all relics, and 
whatever had any relation to corpses, or funerals. Sometimes a nest of 
young swallows was placed in a convenient vessel, and buried in the earth 
till they were famished: then they opened the grave, and such of them as 
were found with mouths shut, were thought conducive to allay the passion 
of love; but the rest, which perished with mouths gaping for food, were 
thought to excite it. To the same end they used bones snatched from 
hungry and ravenous bitches, which were believed to infuse some part of 
the eager desire of those animals into the potion. 

To these they added another ingredient more powerful than any of the 
rest : 4 

Jbacia nulla Veia conscientia, fyc. O'er dainties, chang'd twice, thrice a-day, 

Veia, who never knew remorse, Slowly to gaze his life away ; 

Uplifts the spade with feeble force ; That the foul hags, an amorous dose 

And breathless with the hellish toil, Of his parched marrow may compose 

Deep-groaning breaks the guilty soil, His marrow and his liver dried, 

Turns out the earth, and digs a grave The seat where wanton thoughts reside, 

In which the boy (as o'er the wave When, fix'd upon his food in vain, 

A lusty swimmer lifts his head) His eyeballs pined away with pain. 

Chin-deep sinks downward to the dead, FRANCIS. 

Let us now pass to some other arts they had of exciting love. Some 
thought the udder of a hyena, tied about their left arm, a good expedient 
to entice to their affections any woman on whom they fixed their eyes.- 
others took sr/r&ga, a sort of small and hard olives, or, as others interpret 

1 Juvenal. Sat. vi. 658. 3 Apolog. ; Horat. Epod. v. 23. 

2 Propert. iii. eleg. 6, ver. 25. 4 Korat. Epod. v. 29. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 607 



it, barley-bran, which, either by itself, or made up in paste, they cast into 
the fire, hoping thereby to inspire the flames of love. 1 

Sometimes they used ccX<pirc&, flour, which the scholiast upon Theocri- 
tus will have termed S-yA^ara* 2 

Instead of bran or flour, it was usual to bum laurel. 3 

It was likewise customary to melt wax, thereby to mollify the person's 
heart whom they desired. 4 

Sometimes they placed clay before the fire, together with wax, that as 
one melted whilst the other hardened, so the person that then rejected 
them might have his heart softened with affection, and inflamed with de- 
sire, whilst their own became hard and unrelenting ; or that his heart 
might be rendered incapable of any impression from other beauties, but 
easy of access to themselves. This seems to be Virgil's meaning in the 
first of the following verses; the latter two contain some of the customs 
already described out of Theocritus: 5 

Limus ut hie durescit, et hcecut cera liquescit, Such ]et the soul of cruel Daphnis be, 

Uno eodemque ignis sic nostra Daphnis amore; Hard to the rest of women, soft to me. 

Sparge molam, et fragilcs incende bitumine luuros ; Crumble the sacred mole of salt and corn, 
Daphnis me malus urit, ego lianc in Daphnide law Next in the fire the bays with brimstone burn, 

mini. And whilst it crackles in the sulphur, say, 

As fire this figure hardens made of clay. This I for Daphnis burn, thus Daphnisburnawsy. 

And this of wax with fire consumes away, BRYDEN. 



It was customary to imitate all those actions which they had a mind 
that the person whom they loved should perform. They turned a wheel 
round, praying he might fall down before their doors, and roll himself on 
the ground ;6 



We are told that it has been usual to compose an image of wax, and 
calling it by the name of the person to be inflamed with love, to place it 
near the fire, the heat of which affected the image, and the person repre- 
sented by it, at the same time. 7 Virgil's enchantress speaks of drawing 
it three times round the altar: 8 

terque hcec altaria eircum Thrice round this altar 1 the image draw. 

Effigiem duco. 

She had before taken care to have it bound, thereby to intimate the tying 
of his affections. 

It was not unfrequent to sprinkle enchanted medicaments upon some 
part of the house where the person resided. 9 

If they could get into their possession any thing that belonged to the 
person whose love they desired, it was of singular use: 10 

Tovr' dn-o raj ^Xa.Vaj to Kpivrreoo cLXt.cs AiX^ty, This piece from dear false Delphis' garment torn, 



Sometimes the lover's pledges were deposited in the ground, underneath 



'Cj nelvos Stvolro -rod' Zperipxtat Zvpaieiv. 



And, Venus, as I whirl this braren wheel, 
Before my doors let perjur'd Delphis reel. 



I tear again, and am resolv'd to burn. — CREECH. 



2 Ibid. ver. 38. 

3 Ibid. ver. 23. 

4 Ibid. ver. 28. 



1 Theocrit. Idyl. /3'. 33. 



5 Edog. iriiL 80. 

6 Theocrit. Idyll. ,3', 30. 



9 Theocrit. Idyll. /?'. 59. 
10 Ibid. ver. 53. 



7 Wierus, v. 11. 
3 Kclog. via. 'i 3. 



eos 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



the threshold; 1 this was done for the purpose of re tabling the lover, and 
securing his affections from wandering. 

Another method consisted in throwing the ashes of the various sub- 
stances that had been burned during the incantation, backwards, over the 
head, into a running stream, without venturing to look behind. 2 

I shall only trouble you with one expedient more, which was their tying 
three love-knots to unite the beloved person's affections with their own. 3 

It is deserving of remark, that most of their actions in these rites were 
confined to the number three ; 

'Ec rpls airotrvtvdaii nal rplf rals, Tr6Tvta. y (paivw.* Thrice, thrice I pour, and thrice repeat my charms. 

because the gods were thought to take pleasure In that number: 

nurnero deus hnpare gaudet. Unequal numbers please the gods. 

Whether this fancy owes its origin to the supposed perfection of the num- 
ber three, because, containing a beginning, middle, and end, it seems 
naturally to signify all things in the world; to the esteem in which it was 
held by the Pythagoreans and some other philosophers, on account of their 
trinity; or to its aptness to signify the power of all the gods, who were 
divided into three classes, celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, I leave to be 
determined by others. Thus much is certain, that the ancients thought 
there was no small force and efficacy in unequal numbers : hence we find 
Vegetius advising, that the ditches round encampments should be at the 
least nine feet in breadth, at the most seventeen, but always of an unequal 
number. 5 Shepherds are likewise advised to take care that the number of 
their sheep be not even: 6 but the number three was acceptable to the gods 
above all others ; hence we find three fatal sisters, three Furies, and three 
names and appearances of Diana. 7 The sons of Saturn, among whom the 
empire of the world was divided, were three: and for the same reason, 
we read of Jupiter's fulmen trifidum, and Neptune's trident. 

Many of their other practices were the same with those used at common 
incantations: the charm, or form of verses, had little difference besides 
the proper application to the present occasion: Virgil's nymph speaks of 
her verses as of the same sort, and endued with the same efficacy as Circe's. 8 
And the herbs and minerals used in other magical operations, were no 
less sought for in this, there being in them, as it was thought, some won- 
derful powers, which were equally prevalent in all supernatural and mi- 
raculous effects: hence we find Virgil's nymph alluring Daphnis to her 
love by the very same medicaments which Moeris had found effectual in 
performing other magical feats. 9 

The gods likewise were the same that superintended all magical arts. 10 
Thus far concerning their arts in exciting love. It may be inquired, 
in the next place, whether they had any means to allay the passion when 
once raised? Now it appears, that it was common to set the patient at 



1 Wx%. EcIor. viii. 91. 

2 Ibid. ver. 101. 
'6 Ibid. ver. 77. 

4 Theocrit, Idyll.,?-. 43, 



5 Lib. iii. 8. 
H Geo(.onic. xviii. 
7 Virg. JEn. nr. 511. 
S Eclog. viii. 67. 



9 Ibid. 95. 

10 Theocrit. Idyll /?'• 10. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 609 



iiberty by the help of more powerful medicaments, or demons superior to 
those that had bound him. 1 But love, inspired without the assistance of 
magic, scarce yielded to any cure. Apollo himself could find no remedy 
against it: 2 

Hei mihi ! quod nidlis amor est medicabilis herbis, To cure the pains of love no plant avails, 
Xec prosimt domino, quce prosunt omnibus, artes. And his own physic the physician fails. 
Alas ! that fields and forests can afford DRYDEN. 
No remedies to heal their love- sick lord ! 

No art, according to Ovid, was ever able to set a lover at liberty: 3 

Nulla recantatas deponent pectora euros, Altars may smoke with expiatory fire, 

Necfugiet vivo sulphure victus amor. Too weak to make a well-fix'd love retire ; 

Not all the power of verse with magic join'd Love by repulse still works the passion higher 
Can heal the torture of a love- sick mind; H. H. 

But, notwithstanding the difficulty of this cure, there are not wanting 
various prescriptions adapted to the several causes and occasions of the 
malady. 4 

The antidotes may be reduced to two sorts: they were either such as 
had some natural virtue to produce the designed etlect; as agnus castus, 
and all the herbs reputed enemies to generation: 5 or such as wrought the 
cure by some occult and mystical power, and the assistance of demons ; as 
the sprinkling of the dust in which a mule had rolled herself, 6 the tying of 
toads in the hide of a beast lately slain, 7 and all the minerals and herbs, 
which were looked on as amulets against other effects of magic, for those 
were likewise proper on such occasions: hence the poets usually mention 
Caucasus, Colchis, and other places famous for magical plants, as those 
which alone could furnish remedies and antidotes against love. 8 

The infernal gods were called upon for assistance. 9 

Lastly, to mention no more expedients, they cured themselves of love 
by washing in the water of Selemnus, a river that falls into the sea near 
Argyra in Achaia. Selemnus, a beautiful young shepherd in those parts, 
was beloved by Argyra, the nymph from whom the town and fountain of 
that name were called ; but the flower of his age being over, the nymph 
deserted him, upon which he pined away, and was transformed into a 
river by Venus ; after this he still retained his former passion, and, as the 
Patrensians report, for some time conveyed his waters through a subter- 
raneous passage to the fountain of Argyra, in the same manner that 
Alpheus was said to join himself with Arethusa, till, by the favour of 
Venus, the remembrance of her was effaced from his mind. Hence it 
came so pass, that as many as washed themselves in this river were made 
to forget their passion. 10 

Thus much concerning their love. 



1 Horat. Epod. v. 61. 

2 Ovid. Metjm. i. 521. 

3 De Remedio Amoris. 

4 Ovid. lUetam. x. 327. 



5 Vide Arch?9olog. super. 

6 Plinii Nat. Hist. xxx. 16. 

7 Idem, xxxii. 10. 

8 Propertii, i. 1>. 



9;£neid. iv. 63S. Sil. Ital. 
viii. 116. Ibid. ver. 100. 

10 Pausan. Achaicis, pp. 442 et 
44j, edit. Hanov. 



610 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XI. 

OF THEIR MARRIAGES. . 

The first inhabitants of Greece lived without laws and government; no 
bounds were prescribed to their passions ; their love, like the rest of their 
desires, was unconfined, and promiscuous mixtures, because forbidden by 
no human authority, were publicly allowed. The first that restrained this 
liberty was Cecrops, who, having raised himself to be king over the peo- 
ple afterwards called Athenians, amongst many other useful institutions 
introduced that of marriage. 1 Others ascribe the honour of this institu- 
tion, together with the invention of dancing, to Erato, one of the Muses ; 
but some rather understand the story of the marriage solemnity, the regu- 
lar conduct of which, they say, was first ordered by Erato. However that 
be, it was in process of time received by all the Greeks; for no sooner did 
they begin to reform their savage and barbarous course of life, and join 
themselves in towns and societies, than they found it necessary to confine 
the unruly lusts of men, by establishing lawful marriage, with other rules 
of good maimers. 

Marriage was very honourable in some of the Grecian commonwealths, 
and was very much encouraged by their laws, as the abstaining from it 
was discountenanced, and in some places punished; for the strength of 
states consisting in their number of people, those that refused to contribute 
to their increase were thought very cold in their affections to their countiy. 
The Lacedaemonians were very remarkable for their severity against those 
that deferred marrying, as well as those who wholly abstained from it. 8 
No man among them could live without a wife beyond the time limited by 
their lawgiver, without incurring several penalties; as first, the magis- 
trates commanded such, once every winter, to run round the public forum 
naked ; and to increase their shame, they sang a certain song, the words 
of which aggravated their crime and exposed them to ridicule. Another 
of their punishments was, to be excluded from the exercises, in which, ac- 
cording to the Spartan custom, young virgins contended naked. 3 A third 
penalty was inflicted upon a certain solemnity, 4 in which the women 
dragged them round an altar, and beat them ail the time with their fists. 5 

1 Vide Archaeolog. super. cession, singing songs to their how handsome you are; youi 

2 Slobasus, Ixv. de Laude Nup- own discredit : and once a year complexion is so fine, and you 
tiarum. they were personally chastised, person so full and healthy ; why, 

3 Plutarchus Lycurgo. On a certain festival, the women you could strangle a bull.'' 

4 Athenajus, xiii. might beat them with the hand, "Yes." replies Lampito, "I 

5 As late as the days of Ly- or~with a stick. Whether the fancy I could, for 1 exercise my- 
gander, the law punished those thickness of the latter was regu- self in jumping, till my heels 
who did not marry at all ; or who lated by Jaw, as it is said to be in touch iny back." Doubtless, 
remained widowers ; or who modern times, with reference to such personal vigour was not 
married too late; or who mar- its application in conjugal disci- rare at Lacedaemon: the chas- 
ried ill. Thus, though it was pline, is uncertain. Now, a tisement then of an annual vapu- 
not absolutely compulsory, yet Spartan lady, in one of the plays lation. received from such hands, 
it consigned bachelors to public ot Aristophanes (Lys. 75.), is tiius and indicted, probabiy with con- 
disgrace ; it obliged them to complimented by her friend Ly- siderable severity, lor the honour 
march, in an ignominious pro- sisti ate :" My beloved Lampito, of the fair sex, was a disagree- 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 611 



Lastly, they were deprived of that respect and observance which the 
younger sort were obliged to pay to their elders, and therefore, says Plu- 
tarch, 1 no man found fault with what was said to Dercyllidas, a great cap- 
tain, and one that had commanded armies, who, coming into the place of 
assembly, a young man, instead of rising and making room, told him, 
' Sir, you must not expect that honour from me, being young, winch can- 
not be returned to me by a child of yours when I am old.' To these we 
may add the Athenian law, 2 by which all that were commanders, orators, 
or entrusted with any public affair, were to be married, and have children, 
and estates in land ; for these were looked upon as so many pledges for 
their good behaviour, without which they thought it dangerous to commit 
to them the management of public trusts. 

Polygamy was not commonly tolerated in Greece, for marriage was 
thought to be a conjunction of one man with one woman ; whence some 
will have yapo; derived vrccoa. to }vo a/xu itvoci, from ttuo becoming one. 
When Herodotus reports that Anaxandridas the Spartan had two wives, 
he remarks that it was contrary to the custom of Sparta. 3 The rest of 
the Grecian cities, for the most part, agreed in this point with the Lace- 
daemonians ; only upon some emergent occasions, when their men had 
been destroyed by war or ether calamities, toleration was granted for mar- 
rying more wives; an instance of which we have at Athens, in the time 
of Euripides, who, as some say, conceived a hatred against the whole sex, 
for which he is famous in story, by being harassed with two wives at once * 
Socrates is said to have been married toXantippe and Myrto at the same 
time ;5 and AthenEeus concludes it was then reputed no scandal, because 
we never find any of his enemies casting it in his teeth; 6 but some think 
the matter of fact may be justly called in question; and, in Plutarch's 
opinion, Pansetius of Rhodes, Ikuvus ccvrz't^xi, has fully confuted itm his 
discourse concerning Socrates. 

The time of marriage was not the same in all places: the Spartans were 
not permitted to marry till they arrived at their full strength; 8 and though 
I do not find what was the exact number of years they were confined to, 
yet it appears from one of the sayings of Lycurgus, that both men and 
women were limited in this affair ; 9 that lawgiver, being asked the reason 
of this enactment, said, his design was that the Spartan children might 
be strong and vigorous. The Athenian laws are said at one time to have 
ordered that men should not marry till above thirty-five years of age ; for 
human life was divided by Solon into ten (l^o/ndh;) weeks, and he 
affirmed, that in the fifth of these men were of ripeness to multiply their 

able tax on celibacy. Certainly in particular.— Social Condition 8 Xenophon de Repub. Lace- 

the victims would not be spared, oj the Ancient Greeks, pp. 94, 95. daem. 

if Euripides gives a just charac- 1 Loc. cit. 9 The precise age is not cer- 

ter of the Soartan females {av 2 Dinarchus in Demosthenem. tain; but it seems probable that 

ipo^aveX t :), but, as a man, he 3 Lib . v. the usual age for men was thirty, 

was unjust tu the sex in general; 4 Gellius Noct. Attic, xv. 20. and for women twenty years.— 

*r.d. as an Athenian, his testi- 5 Diogenes Laertius Socrate. Robinson, 

mony may be suspect-d, with 6 Lib. xiii. 

regard to Lacedemonian ladies 7 Plutarchus Pericle. 



612 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



kind ; l but this depended upon the humour of every lav\ giver, nothing 
being generally agreed to in this matter. Aristotle 2 thought thirty-seven 
good age, Plato thirty; and Hesiod was much of the same opinion. 3 

VYomen married sooner than men : some of the old Athenian laws per- 
mitted them to marry at twenty-six, Aristotle at eighteen, Hesiod at 
fifteen. 4 In the passage referred to, the poet advises that women be per- 
mitted to grow to maturity in four years, i. e. four after ten, and marry 
in the fifth, i. e. the fifteenth: others think he means they must continue 
unmarried four years after their arrival at woman's estate, i. e. at fourteen 
years, and marry in the fifth, i. e. the nineteenth; but as the women were 
sooner marriageable than men, so their time was far shorter^ it being com- 
mon for men to marry much older than women could expect to do. 5 The 
times or seasons of the year most proper for marriage were, according to 
the Athenians, some of the winter months, especially January, which, for 
that reason, was called ra/^X^v: 6 hence Antipho, in Terence, the scene 
of whose fable is laid in Greece, affirms the soothsayers had forbidden to 
enter upon matrimony till winter. 7 

The most convenient season was when there happened a conjunction of 
the sun and moon, at which time they celebrated their festival called 
yupicc, marriage of the gods? Clytcemnestra, in Euripides, having asked 
Agamemnon when he designed to give Iphigenia in marriage to Achilles, 
he answers that the full moon was the fittest time: 9 

"Orav <re\r lV vi eirvxhi s\6y kvk\os. When the full moon darts forth her lucky rays. 

Themis, in Pindar, advises that Thetis be married to Peleus in the 
same season ; 10 for by ^t^o^vioi; Iff^'-^ai he means the full moon, which 
happens in the middle of lunar months, which were used in the old Gre- 
cian computations. This custom seems to have proceeded from an opin- 
ion they had of the moon's power in generation. Some prescribe other 
days: Hesiod thinks the fourth most convenient, because it was dedicated 
to Venus and Mercury. 11 

The sixteenth, and by some, the eighteenth, is mentioned as most unfit 
of all others. 12 

Several other days were looked on as favourable or otherwise, in this 
and all other affairs, which it would be too tedious to enumerate in this 
place. 

Most of the Greeks looked on it as scandalous to marry within certain 
degrees of consanguinity. Hermione, in Euripides, speaks of the custom 
of brothers marrying their sisters with no less detestation than of sons 
marrying their mothers, or fathers their daughters. 13 

Several of the barbarous nations seem to have overlooked the rules of 
decency, and to have allowed unlawful and incestuous mixtures. The 

1 Censorinus de Die Natali, 5 Aristophan. Lysistrate. 9 Iphigen. in Aulid. ver. 717. 
H. 6 Olvmpiodorus in Meteora 10 Isthm. Od. 77'. p. 751, edit. 

2 Polit. vii. 16. Aristot'elis, Eustath. in Iliad. </. Benedict. 11 'H^ep. ver, 36. 

3 Hesiod.'Epy. * a Vnui e . 5'.313. 7 Phorm. iv. 4. 28. 12 Id. ibid. ver. 18. 

4 Ibid. 316. S Hesiodi Scholiast. 13 Andromacli. ver. 173. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 613 



Persians are especially remarkable for such practices ; for their magi, the 
most sacred persons among them, were the offspring of mothers and their 
sons. 1 

The Lacedaemonians were forbidden to marry any of their kindred, 
whether in the direct degrees of ascent or descent; but a collateral relation 
hindered them not; for nephews married their aunts, and uncles their 
nieces ; Herodotus gives us an instance of this in Anaxandridas, who mar- 
ried his sister's daughter. 2 The marriages of brothers and sisters were 
utterly unlawful, though countenanced by several examples of their gods. 3 
Yet it was not reputed unlawful, in several places, for brothers to marry 
their half-sisters ; and sometimes their relation by the father, sometimes 
by the mother, was within the law. The Lacedaemonian lawgiver allowed 
marriages between those that had the same mother but different fathers. 

The Athenians were forbidden to marry oftop'/irgtou;, sisters by the same 
mother, but not ofAOTrocr^iovs, those by the same father. 5 Of this we have 
an instance in Archeptolis, the son of Themistocles, who married his sis- 
ter Mnesiptolema ; 6 as likewise in Cimon, who being unable, through ex- 
treme poverty, to provide a suitable match for his sister Elpinice, mar- 
ried her himself. Nor was this contrary to the laws or customs of Athens ; 7 
for 8 it was done publicly, and without any fear of the laws. Cornelius 
ft epos likewise assures us it was nothing but what the custom of their 
country allowed. 9 W e find, indeed, that Cimon is sometimes taxed for 
his familiarity with Elpinice ; but this is only to be understood of his tak- 
ing her after she had been married to Callias ; for it appears from the 
forecited authors, that Cimon first married her himself, then gave her to 
Callias, a rich Athenian; after which he again became familiar with her, 
which indeed was looked on as adultery, as she was then another man's 
wife. 

Most of the Grecian states, especially those that made any figure, re- 
quired their citizens should match with none but citizens ; for they looked 
upon the freedom of their cities as too great a privilege to be granted on 
easy terms to foreigners or their children: hence we find the Athenian 
laws sentencing- the children of such matches to perpetual slavery. 10 This 
was not all ; for they had a law, that if a foreigner married a free woman 
of Athens, it should be lawful for any person to call him to account before 
the magistrates called Thesmothetae, by whom, if he was convicted, 
he was sold for a slave, and all his goods were confiscated, and one-third 
part of them given to his accuser. The same penalty was inflicted upon 
such citizens as gave foreign women in marriage to men of Athens, under 
pretence that they were their own daughters, save that the sentence 
of slavery was changed into kt/^k ignominy, by which they were deprived 
of their voices in all public assemblies, and of most of the other privileges 

I tt^ H * SP igr *? 1, xc ''- alibus le ?ibus ad praecepturo vii. 7 Athpn. Lib. xii. 

i ~ . . V \V 9 ' * contra Moechos. 8 Pint. Cimone. 

1 pi V - " p , tam - 49S - 5 Libro de Iegifcus specialibus. 9 Corn. Nep. Cimone. 

♦ riul. JadKus, lib. de sppci- 6 Plutarchus Themistocle. 10 Lib. i. 9. 

■3 F 



614 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



belonging to them as citizens. Lastly, if any man of Athens married a 
woman that was not free of that city, he was fined a thousand drachms. 1 
But these laws were not constant and perpetual: sometimes the necessity 
of the times so far prevailed, that the children of foreign women enjoyed 
all the privileges of freeborn citizens. The old law, which prohibited the 
men of Athens to marry strangers, having been some time disused, was 
revived by Pericles, and afterwards, at the instance of the same person, 
abrogated by a decree of the people : 2 but it was again renewed in the 
archonship of Euclides, at the motion of Aristophon, when it was enacted 
that no persons should be free denizens of Athens, unless both their parents 
were free. 3 

Virgins were not allowed to marry without the consent of their parents: 
whence Hero 4 tells Leander, they could not be honourably joined in mar- 
riage, because her parents were against it: 

veXdoffai, My parents to the match will not consent, 

Ov yap spols To*et'(TJtv enevadtv. Therefore desist, it is not pertinent. 

Hermione, in Euripides, 5 professes she had no concern about her marriage, 
but left that wholly to her father : 

Nvfi<pevfia.Ta>v ftlv rmv s/xuv 7rar7?p e^os I'm not concern'd, my father will take care 

Mepipvav i'fec, kovk Iphv fpovelv rale. Of all things that respect my nuptials. 

The mother's consent was necessary as well as the father's ; 6 nor were 
men permitted to marry without consulting their parents ; for even the 
most early and ignorant ages were too well acquainted with the right 
which parents have by nature over their children, to think these had 
power to dispose of themselves without their parents' consent. Achilles, 
in Homer, refuses Agamemnon's daughter, and leaves it to his father 
Peleus to choose him a wife; 7 and Pamphilus, in Terence, is betrothed by 
his father Simo. 8 

When virgins had no fathers, their brothers disposed of them: thus 
Creon promised his sister Jocasta to any person who should destroy the 
Sphinx that infested Thebes ; and Orestes gave his sister Electra to his 
friend Pylades. When they had neither parents nor brothers, or if their 
brothers were not arrived at years of discretion, they were disposed of by 
their grandfathers, especially those by the father's side ; when these failed, 
they were committed to the care of guardians, called Xgrlrgoaci, or xvgtot. 9 
Sometimes husbands, upon their deathbeds, 10 betrothed their wives toother 
persons, as appears from the story of the father of Demosthenes, who gave 
his wife Cleobule to one Aphobus, with a considerable portion. When he 
was dead, Aphobus took the portion, but refused to marry the woman: 
whereupon Demosthenes made his complaint to the magistrates, and ac- 
cused him in an elegant oration. 11 And that this custom was not unusual, 



1 Demosth. Orat. in Neaeram. 

2 Plutarchus Pericle. 

3 Demosthen. in Eubulidem. 

4 Musaeus, ver. 179. 

5 Andromache, ver. 987. 

6 Eurip. Iphigen, in Aulid. 



7 Iliad, t'. 393. 

8 Andria, act. i. seen. I. 

9 Demosthenes in Stephanum 
testem. 

10 The form of snch a bequest 
has been preserved :— "This is 



the last will of Pasio, the Achar- 
nian ; I give my wife, Archippe, 
to Phormio, with a fortune of one 
talent." 
11 Orat. in Aphobum. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 615 



appears from the same orator's defence of Phormio, to whom, being a 
slave, and faithful in his business, his master bequeathed both his liberty 
and his wife. 

They had several forms of betrothing, such as 1 Tiet'ibwv crn'o^c*, tZi yv/\- 
ffiuv ffiufAi croi rnv \y,a,vTov Suywriga,, J give you this my daughter to make 
you the father of children lawfully begotten. The dowry was sometimes 
mentioned, as 2 when Cyaxares betrothed his daughter to Cyrus, Ajihufiui 
eroi, ui Kvgs, c&urwv rhv yvvouxec S-wyotriga Tt ovtrav Ifttb'i^ojfjux.t V abrn 

lyoj xcc) (pzgvqv M>?£/av woierav, / give you, Cyrus, this woman, who is my 
daughter, ivith all Media for her dowry. The persons to be married 
plighted their faith to one another, or to their relations. Thus Clitophon 
and Leucippe swear to each other, 3 the former to be constant and sincere in 
his love, the latter to marry him, and make him master of all she had. 
Ovid makes the next ceremony after betrothing, to be the virgin's oath to 
her lover: 

J'romisit pater hanc, heve etjuravit amanti. Her father protnis'd, she an oath did take 
Her faithful lover never to forsake. 

The ceremony in promising fidelity was kissing each other, or giving 
their right hands, which was the usual form of ratifying all agreements: 
hence Clyta^mnestra, in Euripides, calls for Achilles' right hand, to assure 
her of his sincere intention to marry her daughter: 4 

Ai?ia» y' i/j.^ \ <npi Join your right hand to mine, a sacred tie 

Zvpa^ov, apxhv fiataglav vvp.<ptvp.&Ta,v. Of this Our Compact. * 

The Thebans had a custom for lovers to plight their faith at the monu- 
ment of Iolaiis, who was a lover of Hercules, and assisted him in his 
labours, 6 and was therefore believed to take care of love affairs when ad- 
vanced into heaven. 

In the primitive ages, women were married without portions, being 
purchased by their husbands, whose presents to the woman's relations were 
called her dowiy. Thus we find Shechem bargaining with Jacob and his 
sons for Dinah: 4 Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say 
unto me, I will give: ask me never so much dowry and gift, and 1 will 
give according as ye shall say unto me ; but give me the damsel to wife." 
Several instances may be produced to the same purpose, were not this 
custom too well known to need farther confirmation; only thus much must 
be observed, that when civility and good manners came to be established 
in any place, it was usually laid aside; for Aristotle makes it one argu- 
ment to prove that the ancient Greeks were an uncivilized people, that 
they used to buy their wives. No sooner, therefore, do we find tnem 
beginning to lay aside their barbarous manners, than this practice was left 
olf; insomuch that Medea,, in Euripides, complains that womerv were the 
most miserable of all rational creatures, because lying under a necessity of 
purchasing their own masters at a dear rate. 9 So common became the 



1 Clem. Alex. Stromat. ii. 
? Xenopli. Kvponati. viii. 

3 Achill. Tat v. 

4 Iphigen. in Aulid. ver. S31. 

5 The bridegroom also bestow- 



ed on the bride a present as a 
pledge of his honour and love, 
named "A^a, appapiiv, 'i6vov y and 

riutarchus Peldpida. 

3 v % 



7 Gen. xxxiv. 2. 

8 Politic, ii. S. 

9 Kuripidis Med. 230. 



616 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



custom for women to bring portions to their husbands, that some make the 
most essential difference between ywyj and vuXXcixh, wife and concubine, 
to consist in this, that wives had dowries, whereas concubines were usually 
without. 1 

Hence men who were content to many wives who had no fortune, 
commonly gave them vgoixZa, an instrument in writing, acknowledging 
the receipt of their dowry. The rest of their distinction was chiefly 
founded on this; that she who had a dowiy thought it a just title to greater 
freedom with her husband, and to more respect from him, than such as 
owed their maintenance to him: hence Hermione, in Euripides, is enraged 
that the captive Andromache should pretend to be her rival in the aflec- 
tions of Pyrrhus. 2 

So sensible was Lyeurgus of this, and of some other inconveniences at- 
tending this custom, that, partly for fear wives should domineer over their 
husbands, and partly from a desire that men should choose wives more for 
the sake of their persons than their money, and that no woman's poverty 
should deprive her of a husband, he quite banished it out of Sparta. 3 So- 
lon agreed herein with Lyeurgus : for all the dowry he permitted the 
Athenian wives to have, was a little inconsiderable household stun", and 
three suits of clothes: 1 for,' says Plutarch, ' he would not have marriages 
for gain or an estate, but for pure love, kind affection, and to get children/ 4 
But some are of opinion that this ordinance had no relation to dowries, 
but only to the gifts called IvuvXia., which the bride brought with her. 
And that Solon did not prohibit other dowries appears from this, that men 
who had no sons were allowed to entail their estates upon daughters; and 
every heiress (the Athenians called them Wix^yoot) was obliged to many 
her nearest relative, lest her estate should go out of the family; but in 
consideration of her dowry, she had the privilege, when her husband 
was impotent, of consorting with his nearest kinsman; which law was con- 
trived against those who, conscious of their own inability, would match 
with heiresses for the portion's sake, and make use of a law to put violence 
upon nature ; yet, says my author, it was wisely done to confine her to 
her husband's nearest kinsman, that the children might be of the same 
family. A further privilege heiresses had above other women was, that 
their husbands were obliged to lie with them thrice a month. 5 When 
there were any orphan virgins without inheritance, whom they termed 
Svo-o-cu, 6 he that was next in blood was obliged to marry her himself, or 
settle a portion on her according to his rank; if he was TlivrciKoffiopQifAMog, 
one of the first rank, five mince, or 500 drachms ; if 'Ivrtfiu:, of the second 
rank, 300; if Zvyir^ f of the third rank, 150; but if she had many rela- 
tions equally allied, all of them contributed their proportions to make up 
the sum. If there were more thau one virgin, their nearest kinsman was 



1 Plant. Trlnmr.mo. Laconic. i'Elian. Var. Hist. vi. 

2 Kiuipiil. An'horr.ach. 147. 4 Plutarchus Solcaie. 

3 Justin, in. J'lut. ApcpLthcg. 5 Ibid. 



6 Eustath. in Iliad. <p\ ex 
Aristoph. Grammatico, 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 61? 



obliged to marry, or give a portion only to one of them ; and upon his re- 
fusal to do this, any person was allowed to indict him before the archon, 
who was obliged to compel him to his duty; and if he refused to put the 
law in execution, was fined 1000 drachms, which were consecrated to 
Juno, the goddess of marriage. 1 

It may be farther observed, that afterwards, when money became more 
plentiful, the relations of these virgins increased their dowries ; for we are 
told 2 that the Tlivruzoo-iofAihfivos gave ten minse, and men of inferior qua- 
lity, without doubt, raised their contributions in proportion. When vir- 
gins had no relations to provide for them, and were descended from men 
that had been serviceable to their country, it was common for the state to 
take care of them ; a remarkable instance of this we have in the two 
daughters of Aristides, to each of whom the city gave 300 drachms for 
her portion. 3 Nor is it to be wondered at that the Athenians should make 
provision for those that lived in their city, since, hearing that the grand- 
daughter of Aristogiton, a famous patriot that opposed the sons of Pisistra- 
tus, was in a low condition in the isle of Lemnos, and like to want a hus- 
band because without a portion, they sent for her to Athens, married her 
to a person of high rank, and gave her a farm belonging to the city for a 
dowry. Indeed, however generous the love of the more ancient Atheni- 
ans was, their successors commonly made money the chief tie of their af • 
fections: and the later Spartans were of the same humour, even whilst the 
laws of Lycurgus were still in being ; for we find that whilst Lysander 
was in a flourishing condition, and passed for a wealthy man, several per- 
sons engaged themselves to his daughters, who, seeing after how poor and 
honest he died, broke off their contract. It is true the Spartans punished 
them severely for their perfidy: but that seems to have been done rather 
out of respect to Lysander's memory 4 than to their ancient constitution, 
which, as soon as riches began to be possessed and admired at Sparta, 
seems to have been laid asleep. The Greeks, indeed, notwithstanding the 
prohibition of some of their laws, were generally lovers of money, and 
seem to have matched rather for the sake of that than of other more com- 
mendable qualifications. Nor was this a late corruption, but entertained 
even in the primitive times; for we find Andromache called by Homer 5 
HoXvhu^os, i. e. according to Eustathius, TloXv^^oixos, possessed of a large 
dowry: and, before the use of money was common, virgins increased 
their husbands' estates by adding sheep and oxen to their flocks and herds, 
in which the riches of those ages chiefly consisted; hence they are some- 
times honoured with the epithet of ccX(pi<ri(hoiUi. And from the expense 
fathers were at on this account came the proverb, 

Hou; u.6i r^ncyirr,? u'vj f^y rgiToyivtiW 

Which is nothing but a father's wish that his children might rather be 



1 Demo^then. Orat. ad Macar- act. ii. seen. 3. 4 Plutarch. Lysandio, 

latitat de Hdgniana haereditate; 2 Eustath. Iliad. b Iliad. p. 

Teient. Piioim. act. i. seen. 2; o Plutarch. Arislide, 

3 f 3 



618 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



boys than girls. As to the value of dowries, nothing can be determined, 
the humours of persons, and their particular exigencies, being the laws by 
which they were usually directed in such cases; only it may be observed, 
that in Crete, sisters were put off with half the shares of their brothers.- 
The dowry was named «rgaJ|, sometimes ftu"kia y tu^k to fiux'unruv tov 
ccvlgx, or s$y«, q. r^xvcc, vrccga. to r^uv, as designed to procure the favour 
and good- will of the person to whom they were given; sometimes (pzovv, 
from <ps£s/v, because brought by the wife to her husband. Some of the 
same names are used for the man's dowry or portion. When the wife 
had a dowry, it was commonly expected that her husband should make her 
a settlement, to be a maintenance for her in case he should happen to be 
separated from her by death or divorce ; this was usually a house or land, 
and was anciently called a.^drt/xyi/^oifi being a return equivalent to the 
dowry ; afterwards it was frequently termed uvrtQiovyi, a recompense for 
h&r doiury, or vtf'ofioXov, from iitfofiotXXuv, because it was vvrofiaXXoptvov <rv\ 
<p£gvy, given instead of her dowry ; but where no such security was given, 
husbands who divorced their wives were obliged to return their dowry. 
The same obligation was binding on their heirs, upon refusal to maintain 
the wives of those whose estates they inherited: hence Telemachus, in 
Homer, having suffered many affronts, and sustained great losses by the 
suitors of his mother Penelope, yet thought it not prudent to dismiss her 
to her father Icarius, because that could not be done without returning her 
portion. 3 The passage referred to seems to intimate farther, that if the 
woman departed of her own accord, the forementioned obligation became 
void. Yet, at Athens, in case the woman departed from her husband in 
the manner which was allowed by the laws, her dowry was restored to 
her. 

It was also the custom there, when any man's estate was confis- 
cated, that the wife's dowry should be assigned to her. 

In the same city it was decreed, that he who did not restore to his wife, 
when divorced,, her dowry, should pay nine oboli every month whilst it 
was detained, for interest. If this was neglected, an action termed cirtou 
Yikyi was preferred against him in the Odeum by the woman's Iviroovros 
guardian* This is to be understood of the dowries of those of the lowest 
class of citizens, to whom, as has been before observed, Solon allotted 150 
drachmas; for it being the custom for one ^va, which is equivalent to 100 
drachmae, to bring m an interest of six oboli every month, the interest of 
150 drachmse must amount to nine oboli. 

Hence the payment of the dowry was attested by sufficient witnesses, 
and also by a written instrument called tf^oixoiiu.. If these could not be 
produced, the husband was not obliged to allow his wife a separate main- 
tenance. If the woman died without children, her dowry was repaid to 
the person by whom she had been endowed ;5 for the dowry was intended 



1 Alexander ab Alex. Gen. 3 Odyss. 132. »ed. Pyrrhi. 

Dier. iv. 8. 4 Demosth. in Neasram. 

% Kesych. Harpocr Su'id, Pol. 5 Conf. Isreus Orat. de Hae- 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 619 



as a maintenance to the children, and therefore when the woman's sons 
came to be of age, whilst she was living, they enjoyed their mother's 
dowry, only allowing her a competent maintenance. 1 What other things 
wives brought to their husbands over and above their portions were called 
yra,0cc(pz£va, Witf^eixov, in/tuXta, and by later Greeks IJfvvrgoixa. 

Before men married, it was customary to provide themselves a house to 
settle in; to which practice Hesiod's advice is an allusion : 

oIkov nlv wpwrin-Ta, ywal«.<L ts. 2 A maid to guard your herds, and then a bride. 

A house and yoke oi'oxen first provide, COOKE. 

The woman in Theocritus asks her lover whether he was making a house 
ready for her: 3 

T«ti v ttf p 0l SaXipovs, T*vx et s *<" <5"/**> « al avAij. What! are you furnishing a house ? Have you 

Provided beds ? 

To which he replies: 

Te«#a. <rot SaXa^ovf.-*— Beds I procure, don't fear. 

Protesilaus, in Homer, being called to the Trojan war soon after his mar- 
riage, is said to have left Yopov hptrtiM, his house half finished :± 

Tov ie *dl ifji(pa P v(p^ HWoxos $v\aK? iXeXetn-To, At Pbylace he left behind his spouse, 

Kai ikfios T,/iir«X^ s . There to lament in a half-finish'd house. 

Some indeed will have olxo$ to be meant of his family, which is called 
'/ljUiTskh;, because he left it before he had any children. 5 But the former 
sense seems more agreeable to the way of speaking in those times, it being 
then the constant custom to build a house before marriage. Hence women, 
whose husbands died soon after marriage, are said to be left zvidows in a 
neiv-built house? 

The Athenian virgins were presented to Diana before it was lawful for 
them to marry. This ceremony was performed at Brauron, an Athenian 
borough: the action was called ^xtsw, and the virgins themselves agxroi, 
the custom being instituted to appease the goddess, who had been incensed 
against some of the Athenians for killing a bear. 7 It was also customary 
for virgins, when they became marriageable, to present certain baskets 
full of little curiosities to Diana, to gain leave to depart out of her train 
(for virgins were regarded as the peculiar charge of that goddess) and 
change their state of life. 8 The action was called xwnQo^uv, and the vir- 
gins xuvvi(p6goi, from the baskets they carried. The Boeotians and Lo- 
crians had a custom for persons of both sexes, before their nuptials, to 
offer sacrifices to Euclia, who had an image and altar in their market- 
place. This Euclia some will have to be the daughter of Menoecius, and 
sister of Patroclus ; others rather think her the same with Diana ; 9 it is 
not improbable that Diana received this surname from ths sister of Patro- 
clus, or that she was worshipped by the name of Diana Euclia; for Diana 
being the goddess of virginity, it is not to be wondered at that one honoured 
for the preservation of her virginity should be worshipped under her name, 



1 Demosthen. in Phajnippum, 
et in Stephanum Testem. 

2 Hfsiod. "Epy. /?'. 23, vide 
Turoeb. Adv. xxi. 

3 Idyll, xxvii. 36. 



4 THad. 7(10. 

5 Schol. v?tus in Inc. cit.; Val. 
Flacc. vi. 638 ; Catull. Epigram. 

ad Mallium 

6 Schol. Horn, Iliad. P '. 36. 



7 Vide ii. 20, in Bparpina. 

8 Theocrit. Idyll. /3'. 66. 

9 Plutarchus Aristkle. 



620 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



since it was common to attribute to those that Avere first eminent for any 
virtue or excellent quality, the actions of all that afterwards imitated them. 
Hence we have several Jupiters, Minervas, Bacchuses, Herculeses, &c, 
the famous exploits of many persons, distant as well in time as place, be- 
ing ascribed to one hero. We find Diana concerned in the preparatory 
solemnities before all marriages ; for a married life being her aversion, 
it was thought requisite for all that entered upon it to ask her pardon for 
dissenting from her. This was done by prayers and several sorts of sacri- 
fices, 1 which were called yctfAYiXioi iv^ca, trgoyxftutz, vrgoTi'kuoi iv^ou or 
vrgoriktia, ; for r'iXos and ya/xog are terms of the same signification;- the 
former denoting marriage, either as a general name for all sorts of rites and 
ceremonies, or because the longing expectations of married persons are 
thereby consummated, and brought to an end, or because persons that are 
married become complete and perfect men, and renounce all the customs 
and desires of childhood ; whence ywfia.i, to marry, is termed Tikawdwvcci) 
to be made perfect? Married persons are called rsXg/o/, 4 and are said to 
be h (hloo nks'tui. The same epithet is commonly given to the gods that 
had the care of marriage: whence we read of Jupiter riXuo?, JunorgXs/a, 5 
&c. These gods were likewise rendered propitious before the nuptials, 
and the sacrifices, with other devotions offered them, were all known by 
the same names as those offered to Diana; Juno's were called, besides 
their general name, 'UoariXuet, from her own name, which in Greek is 
"Hgct. Several other deities had their share in these honours. Minerva, 
surnamed Ua^'mo?, the virgin, had a peculiar title to them at Athens, on 
the same account that they were paid to Diana: and it was not permitted 
a virgin to marry till she had performed her devotions in the temple dedi- 
cated to this goddess in the citadel. 6 Venus likewise, and all the rest of 
the Sso/, gods superintending marriage, were invoked. 7 The 

Lacedaemonians had a very ancient statue of 'A^o^/r« "H^a, Venus Juno, 
to which all mothers sacrificed when their daughters were married. 8 The 
most ancient Athenians paid the same honour to Heaven and Earth, which 
were believed to have a particular concern in marriages, the latter of them 
being rendered fruitful by the benign influences of the former, and there- 
fore a fit emblem of marriage. 9 The Fates and Graces being thought first 
to join, and then preserve the tie of love, were partakers of the same re- 
spect; 10 and it is probable that several other deities at different places, and 
for different reasons, claimed a share therein. The day on which this 
ceremony was performed was usually that which immediately preceded 
the marriage: 11 it was commonly called ycc^vXtx, and zovp&uns , rz from the 
custom they had of shaving themselves on this occasion, 13 and presenting 
their hair to some of the forementioned deities, or to other gods to whom 

1 Euripid. Iphigen. in Aulid. 5 Su'idas, aliique complures. 10 Pollux, iii. 3. Etymologici 
1110. 6 Suidas, &c. Auctor. v. ya^X.'a. 

2 Eustath. in Iliad. (3'. 7 Etymologici Auctor. &c. 11 Hesychius. 

3 Ibid. fA,'. 8 P.msan. Laconicis. 12 Etymologici Auctor, 

4 Bisetus in Aiistoplh Tiles- 9 Proclus in Tiniscum Plaionis 13 Pollux, loc. cit. Sec. 
mophor. Comment, v. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



621 



they .lay under particular obligations. Some offered their hair to Diana 
and the fatal sisters. 1 At Troezen the virgins were obliged, before they 
entered into marriage bonds, to consecrate their hair to Hippolytus, the 
son of Theseus, who died for his chastity. 2 The Megarensian virgins 
offered their hair, with libations, at the monument of Iphinoe, the daugh- 
ter of Alcathous, who died a virgin; the Delians to Hecaerge and Opis: 3 
the Argians and Athenians to Minerva. 4 But these names, yu^\'icx. and 
xovpiun?, were at Athens peculiar to one day of the solemnity called apa- 
turia, when fathers had their children enrolled in the public register, at 
which time they offered sacrifices for their prosperity, with a particular 
respect to their marriages, and commonly shaved off some of their hair to 
be dedicated to some of the deities, especially to her in whose honour that 
festival was celebrated. But though the time of presenting their hair 
might not be constantly the same, yet the custom itself seems to have 
been universally observed, not only by women but men, who rarely failed 
to perform this ceremony upon their arrival at years of maturity. Some 
of their locks were carefully preserved for this use: and therefore when 
Pentheus, in Euripides, threatens Bacchus to shave his hair, the young 
god tells him it would be an impious action, because he designed it for 
an offering to some deity. 5 The hair was called vrXbzccpos §£iyr<rn%ios, be- 
cause presented to a god as an acknowledgment of his care in their edu- 
cation. The deity thus honoured was commonly Apollo, as Plutarch 
reports, when he tells us that Theseus, according to the custom of Grecian 
youth, took a journey to Delphi to offer the first-fruits of his hair to the 
god of that place. 6 But this could not concern the poorer sort, to whom 
such journeys would have been too expensive: nor were those of better 
quality under any strict obligation to pay this honour to Apollo, as it was 
not unusual to do it to other gods, such especially as were thought to have 
protected their infancy from danger, and preserved them to manhood. 
Instances are needless in a thing so well known ; only it may be necessary 
to observe, that the deities of rivers were commonly thought to have a 
title to this respect: which conceit seems to have proceeded from the 
opinion of some philosophers, who thought that all things were first pro- 
duced out of water, and are still nourished and rendered fruitful by it: 
whence the poets took occasion to give the epithet xovgorgcxpos to the dei- 
ties of the waters, as well as to Apollo, those being no less instrumental 
to the growth and increase of living creatures, than the sun, whose influ- 
ences without moisture can contribute nothing to the production or pre- 
servation of life; hence both were looked on as deserving of returns of 
gratitude for the first gift, as well as for the continuance of life. 7 As an 
example of hair presented to rivers, I would only trouble you with that of 
Achilles, who preserved his hair as a present to Sperchius, on condition 
that he should return home in safety, and afterwards shaved it, when he 



) Pollux Onomast. iii. 3. 

2 Lncisnus de Dea Syria. 

3 Pdusanias Atticis. 



4 Stat. Thebaid. ii. 

5 Bach. ver. 594. 

6 Theseo. 



7 Enstath. Iliad. ubi hanc 
rem f usius enatrat. 



622 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



found the fates had decreed that he should be slain before Troy, plainly- 
showing that they used to preserve their hair to the gods as a grateful 
acknowledgment of their care in preserving them.i This confirms what I 
have said concerning the reason of this custom. 

The custom of nourishing hair, on religious accounts, seems to have 
prevailed in most nations. The Jews had their Nazarites. Osiris the 
Egyptian consecrated his hair to the gods. 2 And we find in Arrian's ac- 
count of India, that it was a custom there xo^Zv r&> §su>, to preserve their 
hair for some god, which they first learned, as that author reports, from 
Bacchus. 

Before the marriage could be solemnized, the other gods were consulted 
and their assistance implored by prayers and sacrifices, which were usu- 
ally offered to some of the deities that superintended these affairs, by the 
parents, or other relations of the persons to be married. Nor can these 
offerings be thought the same with those already mentioned, and called 
tf£or'z\zioi, since we find them plainly distinguished by Euripides, in a dia- 
logue between Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, concerning the marriage 
of their daughter Iphigenia: 3 

ka. TipoTeXeia <5' rjSrj 7rat6oy %a<pa.%a.% Sef; Ag, Soon shall it: that employs my present 



AF. MtXXco 



thought. 



ka. KairetTo. <5at'jety tov; ya^ouj tavarepov ; CI. And wilt thou next the nuptial feast prepare ? 

AT. eoo-ay ye ^uyuaS', arrep yH l^PV" Svaat 5soTy. Ag. When I have oft'er'd what the gods require. 
CI. Is for the bride the previous victim slain ? POTTER, 

When the victim was opened, the gall was taken out and thrown be- 
hind the altar, 4 as being the seat of anger and malice, and, therefore, the 
aversion of all the deities who had the care of love, as well as of those who 
became their votaries. The entrails were carefully inspected by sooth- 
sayers; and if any unlucky omen presented itself, the former contract was 
dissolved, as displeasing to the gods, and the nuptials prevented. The 
same happened upon the appearing of any ill-boding omen without the 
victim. Thus we find in Achilles Tatius, that Clitophon's intended mar- 
riage with Calligone was hindered by an eagle, that snatched a piece of 
the sacrifice from the altar. 5 The most fortunate omen that could appear 
was a pair of turtles, because of the inviolable affection which those birds 
are said to have for each other. The same may be observed of xaguveu, 
crows, which were thought to promise long life or happiness, from the 
length of their own lives, which is proverbially remarkable, and the per- 
petuity of their love ; for when one of the mates is dead, the other remains 
solitary ever after ; 6 hence the appearance of those birds single boded sepa- 
ration or sorrow to the married couple ; for this reason it was customary 
at nuptials to sing Kogb ixx'oeu xo^dvnv, maiden, drive away the crow, 
whereby the maids were put in mind to watch, that none of these birds, 
coming single, should disturb the solemnity; or perhaps to avert the per- 
nicious influences of that unlucky omen, if it happened to appear. An- 

1 Horn. Iliad. 140. ver. 718. 5 Life, ii. 

2 Diodor. Sic. i. 4 Ccelius Rhodigin. xxviii. 21. 6 Alex, ab Alex. 

3 Kuripid. Iphigen. in Aulid. Plutarch, de Conjugal. Prsecept. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



623 



Bride in Doric Tunic. 



ather remedy against evil omens was, to write over the doors of their 
houses, MHAEN EI2ITfi KAKON, let no evil enter. To this they some- 
times joined the name of the master of the house, as appears from anewiy 
married person who wrote thus upon his house : 

'O TOT AI02 IIAES 'HPAKAHS KAAAINIK02 
EN0AAE KATOIKEI, MHAEN EI2ITO KAKON. 
Here dwells Hercules, the victorious son of Jupiter ; let no evil enter. 

This gave occasion to the jest of Diogenes, who, seeing upon the door 
of a vicious fellow, the forementioned prayer, said ? ' Then let not the 
master of the house enter/ 1 

The bridegroom's garments were all dyed. 3 However that be, both the 
married persons and their attendants were richly adorned, according to 
their rank. They were likewise decked with garlands of various herbs 
and flowers. 3 

The herbs were usually such as some way or other signified the affairs 
of marriage, as those sacred to Venus, 
or 4 ffitrvpfioiov, jtriz&jVf ffnffotfjcov, &c. 
Cakes made of sesame were likewise 
given at marriages, that herb being ac- 
counted vroXwyovos, remarkable for its 
fruitfulness. The Boeotians used gar- 
lands of wild asparagus, which is full of 
prickles, but bears excellent fruit, and 
was therefore thought to resemble the 
bride, who had given her lover some 
trouble in courting her, and gaining her 
affections, which she recompensed after- 
^zrj wards by the pleasantness of her con- 
versation. The house in which the 
nuptials were celebrated was likewise 
decked with garlands ; a pestle was tied 
upon the door; a maid carried a sieve; 5 and the bride 6 herself bore <p^j- 
yzrovj tpovyirgov, or (pgvy/iroov, 7 an earthen vessel, in winch barley w r as 
parched, to signify her obligation to attend to the business of her family. 

The bride was usually conducted in a chariot from her father's house 
to her husband's in the evening, 8 that time being chosen to conceal her 
blushes. 9 She was placed in the middle, her husband sitting on one side, 
and, on the other, one of his most intimate friends, who, for that reason, 
was called *ei£o%os. This custom was so frequent, that when the bride 




1 Diog. Laert. in Diogene. 

2 Suid. in v. Bct™, 

3 Euripid. Iphigen. in Aulid, 
ver. 905?. 

4 Pace. 

5 Pollux, 



lar object, apparently an apple, ated fillet. 

both al tributes of Venus^ the di- 7 Pollux, i. 12. Hesychius. ■ 

vinity who presided over conju- 8 Suidas, v. ZeSyoy, Eiistalh, 

gal engagements. She is dressed Iliad. X'. p. 765. 

in the Doric tunic, x irwv * with- 9 To conduct a wife to the house 

out sleeves, and a nevXos' her of her husband was called iopov 

6 The above figure represents hair is gathered up in a knot be- avayeiv, oIkov Hyeadat, HyeaOai. 

a bride holding a mirror in one hind, bound up with the «e*pu- ya^er^v, ZyeoOai. yvvama, and u$ 

hand, and, in the other, a circu- •p%\oy % and encircled with a radi- o\nta¥.— Paul, pp. 144, 145. 



624 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



went to her husband's house on foot, the person who accompanied her re- 
tained the same name. The same person was called w^ivr*;, naoawfi' 
<pios, and ^raouvv^tpo;, 1 though this is more commonly used in the feminine 
gender, and signifies the woman that waited upon the bride, sometimes 
called vvp<pivr£ioi m When the bridegroom had been married before, he 
was not permitted to fetch the bride from her father's house, but that care 
was committed to one of his friends, who was termed vu&tpayeuyo; , 2 or wp- 
(poffroXos ; which words are likewise taken for the persons that assisted in 
making up the match, and managing the concerns which related to the 
marriage, who, if women, were called sr^vj^r^a/, cr^ogsv^r^a/, &c. One 
thing farther may be observed in the bride's passage to her husband's 
house, namely, that torches were carried before her, 3 usually by servants.4 
They were sometimes attended with singers and dancers. 5 
The song they were entertained with in their passage was called k^a.- 
vnov piXos, from agfta, the coach in which they rode, the axletree of which 
they burned when they had arrived at the end of their journey, thereby 
signifying that the bride was never to return to her father's house. The 
Rhodians had a peculiar custom of sending for the bride by a public crier. 
When the bridegroom entered the house with his bride, it was customary 
to pour upon their heads, figs and various other sorts of fruits, as an omen 
of their future plenty. 6 The day of the bride's departure from her father 
was celebrated in the manner of a festival, and called n^o<r^a;«>jr^/a. 7 It 
seems to have been observed at her father's house, before she departed, 
being distinct from the nuptial solemnity, which was kept at the bride- 
groom's house, and began at evening, the usual time of the bride's arrival 
there. 

The bride being come to the bridegroom's house, was entertained with 
a sumptuous banquet, called by the same name with the marriage, viz. 
<ya.p,o;, and hence SaUiv ydpov is to make a nuptial entertainment? 

The reasons of this entertainment (to pass by the joy and mirth it was 
intended to promote) were two: the first was, the respect due to the gods 
of marriage, who w r ere invoked before the feast, and had no small share in 
it ; and it is thought by some, that most of the Grecian festivals were 
first observed on this ground. The second was, that the marriage might 
be made public ;9 for all the relations of the married couple were invited 
as witnesses of their marriage, and to rejoice with them: hence the 
young man in Terence concludes, the marriage he there speaks of could 
not be presently consummated, because time was required to invite 
friends, and to make necessary preparations: 10 

Ducmda est uxor, ut ais; concedo tibi: The money, he must wed the girl; I grant it; 
Spatium quidem opparandis riuptiis, ■ But then some little time must be alloiv'd 
Vocandi, sacrificandi dabitur puululum. For wedding-preparation, invitation, 
■ If he receives And sacrifices. COtiMAlf. 

1 Hesychius, v. Ni./x0a Y a>yo' r . 3 Euripid. Helen, ver. 728. 7 Harpocr. Suidas. 

2Hesych. vide Pollucis Ono- 4 Hesiod. Scut. Hercul. ver. 8 Horn. 11. t' ; Horn. Odysa. I 

mast. iii. item Suidum, Pliavo- 725. 9 Athenaeus, v. 1. initio, 

rinum, cseterosque Lexieogra- 5 Horn. Iliad. «r'. 490. 10 Phoria. act. iv. seen. 4. 

pUos. 6 Aristoph. Schol. inPlut. p. 7S. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 625 



During the solemnity the company diverted themselves, and honoured the 
gods of marriage with music and dancing: we seldom read of a marriage 
without them. All the songs were called v^ivxioi, or vphts' : l 

llo\h; <T vplvaios dpwpei. Many abridal hymn was sung. 

The Romans used the same term ;? 

Hymenamm, turbas, lampadas, tibicines. Your hymens, hubbubs, flambeaus, and gut scrap- 

ers. 

This name was taken from the frequent invocations of Hymen, or Hyme- 
nals, the god of marriage, always made in these songs.3 This Hyme- 
nals, we are told, was an Argian, 4 whom they received into the number 
of their gods, and thus remembered for a generous action in delivering 
certain Athenian virgins from the lust and cruelty of some Pelasgians. 
Others derive the word uko rod o^oZ valuv, from the married couple's 
inhabiting together; others, lastly, from vphv, which signifies the mem- 
hrana virginalis. 

About the time of their entertainment several significant ceremonies 
took place, relating some way or other to the state of marriage. One at 
Athens consisted in the introduction of a boy, covered with thorn-boughs 
and acorns, carrying a basket full of bread, and singing "Etpvyov kcckov 
iuom ciftuvov, I have left the worse and found the better. This saying 
was used at one of their festivals, when they commemorated their change 
of diet from acorns to corn; but seems at this time to have signified also 
the happiness which the married persons were entering upon, and that 
marriage was preferable to a single life. The Lacedaemonians had a 
custom of carrying about a sort of cakes, made in various figures, and 
called KU£t$a,vi; t whilst they danced, and commended the bride in songs. 5 

When the dances were ended, the married couple were conducted to 
the marriage-bed, 6 called in Latin lectus genialis; in Greek kXUt] vv^iVi^, 
or yocpiKYi, or, when the persons were first married, and in their youth 
zougiViov kt%o;. It was as richly adorned as the rank of the person would 
permit ; the covering was usually of purple. 7 

In the same room there was commonly placed a side-bed, called xklw 
•7roc,oa,fivtrro;& vtAp rod <rhv toCiba. a.^u^trca. 9 But before they went to 
bed the bride bathed her feet 10 in water which the Athenians always 
fetched from the fountain Callirhoe, afterwards called 'Enixxoouvos, from 
nine cisterns supplied by it with water. The person that brought it was 
a boy nearly allied to one of the married couple, and whom from his office 
they termed Xovrao(po^. u This being done, the bride was lighted to bed 
with several torches; for a single torch was not enough. 12 Round one of 
the torches the mother of the bride tied her hair-lace, which she took 
from her head for this use. 13 



1 Horn. Iliad, v. 493. Hesi- 
od. Scut. Here, ver 274. 

2 Terentius Adeiph. v. 7. 

3 Catull. Carm. Nupt. lxiii. 

4 Homer; Scholiastes, Iliad. 
c', 593. 

5 Athenaeum, x. 



6 The nuptial chamber was 

Called iiae, Kovpl&iov &Z>na, Ai- 
fianov, eika.fx.os, Ilaaraj, and 
Tlao-riv. 

7 Di Nuptiis Palei et Theti- 
dis, ver. 1402. Apollon. Argon. 
\v. 1141. 

3 G 



8 Hesychius. 

9 Pollux, iii. 3. 

10 Aristoph. Pace. ver. 843. 

11 Suidas, Pollux, loc. cit. 
1.1 Liban. Declamat. xxxvii. 

13 Senec. Theb. ver. 505. 



626 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The relations of the married persons assisted in the solemnity, and it 
was looked on as no small misfortune to be absent ; the mothers especially 
were assiduous in lighting torches when their sons' wives entered the 
houses. Thus Jocasta, in Euripides, severely chides Polynices for mar- 
rying in a foreign country, because she, with the rest of his relations and 
friends, were deprived of their offices at his nuptials.2 

The bride's mother had no less a right to this office; for we find Cly- 
taemnestra, in the same author, though professing all due submission to 
Agamemnon, when desired by him to absent herself from Iphigenia's 
marriage, stedfastly refusing it, as a thing against all justice, notwithstand- 
ing his promise to perform her part of the ceremony. 3 

4 The married couple being shut up together in the chamber, 5 the laws of 
Athens obliged them to eat a quince, by which was intimated that their 
first conversation ought to be pleasing and agreeable. 4 The husband then 





1 Phoenis v. 339, in quem lo- 
cum vide Seholiastem. 

2 Iphigen. in Aulid. ver. 731. 

3 Plut. fSolene, et in Conju- 
gal. Praecept. 

4 The Grecian beds were very 
often of a sofa form, the husband 
in the one corner, and the wife 
reclining behind him, as in the 
above cut. According to Aristo- 
tle and Hyginus, they were six 
feet long and three feet broad, 
and two of them in every room, 
one /eXtvv, for sleeping on, as 
above, the other for lounging ; 
the *W<5 t0 v, or ^ivr^o^, of 
Pollux — perhaps used for the 
aljer-dinner naps taken by Nes- 



tor in the Odyssey, &». The 
bedding consisted of paillasses, 
or mattresses, stuffed with straw, 
wool, flocks, or dried vegetables, 
and the coverings of sheep or 
goats' skins, with the wool on. 

5 The furniture of a bedroom 
is stated by Pollux to have con- 
sisted of wash-hand basins, Xov 
T?5piov, and ewers, rop6xoos, for 
washing the face at getting up; 
chairs or benches for two, &i<ppol\ 
slippers or woollen socks. — Pol. 
Onomast, 407. To these may be 
added, as mentioned by other 
writers, clothes' chest, scrinium, 
and mirror, and a sword sus- 
pended nt the bed's head. Pollux 



also enumerates, at great length, 
the furniture and ntensils of 
the women's lodgings. Instru- 
ments for spinning and weav- 
ing, baskets for the wool, mea- 
sures, ayrv6if, or the XtXa ; scales 
and weights ; a comb. Zinor, a 
card for combing wool, a shear- 
in g kliife. KOfiarn'/piov <(iipQv % a 
mirror with its case, called A»- 
(piiov ; shears, a frontal xapox-i;, 
a mask; a broad-brimmed hat 
(like a top, broad above and nar- 
row below), a fan, umbrella, 
boxes made of alabaster sandai 
or shoe-cases, and various trin 
kets or articles of dress 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



627 



loosed his wife's girdle, whence Xuuv £&>v/)v is to deflower, and ywh "KvaU 
%wvo:, a woman that is no longer a virgin. This girdle was not, as some 
seem to fancy, worn by maids only, but was used as well after marriage 
as before, being designed to secure the weaker sex from the sudden 
attempts of men inflamed with lust ; hence Nonnus calls it ffct'otpoav, and 
when he introduced the satyrs endeavouring to embrace certain virgins, 
we find their honour secured by it.i This farther appears from the men- 
tion which authors make of untying women's girdles in child-birth, and 
from calling only such gills uuatooi. not having a girdle, as were not ar- 
rived at maturity. 

At this time the young men and maids stood without the door, dancing 
and singing songs, called zx-rfctXeifUicc, from S-aXa^o?, the bride-chamber, 
and making a great noise, by shouting and stamping with their feet, which 
was termed KTwr'ici, or ktvctiov,^ and was designed to drown the cries of 
the bride. Lest the women should go to her assistance, one of the bride- 
groom's friends stood sentinel at the chamber door, and from his office was 
called This song, as likewise all the rest, was termed "T^Ucuo;, 

and consisted of the praises of the bridegroom and bride, with wishes for 
their happiness. 4 They returned again in the morning, saluted the mar- 
ried couple, and sung l^etXdfAta lyzonxk, aicahening songs, for that was 
the name of the morning songs, which were designed to awake and raise 
the bridegroom and bride; as those sung the night before were intended 
to dispose them to sleep, and are on that account termed IvifaXupiu xoi- 
ftfirtxas, lulling songs. 5 

Kevfj.s$a *au^ej e? $p9?ov, ko. r-paro? dotc'oj When first the crowing cock shall wake the morn, 

*J8g fi-yaf /csXacrjoy aiaffj wv fvrpi Utpay' When through his feather'd throat he sends his 

'1!>av, at 'T/j.svais, yd/Mco iirl rZis x a P^1S- voice: 

we'll return, O Hymen, Hymen, at this feast rejoice. CREECH. 

The solemnity lasted during several days. The day before the mar- 
riage was termed vooctviia, as preceding that on which the bride did 
a.v\'iZ s i(T&a.i w.uQtM, lodge with the bridegroom. The marriage-day was 
called yz/uot; the day following, according to Pindar, Wlpting, which 
word signifies a day added to any solemnity; Hesychius 6 calls it craXiec, 
which may perhaps be derived from sraX/v, because the former day's mirth 
was, as it were, repeated, hence the Romans call it repoiia; unless, for 
tciXicc we might be allowed to read vaXaia, and then it would be the 
same with AthensBiis' g«*Xa$ V% a ; 7 for fates denotes any thing that has 
ceased to be new ; hence Tully calls a book tuXov, when men's first and 
eager inquiry after it is cooled: and Athenseus, in another place, has op- 
posed ra.$ ax/xaicc; yeiuuv xpsgee; to the to isoXov rr,s ffuptfoffias : 8 others call 
the second day l*av\uz, or ivecukix. The third day was termed avruvXia, 
or rather utruvXicc, because the bride, returning to her father's house, did 
&Txv\'t£z(r{!cti tZj vulc^Im, lodge apart from the bridegroom , though some place 



4 Thecrit. Idyll, xvi 

5 Id. ibid. 56. 

6 Ta.fj.oi. 

3 G 2 



628 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



this upon the seventh day after marriage ; others will have it so called, 
because the bridegroom lodged apart from his bride at his father-in-law's 
house. It is possible both may be in the right, and that both bridegroom 
and bride might lie at her father's house, but in different beds. Others 
make ocvolv^cu to be the same with iTaukix; whence a seeming difficulty 
arises, since those two words import contraries, one seeming to denote 
that the bride lodged apart from the bridegroom, the other with him; but 
this may be easily solved, by applying IsrayA/a to her lodging with her 
husband, and ccyrotvXott to her departure from her father's house. 1 

On the day called ana.v'kiu, the bride presented her bridegroom with a 
garment called a<7ra,v\Y,r'/iPia,. Presents, called sometimes arai/Xw, some- 
times zvravktac, were likewise made to the bride and bridegroom, by the % 
bride's father and friends; these consisted of golden vessels, beds, couches, 
plates, ointment-boxes, combs, sandals, and all sorts of necessaries for 
housekeeping, which were carried in great state to the house by women, 
who followed a person called xxwpogos, from carrying a basket in the man- 
ner usual at processions, before whom went a boy in white apparel, with a 
torch in his hand. It was also customary for the bridegroom and his 
friends to give presents to the bride, which they called ocvuKccXv-Trrvoix ; 2 
and Hesychius is of opinion that the third day was called oLvciza.Xvvrrr.oiov, 
because then the bride first appeared publicly unveiled. Suidas tells us 
that the gifts were so called, because she was then first shown to her 
bridegroom. For the same reason they are sometimes called Siu^rou,, 
e**fytu, ufy/ipa.Tx, and vroorQfa'yxrfyiet, because the bridegroom had then 
leave to converse freely with her ; for virgins before marriage were under 
strait confinement, and were rarely permitted to appear in public or con- 
verse with men ; and, when allowed that liberty, wore over their faces a 
veil, which was termed xaXwrrgov, or zuXvvrrga, and was not left of! in 
the presence of men till this time ; and hence some think that the bride 
was called nvfjcQri, asro rov *iov, (i.e. fgcoras,) <pu.ivi<r£ai, that being the first 
time she appeared in a public company unveiled. 3 It is in allusion to this 
custom that the poet speaks of Pluto's gifts to Proserpine, when she un- 
veiled herself, as we read in those verses of Euphorion, cited by the scho- 
liast upon Euripides: 4 

Tf pa irore Kpov'l6tjs iZpov ir6p: TitptTtQovttT) Pluto to Proserpine a present gave, 

Elvt ya^otj, St« wpirov 'oKcotTTiaaoBai. ZaeWe, When first she laid aside her maiden veil, 

VvpQi&lov OTrelpoto iraoaKklvovixa xaXvirrpay. And at the marriage show d herself uncjver'd. 

It is told of the sophist Hermocrates, in relation to this custom, that 
having a woman not very agreeable imposed upon him by Severus the 
Roman emperor, and being asked his avxxakwzrrr.oia,, when she took off 
her veil, he replied, lyxx^vrr-hix fAv olv roiuurw Aa^/Sa^v, it ivould he 
more proper to make her a present to keep her veil on, unless her face teas 
more agreeable. 



1 Vide Pollncem, iii. 3. He- > ta et ;»r*v> t a. rum in Npptuno. 

sychium Suid. Etvmolosr. Auc- 2 Suidas. 4 Phneiiissis. 

torem. Phavorin. &c. in v. iirai- 3 Phuruutus de Natura Deo- C Lycuxg. p. 48, edit. Paris. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 629 



The ceremonies of the Spartan marriages being different from all others, 
1 have reserved them for this place, and shall set them down in Plutarch's 
own words: 1 e In their marriages, the bridegroom carried off the bride by 
violence ; and she was never chosen in a tender age, but when she had 
arrived at full maturity. Then the woman that had the direction of the 
wedding, cut the bride's hair close to the skin, dressed her in man's 
clothes, laid her upon a mattress, and left her in the dark. The bride- 
groom, neither oppressed with wine nor enervated with luxury, but per- 
fectly sober, as having always supped at the common table, went in pri- 
vately, untied her girdle, and carried her to another bed. Having staid 
there a short time, he modestly retired to his usual apartment, to sleep 
with the other young men; and observed the same conduct afterwards, 
spending the day with his companions, and reposing himself with them in 
the night, nor even visiting his bride but with great caution and appre- 
hensions of being discovered by the rest of the family; the bride at the 
same time exerted all her art to contrive convenient opportunities for their 
private meetings. And this they did not for a short time only, but some 
of them even had children before they had an interview with their wives 
in the day time. This kind of commerce not only exercised their tem- 
perance and chastity, but kept their bodies fruitful, and the first ardour of 
their love fresh and unabated ; for as they were not satiated like those that 
are always with their wives, there still was place for unextinguished de- 
sire/ 2 



CHAP. XII. 



OF THEIR DIVORCES, ADULTERIES, CONCUBINES, AND HARLOTS. 



The Grecian laws concerning divorces were different: some permitted 
men to put away their wives on trifling occasions: the Cretans allowed 



1 Lycurg. p. 43, edit. Paris. 

2 It seems as if the institution 
of this extraordinary state were 
always to be at variance with 
good sense and good feeling : the 
law commanded a man to marry, 
and then public opinion forbade 
him to associate with his wife. 
The early meetings of the wed- 
ded pair were contrived with se- 
crecy, and abridged in their du- 
ration, lest the absence of the 
bridegroom from his usual oc- 
cupations and friends, should 
awaken a suspicion of its cause. 
When the course of true love 
does not run smooth, it is often 
most interesting in its adven- 
tures; in its alternations of hope 
and fear, in the tenderness i»f 
stolen meetings between parties 
engaged by affection, and yet se- 



parated by accident, or thwarted 
by design, in the bold dexterity 
of their interviews, or the strata- 
gems of their escape, in their de- 
tection, or in their success. But 
the romantic charm of these 
things is lost in their absurdity, 
when the marriage has been al- 
ready ordered by the law, per- 
mitted by the families, and so- 
lemnized by the individuals. 

Still, in the unions thus singu- 
larly arranged and conducted, as 
there was commonly less dispa- 
rity of years than was customary 
elsewhere, so there was more of 
mutual confidence and respect. — 
The men claimed no intellectual 
euperiority, and on the common 
level of patriotism they met as 
equals. For this, the strongest 
instincts and the rarest feelings 

3 g 3 



were so far subdued, that Spar- 
tan mothers have been known to 
slay their sons for cowardice, or 
to count, with satisfaction, the 
honourable wounds upon their 
corpses. The truly heroic pa- 
triotism of the mother of Brasi- 
das is admirably contrasted with 
this unnatural ferocity. He who 
communicated to her that gener- 
al's death, mixed commendation 
with condolence, by calling him 
the bravest of the Spartans. — 
*' Stranger," she replied, " my 
son was brave, but Sparta can 
boast of citizens still braver.'' 

These examples illustrate, 
perhaps, the best and the waist 
consequences produced by Spar- 
tan customs on the female mind 
and character.— Social Condition 
of Ancient Gretks, pp. 95— i)7. 



630 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



this to any man that was afraid of having too great a camber of children ; 
the Athenians likewise did it upon very slight grounds, but not without 
giving a bill, in which was contained the reason of their divorce, to be 
approved, if the party divorced made an appeal, by the chief magistrate. 1 
The Spartans, though marrying without much nicety in choice, seldom 
divorced their wives ; for we read that Lysander was fined by the magis- 
trates called ephori on that account: and though Aristo, one of their kings, 
put away his wife with the approbation of the city, yet that seems to have 
been done rather out of an earnest desire to have a son to succeed in his 
kingdom, which he could not expect by that woman, than according to the 
custom of his country. 2 But whatever liberty the men took, their wives 
were under a greater restraint; for it was extremely scandalous for a wo- 
man to depart from her husband: hence we find Medea 3 complaining of 
the hard fate of her sex, who had no remedy against the unkindness of 
men, but were first under the necessity of buying their husbands with large 
portions, and then of submitting to their ill usage without hope of redress: 



rw>al« ey ia/iiv idXiitraroy <pvr6v' 

Xloatv TrptaoOzi, SeoirOTriv tb (Tuniaroj 

K^j, T £o' ayiov /ni-yKTroy, 17 ko.kov XaBrlv, 
*H XP ,,ot6v^ ov yip bv*AmI$ aTraXXayai 

Thus is it, of all beings that have life 



And sense, we women are most wretched : first, 
With all our dearest treasures we must buy 
A husband, and in him receive a lord : 
A hardship this : a greater hardship yet 
Awaits us: here's the question, it this lord 
Prove gentle or a tyrant; if the worst, 
To disunite our nuptials hurts our fame, 
Nor from the husband may our sex withdraw 
The plighted hand. POTTER. 



The Athenians were somewhat more favourable to women, and allowed 
them to leave their husbands upon just occasions; but not without making 
appeal to the archon, and presenting him a bill of grievances with their 
own hands. Plutarch 4 has a story of Hipparcte. Alcibiades' wife, ' who/ 
he tells us, ' was a virtuous lady, and fond of her husband, but at last 
growing impatient of the injuries done to her bed by his continual enter- 
taining of courtezans, as well strangers as Athenians, she departed from 
him, and retired to her brother Callias' house. Alcibiades seemed not at 
all concerned at it, living on still in his former lewd course of life ; but 
the law requiring that she should deliver to the archon in person, and not 
by proxy, the instrument whereby she sued for a divorce, when, in obedi- 
ence to it, she presented herself before him, Alcibiades came in, took her 
away by force, and carried her home through the forum, no man daring 
to oppose him, or take her from him, and she continued with him till her 
death. Nor was this violence to be thought a crime; for the law, in 
making her who desires a divorce appear in public, seems to design that 
her husband should have an opportunity of discoursing with her, and of 
endeavouring to retain her.' Persons that divorced their wives were 
obliged to return their portions ; if they failed to do this, the Athenian 
Jaws obliged them to pay her nine oboli a month for support, for which 



1 Genial. Dier. iv. 8. 

2 Hc-roaotas, vi. 63. 



3 Euripid. Medea, ver. £30. 

4 Akibiade. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 631 



the woman's guardian was empowered to sue at the court kept in the 
Odeum. 1 It may be observed, lastly, that the terms expressing the sepa- 
ration of men and women from each other were different: men were said 
icrovip.'ffiiv, to dismiss their ivives y a&oXmtv, to loose them, from their obli- 
gation ; \x$a,\\iiv, to cast them out } hfrzpvuv, to send them away ; and 
?&$tiva.i, to put them away ; but wives, iaoXskrstv, to leave or depart from 
their husbands. 

It was not unusual to dissolve the marriage tie by consent of both par- 
ties ; when this was done, they were at liberty to dispose of themselves as 
they pleased in a second match; an instance of this we find in Plutarch, 
who reports, that when Pericles and his wife could not agree, and became 
weary of one another's company, he parted with her, (willing and consent- 
ing to it), to another man. 2 There is something more remarkable in the 
story of Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, who, falling desperately in love 
with Stratonice his mother-in-law, married her with his father's consent.3 
The Romans had the same custom, as appears from Cato's parting with 
his wife Martia to Hortensius, which, as Strabo assures us, was a thing 
not unusual, but agreeable to the practice of the old Romans, 4 and some 
other countries. 

What may appear more strange is, that it was customary in some parts 
of Greece to borrow one another's wives. At Athens, Socrates lent his 
wife Xantippe to Alcibiades, 5 and the laws of that city permitted heiresses, 
when they found their husbands deficient, to make use of his nearest rela- 
tion. Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, 6 thought that the best expedient 
against jealousy was to allow men the freedom of imparting the use of their 
wives to whom they should think fit, that so they might have children by 
them: this he accounted a very commendable piece of liberality, and 
laughed at those who thought the violation of their bed such an insupport- 
able affront as to revenge it by murders and cruel wars. He had a good 
opinion of that man, who, being old, and having a young wife, recom- 
mended some virtuous and handsome young man, that she might have a 
child by him to inherit the good qualities of such a father, and who loved 
this child as tenderly as if begotten by himself. On the other hand, an 
honest man who loved a married woman, upon account cf her modesty 
and the comely features of her children, might with good grace beg of her 
husband his wife's conversation, that he might have a scion of so good'y a 
tree to transplant into his own garden ; for Lycurgus was persuaded that 
children were not so much the property of their parents as of the whole 
commonwealth, and therefore would not have them begotten by the first 
comers, but by the best men that could be found. Thus much, says Plu- 
tarch, is certain, that so long as these ordinances were observed, the women 
were so far from that scandalous liberty, which has since been objected to 



1 Demosthenes Orat. in Neee- 
rvjn. Vide csput praecedens. 
i Pericle. 



3 Plutarchus Demctrio, Vale- 
rius Maxioius. v. 7. 

4 Ge^raph. viL 



5 Tertul. Apolog. cap. 39. 
Plut. Lycurgo. 



632 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



them, that they knew not what the name of adultery meant. We are 
further told by others, that strangers, as well as citizens of Sparta, were 
allowed the same freedom with their wives, provided they were handsome 
men, and likely to beget lusty and vigorous children: 1 yet we find their 
kings were exempt from this law, that the royal blood might be preserved 
unmixed, and the government remain in the same lineal descent. 

Notwithstanding this liberty, which was founded upon mutual consent, 
they accounted all other adulteries the most heinous crimes in the world, 
and whilst they kept to their ancient laws, were wholly strangers to them. 2 
Geradas, a primitive Spartan, being asked by a stranger, what punishment 
their law had appointed for adulterers ? replied, there were no adulterers 
in his country : but, returned the stranger, suppose there ivere one, and 
the crime ivere proved against him, how would you punish him ? He 
answered, that the offender must pay to the plaintiff a bull, with a neck so 
long as that he might reach over the mountain Taygetus, and drink of the 
river Eurotas that runs on the other side. The man, surprised at this, 
said, why, it is impossible to find such a bull. Geradas smilingly replied, 
it is just as possible to find an adulterer in Spaiia. 

The punishments inflicted upon adulterers in Greece were of various 
sorts. 

To begin with the heroic ages: if the rapes of women may be allowed 
room in this place, we shall find that they were revenged by many cruel 
and bloody wars. According to Herodotus they gave rise to the constant 
enmity that existed for many ages between Greece and Asia, and which 
was not allayed till the latter was conquered, and became subject to the 
former. 3 Lycophron agrees with Herodotus, and affirms that the rape of 
Io by the Phoenicians incensed the Greeks against the inhabitants of Asia; 
and, after frequent injuries committed, and wars waged on both sides, they 
reduced the Asian empire under the dominion of the Europeans under 
Alexander of Macedon. 4 

But however the truth of this may be questioned, there being in those 
early ages no distinction of the world into Greeks and barbarians, nor any 
common association of those amongst themselves, or against the others; 
yet we hare a remarkable instance of a long and bloody war, occasioned 
by Paris' rape of Helen. What sentence the heroic ages passed upon 
adultery may appear, from the revenge of Atreus upon his brother 
Thyestes, who was entertained at a banquet with the flesh of his own son, 
for defiling Aerope, Atreus' wife ; and other examples of the cruelty of the 
men of those times, against such as committed adultery with their wives 
er other near relations ; but more clearly from the punishments inflicted by 
laws or magistrates upon such offenders, who were usually stoned to death ; 
hence Hector, in Homer, tells Paris his crime in stealing another man's 
wife deserves no less a punishment than Xaivo; x l<7 ™> a coai °f sione > 



1 Nicolaus d* Moribus ap u d StobaBum. 

2 Pint. loc. cit. 



3 Lib. i. initio. 

4 Cassandra, vcr. 1291. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. G33 



which, if he had received his demerits, he should have put on, meaning 
that nothing but this death could expiate so black an action. 1 

The same punishment seems to have been customary in more eastern 
countries; the Jews were particularly obliged to inflict it both on men and 
women, as appears from the express words of their law. 2 Rich adulterers 
were sometimes allowed to redeem themselves with money, which was 
called poffcuyoia.) and was paid to the husband of the adulteress: hence 
Mars being taken with Venus, Homer's gods all agreed that he must pay 
his fine to Vulcan. 3 Nor would Vulcan consent to set his prisoner at 
liberty till Neptune had engaged for the payment of it. 4 

It appears from the same place to have been customary for the woman's 
father to return all the dowry he had received of her husband: and hence 
Vulcan threatens to secure both Mars and Venus in chains till that was 
done. 5 

Some think that this sum was refunded by the adulterer, because it was 
reasonable he should bear the woman's father harmless, since it appears 
not that the fine imposed on Mars was a distinct sum; for upon Neptune's 
becoming surety for it, Vulcan loosed him from his bonds without farther 
scruple. 

Another punishment was putting out the eyes of adulterers, which 
seems to have been no less ancient than the former, and may be thought 
just and reasonable, as depriving the offender of that member which first 
admits the incentives of lust. Fabulous writers tell us that Orion hav- 
ing defiled Candiope, or Merope, had his eyes put out by (Enopion, the 
lady's husband, or, according to others, her father. 6 Phoenix, the guar- 
dian of Achilles, suffered the same punishment for defiling Clytia, his 
father's concubine. 7 Homer indeed has no mention of this punishment, 
but only informs us that his father having discovered him, prayed that he 
might never have any children, 8 which Tzetzes 9 thinks is meant by losing 
his eyes, because children are dearer to parents, and afford them greater 
comfort than their most necessary members; but this interpretation is 
forced, and contrary to the sense of mythologists, ancient as well as mo- 
dern, who relate the story agreeably to the literal meaning of Lycophron's 
words. The Locrians observed this custom in later ages, being obliged 
thereto by Zaleucus their lawgiver, whose rigour in executing this law is 
very remarkable; for, having caught his own son in adultery, he resolved 
to deprive him of sight, and remained a long time inexorable, notwith- 
standing the whole city was willing to remit the punishment, and request- 
ed him to spare the youth: at length, unable to resist the people's impor- 
tunity, he mitigated the sentence, and redeemed one of his son's eyes by 
another of his own, 10 so at once becoming a memorable example of justice 
and mercy. 

Z Iliad, v'. 4 O.lvss. S'. 3.")4. 7 Apollodorus, iii. : Cass.indr. 

1 Deut. clmp. xxn.. b Ver. 317. ver. 421. S Iliad. 4.V>. 

3 Odyss. 5'. 320, ubi Grams 6 Notalis Comes Mytholog. 9 In Lycophron. loc. rit;it. 
Scr.ol. consuier.dus, Servius in .'Ene'id, "~ 10 Valerius Slaxiimzs, vi. b. 



634 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES, 



At Gortyn, in Crete, there was another method of punishing adulter- 
ers; they were covered with wool, an emblem of the softness and effemi- 
nacy of their dispositions, and in that dress carried through the city to the 
magistrate's house, who sentenced them to ccn^ix, ignominy, whereby they 
were at once deprived of all their privileges, and of their share in the man- 
agement of public business. 1 

If credit may be given to Pausanias, 2 the first who made a law and con- 
stituted punishments against adulterers was Hyettus, an inhabitant of Ar- 
gos, who, having caught Molurus, the son of Arisbas, too familiar with his 
wife, slew him, and fled to Orchomenus, the son of Minyas, then king of 
that city of Boeotia which bore his name; the king received him kindly, 
and gave him part of his territories, where he called a village Hyettus, 
after his own name, and established severe laws against adultery. 
. The Athenian punishments seem to have been arbitrary, and left to the 
discretion of the supreme magistrate; hence we find Hippomenes, one of 
the posterity of Codrus, and archon of Athens, pronouncing a very odd 
sentence upon his own daughter Limone, and the man caught in adultery 
with her: he yoked them to a chariot till the man died, and afterwards 
shut up his daughter with a horse, and so starved her to death. 3 Some 
time after, Draco being invested with power to enact laws, left adulterers 
at the mercy of any man that caught them in the act, who had free license 
to dismember, murder, or treat them in what other manner he pleased, 
without being called to account for it; which punishment was the same 
that had been before appointed for this crime by Hyettus, 4 and was after- 
wards continued by Solon. 5 Several other punishments were ordered by 
Solon against the same crime, when proved by evidence in lawful judica- 
ture. A man that ravished a free woman was fined 100 drachms; one 
that enticed her twenty, 6 or, as some say, 200, it being a greater injury 
to the husband and family of a woman to corrupt her mind than her body; 
but he that forced a free virgin was to pay 1000, and whoever deflowered 
one was obliged to marry her. 7 If, however, the virgin or her mother 
had accepted any present from her gallant, he was not obliged to make her 
his wife, but she was looked on as a common strumpet. 8 When a man 
was thrown into prison on suspicion of adultery, he was allowed to preier 
his appeal to the magistrates called thesmotheta), who referred the cause 
to proper judges ; and these, in case the crime was proved against him, 
had power to lay on him, with the exception of death, any punishment 
they pleased. 9 There was another remarkable punishment for adulterers, 
called 'Tru^uriXfjt.o; or potipuv'tbucri:, the part being put for the whole; quan- 
do nimirum mcmbri virilis pilis avulsis, cineribus ardeniibus pars istcv 
adspcrgebatur, ct rapum, vcl midlus, aid quidvis simile in amivi adidtcr- 
orum, wide in postcrum, tvtfoaxroi diccbantur . 10 But poor men only were 

1 Ccelius Ilhodiginus, xxi. 4f>. 4 Pauson. loc. tit. D^niosth. in 7 Plant. Aulularia. 

2 BoDOticis, pp. 597, MS, ed. Aristocratem. 8 Terent. Adelph. act. iii. SC. 2. 
Hanov. 5 Plutarch. Sol. Lysias Orat. 9 Demosth. in Neaeram. 

'3 Heraclides de Polit. Athen. (i Plutarch, loc. cii. 10 Juvenal. Sat x. 317. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 635 

thus dealt with, the rich were allowed to escape, on payment of a fine. 
Women thus offending were treated with great severity. 1 If any per- 
son detected his sister or daughter, whilst unmarried, in this crime, he 
was allowed, by the laws of Solon, to sell her for a slave. Adulteresses 
vere never after permitted to adorn themselves with fine clothes ; and if 
they appeared to do so, were liable to have them torn off by any one that 
met them, and likewise to be beaten, though not so as to be killed or 
disabled : the same liberty was permitted to any person that found them 
in the temples, which were thought to be polluted by the admission of 
persons so infamous and detestable. Lastly, their husbands, though wil- 
ling, were forbidden to cohabit any longer with them, on pain of artfxtee, 
ignominy ;z and persons that prostituted women were adjudged to die. 3 

The Greeks appear to have had a more favourable opinion of concubin- 
age ; for they were allowed, and that without scandal, to keep as many 
concubines as they pleased; these they styled vukXazihs' they were 
usually women taken captives, or bought with money, and w r ere always 
inferior to lawful wives, whose dowiy, noble parentage, or some other ex- 
cellency, gave them pre-eminence. There is continual mention of them 
in Homer. Achilles had his Briseis, and in her absence Diomede ; Pa- 
troclus his Iphis; Menelaus and Agamemnon, and, to mention no more, 
the wisest, gravest, and eldest of all, Phoenix and Nestor, had their 
women. Nor is it to be wondered at that heathens should run into such 
excesses, when the Hebrews, and those the most renowned for piety, such 
as Abraham and David, allowed themselves the same liberty. Yet the 
Grecian wives always envied their husbands this freedom, looking on it as 
an encroachment upon their privileges: hence Laertes, in Homer, though 
he had a great respect for his slave Euryclea, never took her to his bed for 
fear of his wife's displeasure. 4 The mother of Phoenix persuaded him to 
defile his father's concubine, to free her of so troublesome a rival ; 5 and, 
not to multiply instances, Clytsemnestra, having slain her husband Aga- 
memnon, wreaked her malice upon Cassandra his concubine. 6 

Harlots were no less common than concubines, being tolerated in most 
of the Grecian and other commonwealths. Nor was the use of them 
thought repugnant to good manners, the wisest of the heathen sages being 
of this mind. Solon allowed common whores to go publicly to those who 
hired them, 7 and encouraged the Athenian youth to indulge in occasional 
intercourse, to hinder them from making attempts upon the wives and 
daughters of his citizens. 8 

Cato, the Roman censor, was of the same opinion, as appears from the 
well known story, that meeting a young nobleman of Rome coming out 
of the common stew, he commended him for diverting himself in that 
place. 9 

1 Schol. Aristoph. ad Plut. pp. 161, 162. 7 Plutarch us Solone. 
art. i. seen. 2. 4 Odyss. a'. 433. 8 Philemnn Delphis. 

2 Demosth. Orat. in Neaeram, 5 Iliad. t '. 447. 9 Horat. i. Sat, ii. 31, 

3 Vide Leges Atticas ; fine i, 6 Seuec. Agamem ver, 995. 



636 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



I forbear to mention other instances, the testimony of Cicero being suf- 
ficient to confirm what I have said, when he challenges all persons to name 
a time in which men were either reproved for this practice, or not coun- 
tenanced in it. 1 Nor can it be wondered at that heathens allowed themselves 
this liberty, when the Jews looked on it as lawful ; they were indeed foi - 
bidden to commit adultery, and fornication also was prohibited under se- 
vere penalties; but these prohibitions 2 were thought to concern only 
women of their own nation, as their law did not extend to foreigners ; and 
we find accordingly that public stews were openly tolerated amongst them, 
and that women residing there were taken into the protection of the go- 
vernment, as appears from the two harlots that contended about a child, 
and were heard in open court by king Solomon. 3 But the Jewish women 
were not permitted to prostitute their bodies; and therefore strange or 
foreign women are sometimes taken for harlots, as when Solomon advises 
his son to embrace * wisdom and understanding, that they may keep 
him from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with 
her words; 4 and to arm him against the allurements of harlots, he 
tells him ' the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her 
mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp 
as a two-edged sword/ 5 The Athenians, in this as in many other 
things, had the same custom with the Jews ; for though severe penalties 
were laid on those who defiled women that were citizens of Athens, yet 
foreigners had the liberty of keeping public stews, and their harlots, like 
those among the Jews, were, for that reason, called |sv«/, strange women. 

The harlots of the primitive ages were not so wholly divested of modesty 
as afterwards, for they never went abroad barefaced, but, as was the cus- 
tom of other women, covered themselves with veils or masks ; nor were 
they allowed, as some think, to prostitute themselves within the cities ; G 
this custom seems to have been derived from the eastern nations : for we 
find Tamar, in Genesis, 7 when she had a mind to appear like a harlot, 
' covering herself with a veil, and sitting in an open place by the way to 
Timnath but it may be, her design in placing herself there was only that 
she might meet with Judah or his son, whom she desired to entice to her 
embraces. We find, however, that in after ages, when harlots were cer- 
tainly permitted to reside in cities, they used to post themselves in the 
highways, as places of resort. In Solomon's reign they frequented the 
cities. 8 Yet some ages after, when it is certain they were no more re- 
strained from abiding in cities than in his days, they resorted to places of 
general concourse out of them, such as highways, especially where several 
ways met, and had tents erected to wait in for custom. 9 At Athens they 
chiefly frequented the Ceramicus, Sciros, and the old forum, in which 
stood the temple of Venus JJccvoyipo;, where Solon permitted them to pros- 

1 Orat, pro M. Caelio. 5 Proverb, v. 3, 4. 8 Proverb, vii. 11 ; Ezek. xyi, 

2 Grot, in Matthaei, v. %7. 6 Chrysippus citante Grotio in 25 ; ibid. com. 31. 

3 1 Reg. Hi. 16. Mat. v. a7. 9 Proverb, vii. 10. 

4 Proverb, vii, 4, 5. 7 Cap. xxxviii. 15. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



637 



titute themselves. They also frequented very much a certain forum hi 
that part of the haven Piraeeus which was called trroa. puzox, the long por- 
tico, the parts whereof are thus described by Julius Pollux, lilyfict, 



were commonly great numbers of stews. 

In some places harlots were distinguished from other women by their 
apparel. 1 What sort of habit this was is not certain ; but if the Athenian 
custom was in this, as in many other things, taken from the Jews, we 
may conclude that their whores wore flowered garments; for the Athe- 
nian lawgiver thinking it necessary to distinguish women of virtuous con- 
versation from harlots by some open and visible mark, ordered that the 
former should never appear abroad but in grave and modest apparel, and 
that the latter should always wear flowered garments. Hence Clemens 
of Alexandria has remarked, that as fugitive slaves are known by their 
stigmata, ovrco <rhv f^ai^aXilcc ^iUvvn ra, a,v^itr/u.a,7a, so flowered garments 
are an indication of a harlot? The same law was enacted among the 
Locrians by Zaleucus, 3 and was also observed at Syracuse ; 4 for, though 
harlots were tolerated in the Grecian commonwealth, yet they were gen- 
erally infamous, and consisted chiefly of captives and other slaves. Hence 
it was forbidden by the laws of Athens to derive the name of a harlot from 
any of the sacred games, as Athenssus hath observed from Polemo's de- 
scription of the Acropolis ; whence that author seems to wonder how it 
came to pass that a certain harlot was called Nemea, from the Nemean 
games. 5 

Corinth is remarkable for being a nursery of harlots, there being in that 
city a temple of Venus, where the readiest method of gaining the favour 
of the goddess was to present her with beautiful damsels, who from that 
time were maintained in the temple, and prostituted themselves for hire. 
We are told by Strabo, 6 that there were no fewer than a thousand there at 
one time. Hence xogivfauguv, to act the Corinthian, is irmozvuv, to com- 
mit fornication. A«<r/3/a£s/y, and (pstviKifytv, are used in the same 
sense, the Lesbians and Phoenicians being infamous for this vice. As<r- 
fiiccguv also signifies an impure way of kissing, whence it is interpreted by 
the same author, #gog «y$g« erroftariuuv, and Xarfiiug is expounded by \ua~ 
xtZe-rgiu, a harlot. The Corinthians were a genteeler sort of harlots, and 
admitted none to their embraces but such as were able to deposit a consi- 
derable sum. 7 This gave rise to the proverb, 



Some rather refer it to the famous Corinthian strumpet Lais, and others 
assign other reasons. Their occupation indeed was very lucrative, so that 





Non euivis hominum contingit adire Corinthum. To Corinth 



To Corinth every person cannot sail. 



1 Prorerb. vii. 10. 

2 Paedatr. iii. 2. 

3 Diodor. SicuL 



4Athen. Deipnosoph. xii. G Lib. viii. 

5 Vide Archajolog. hujus i. de 7 Aristoph. Plut. act. i. sc. 2. 
Servis. 



3 H 



638 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



those whom beauty and talents recommended frequently raised great 
estates. A remarkable instance of this we have in Phryne, who offered 
to rebuild the walls of Thebes, when demolished by Alexander, on condi- 
tion that the Thebans would engrave on them this inscription: 

AAESANAP02 ANESKA^EN, ANE2TH2E AE <£PTNH 'H e ETAIPA: 
These walls were demolished by Alexander, but raised by Phryne the 
harlot. 

To render their conversation more agreeable to men of learning and 
rank, they frequently employed their vacant hours in the study of mathe- 
matics, and other sciences, frequenting the schools and company of philo- 
sophers. Aspasia, the beloved mistress of Pericles, used to converse with 
Socrates, and attained to so much eminence in learning, that many of the 
Athenians resorted to her on account of her rhetorical and conversational 
powers. The most grave and serious amongst them frequently went to 
visit her, and carried their wives with them, as it were to lecture, to be 
instructed by her conversation. Pericles himself consulted her in the 
management of public affairs ; and after his death, one Ly sides, a silly 
and obscure clown, by associating with her, became a chief man at Athens. 1 
Several other examples of this sort occur in authors as of Archianassa the 
Colophonian, who was Plato's mistress; Hepyllis, who conversed with 
Aristotle till his death, and bore him a son called Nicomachus ; lastly, to 
mention no more, Leontium, who frequented the gardens of Epicurus, 
there prostituting herself to the philosophers, especially to Epicurus. 2 



CHAP. XIII. 

OF THE CONFINEMENT AND EMPLOYMENTS OF THEIR WOMEN. 

The barbarous nations, and amongst them the Persians especially, 3 were 
naturally jealous, clownish, and morose towards their women, not only 
their wives, but their slaves and concubines, whom they kept so strictly, 
that no one ever saw them except their own family ; when at home they 
were cloistered up ; when they took a journey they were carried in coaches 
or wagons, close covered at the top and on all sides: such a carriage 
was prepared for Themistocles when he fled into Persia, to keep him se- 
cret ; so that the men who conveyed him told all they met and discoursed 
with upon the road, that they were carrying a young Grecian lady out of 
Ionia to a nobleman at court. 

From the manner in which Plutarch relates this story, it is evident that 
neither he nor his countrymen the Greeks, approved of the severity used 
by barbarous nations towards their women ; yet they themselves, though 



1 Plutarchus Pericle, 



2 Atheneeus, xiii, 5, sub finem. 



3 Plut, Themistocte. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE, 639 



remitting somewhat of the Persian rigour, kept their women under strict 
discipline, and were no less excelled by the Romans in this respect, than 
they themselves surpassed the barbarians ; for, whereas the Roman women 
were allowed to be present at public entertainments, and to converse with 
the guests, and were complimented by their husbands with the best rooms 
in their houses, those of Greece rarely or never appeared in strange com- 
pany but were confined to the most remote parts of the house.i 

For this purpose the Grecian houses were usually divided into two 
parts, in which the men and women had distinct mansions assigned. The 
part in which the men lodged was towards the gate, and was called av^v, 
or avbguuns. The part assigned for the women was termed -yvvuixcov, 
yvva.ixsovir'/i;, or yi/va.izeov7ri$ ; it was the remotest part of the house, and 
behind the ubxh, before which there were also other parts, called tfgedopos, 
and tfgoauktov. Thus, in Homer, the sons of Priam were all placed by 
themselves, and separated from his daughters, who lived in more remote 
places.2 The women's chambers were called riytoi SaXa/aoi, as being 
placed at the top of the house ; for the women's lodgings were usually in 
the uppermost rooms, 3 which was another means of keeping them from 
company ; hence Helen is said to have had her chamber in the loftiest part 
of the house : 4 

'H o' elj vf6po<pov $d\a/j.ov kIs ila ywaucav. Into the upper chamber Helen went. 

Penelope appears to have lodged in such another place, to which she 
ascended by a xAijaag: 

~K.XCfj.aKa <3' i^^Xriv rcartpriaaro olo 66/j.oio. By a long ladder came down from her room. 

The word signifies a staircase, but in this place may as well denote a lad- 
der, which seems to have been used in those days, when architecture was 
not much understood. 5 

These upper rooms, especially at LacedEemon, were sometimes called 
ua,, ao'iu, or v<7igtoc&, which words being distinguished only by the accent, 6 
(the use of which seems not to have been known by the ancient Greeks,) 
from aet, eggs, are thought by some to have ministered occasion to the in- 

1 Cornel. Nepos, praefat. in ferently according to the mean- andria, and teacher of Aristar- 
Vitas excellent, lmperatorum. ing. chus] ; the use of them, however, 

2 Iliad. 242. The marking of the accent is did not become general, nor were 

3 Eustath. in loc. cit. p. 409, therefore a consequence of re- they adopted in writing upon 
ed. Basil. finement in grammar and ortho- stone [they are not even found 

4 Iliad, y'. 423. graphy, as, for example, in the in the cursive writing of the pa- 

5 Eurip. Phceniss. ver. 101. French tongue, and is especially pyrus-roll of 104 B. C, of which 

6 Accentuation, in its own na- useful when, as in the case of Boeckh made known the expla- 
ture, is coeval with speech, and the Greek language, the original nation in 1821, nor in any one 
grows together with it. Exist- form of the tongue is extinct Greek inscription. The trick 
ing, however, only on the lips, among the people. played with a verse of Euripides, 
and addressed to the ears of a The Greek accent is mentioned written and accented, on a pillar 
people, it is not originally de- even by Aristotle, and it seems, at Pompeii, will not now be ad- 
noted by marks. In the monu- that so early as his time the. duced by any one as a proof of 
mental writings of the Greeks works of Homer began to be the earlier use of the accents], 
there is as little appearance of thus marked. Method and ex- although they appear in the ear- 
uccents, as of the German ac- actness in applying the marks liest MSS., probably of the fourth 
cents in German writing, in were introduced at Alexandria, and fifth centuries after Christ, 
which, for instance, no sign is about two hundred years B. C. —Thiersch's Greek Grammat\by 
used to show that we should pro- by.the grammarian Aristophanes. Prof '. Sandford. p. 86. 
tiouuce enterbeten and not enter- [He was a native of Byzantium, See also Foster's Essay on 
beten, or that we should accentu- a scholar of Callimachus and Accent and Cuantity, chap. vi. 
ale um/uhren and umJShren dif- Eratosthenes, librarian at Alex - 

3 h 2 



640 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ventors of fables, to feign that Castor, Pollux, Helena, and Clytaemnestra, 
were hatched out of eggs, when they were born in one of these lofts or 
upper chambers. 

The women were strictly confined to their lodgings, especially those 
who had no husbands, whether virgins or widows, 1 whereof the former 
were most severely looked to, as having less experience in the world. 
Their apartment, which was called <?ra.ofavu<j, was usually well secured 
with locks and bolts; hence Agamemnon, in Euripides, desiring Clyteem- 
nestra to go home and look after the virgins, who, he tells her, were by no 
means to be left in the house alone, receives this answer: 2 

'Oxvpolat irapQsvwai (ppovpoZvrat *aAfi»y . They're close kept up in their well-guarded lodgings. 

Sometimes they were so strictly confined, that they could not pass from 
one part of the house to another without leave, hence Antigone, in the 
same poet, obtains her mother's leave to go to the top of the house to view 
the Argian army that besieged Thebes ; notwithstanding which her guar- 
dian searches the passage, lest any person should have a sight of her, 
which, he says, would be a reflection upon her honour and his own fide- 
lity. 3 

New-married women were under almost as strict a confinement as vir- 
gins, and were thought, by appearing out of doors, to endanger their re- 
putation. 4 

According to Menander, 5 the door of the aukri was the farthest a married 
woman ought to go: 

7n?paj yap aCXtoj Svpa The laws do not permit a free-born bride 

'E\ev9ipa yuvatKl vbv6h<,ot olwi'ay. Farther than to the outer door to go. 

But when they had once given birth to a child, they were no longer sub- 
ject to so rigorous a confinement ; whence pvirng, a mother, is by some 
derived a<zro rov vYioiia^oci, from her being no longer under keepers ; 6 yet 
what freedom they then enjoyed was owing wholly to the kindness of their 
husbauds; for such as were jealous kept their wives in perpetual imprison- 
ment. 7 Even if husbands were of a better temper, it was looked on as 
very indecent for women to gad abroad : hence we find several proverbial 
sayings and allusions, intimating the duty of wives to stay at home, 8 such as 

'Ev6bv yvvaixwv Kal vap' ol*«raty Xo'yoj. Women should keep within doors, and there talk. 

To the same purpose was the emblem of Phidias, representing Venus 
treading upon a tortoise, 9 which carries its house upon its back. 

When they went abroad, or appeared in public, they covered their faces 
with veils ; as we find of Penelope, when she descended from her apart- 
ment to converse with her suitors. 10 The veil was so thin that they might 
see through it, which appears from these words of Iphigenia: 11 

'Eyd* ie Xhtttmv hjMfia 6<.a K/i\vnfjatTwv But o'er mine eyes the veil's fine texture spread, 
*Ex»v<r\ &te\tpbv tovtov clk6fj.r)v x e P°^"i This brother in my hands, who now is lost, 
'Of pvv fi\a>A«y. I saw but clasped not. 



1 Harpocration. 6 Etymolog. Auctor. 9 Plutarchus de Prascept. Cbn- 

2 Iphigen. in Aulid. ver. 739. 7 Aristoph. Thesmophor. p. nnb. 

3Eurip\d. Phoeniss ver. 88. 774, ed. Amstelod. 10 Kom Odyss. 208. 

4Eurip. Andromaclie, ver. 876. 8 Eustaih. in Ili;id. i. ex Euri- 11 Euripid. Iphigen. Tiiur. ver. 

3 Stob. Serm. lxxii. pide. p. 429, ed. Bus. 373. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 641 



To prevent all private assignations, Solon enacted that no wife or matron 
(for virgins were always strictly confined) should go from home with more 
than three garments, or carry with her a larger quantity of meat and drink 
than could be purchased for one obolus, or with a basket of more than a 
cubit in length. He farther ordered, that she should not travel in the 
night without a lighted torch before her chariot. Afterwards, it was de- 
creed, at the instance of Philippides, that no woman should appear in 
public undressed, under the penalty of paying 1000 drachms. This law 
was carefully put in execution by the officers called yvvcctzovo/xoi, and yv- 
veuxoxofffAof and a tablet, containing an account of the mulcts thus incurred 
was publicly exposed upon a plane tree (vrXciroivos) in the Ceramicus. 1 * 

It was likewise customaiy for women to have attendants, 2 who seem to 
have been women of age and gravity. These women not only attended 
their ladies when they went abroad, but kept them company at home, and 
had the care of their education when young, and were therefore called 
<rgo<poi. Nor were women only appointed to this charge ; for Antigone, in 
the forecited tragedy of Euripedes, has an old man for her governor. It 
was likewise customary to commit women to eunuchs, who performed all 
the offices of maids, and were usually entertained by persons of quality. 3 

The first that made eunuchs was Semiramis. 4 The barbarous nations 
were in general much fonder of them than the Greeks, 5 who looked upon 
it as an inhuman piece of cruelty, thus to mutilate man. Phocylides has 
left a particular caution against it: 6 

M'//S* ocu troudoyovov trorl ri^viiv aeoivu. zovgov. 

The primitive ages used their women agreeably to the simplicity of 
their manners; they accustomed them to draw water, to keep sheep, and 
to feed cows or horses. The rich and noble were taken up with such em- 
ployments as well as those of inferior rank. Rebecca, the daughter of 
Bethuel, Abraham's brother, carried a pitcher, and drew water ; 7 Rachel, 
the daughter of Laban, kept her father's sheep ;8 Zipporah, with her six 
sisters, had the care of their father Jethro's flocks, who was a prince, or, 
which in those times was an honour scarce inferior, priest of Midian. 9 
The same may be observed of Andromache, the wife of Hector. 10 

J Athenasus, vi. 9. Pollux, viii, manners : they are curious. The dignified and mild. Helen does 

tf ""ychius, voce TrXdravos. part which princes and princesses not retire when strangers are in- 

-Lustathms in Iliad. take in preparing them indicates troduced to Menelaus, and Hector 

2 Horn. Odyss. a period of simplicity ; some oc- (11. vi. 442. Od. ii. 101; and 

3 Terentu Eunuch, ac. i. sc. 2. cupations, indeed, of these noble xix. 146: and xxi. 323.) himself 

4 Ammianus Marcell. Hist, ladies, (II. viii. 188.) such as pays a deferential regard to the 
X1V - feeding the horses of their lords, opinion of the sex collectively. 

5 Philostratus Vit. Apollonii bathing their guests, (Od. iii. The passion of love in Homer's 
eSr^iiy* 464.) and carrying linen to the heroes is, indeed, far removed 
5 y,' " 5 - . river t0 De washed, (Od. vi. 59-) from. that purity, sentiment, and 
7Gen,xxiv,15, may offend the delicacy of mo- individuality, which was the 
~r 1, ' xxix, 6. dern days : still females at this pride and the virtue of the 
jj u ' 'Vi-^j' time Seem t0 Iiave mixed more knights of chivalry : but it non- 

1U Horn. Iliad. 185. In freely, and yet more modestly, in tained many of the elements 

the Homeric poems feasts are the business and amusements of which constitute the happiness of 

described with a frequency and of social life than they did when domestic life ; and is immeasur- 

minuteness, more tolerable in Greece was more polished and ably better than the same passion 

the original than in any less refined. (Od. vii. 67 and 71. in a later age, when its root 

sonorous or dignified language ; and vi. 2/6 ) Penelope appears was planted in intense seltish- 

but as illustrations of ancient among the suitors with authority ness, its growth distorted by an 
3 H 3 



642 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The most common employments of women were spinning, weaving, and 
making all sorts of embroidery and needle work. So constantly were they 
occupied in these businesses, that most houses, where there was any num- 
ber of women, had rooms set apart for this end, which seem to have been 
near the women's apartments, if not the same ; for Pollux, enumerating 
the different rooms in houses, after he has mentioned yvvatxiTov, presently 
adds, IffToJv raXutriov^yh, oixo$ t &C. 1 



absurd policy, and when its fruit 
was, what might be naturally 
expected, sensuality, gross, odi- 
ous and universal Social Con- 

diion of the Ancient Greeks, p. 
38. Ox. 1832. 

1 In Athens, from the time of 
Pericles, there might be said to 
be three distinct races of beings; 
men, women, and what, for want 
of a more appropriate name, we 
must at present call courtezans. 
In this division of the sex, to the 
first portion were consigned, 
with the usunl Athenian love of 
contrast, retirement, constraint, 
ignorance, and legal respect ; to 
the second, freedom, education, 
accomplishments, and contempt. 

Of the first and better sort of 
women, we have not the means 
of gathering any thing more than 
a mere negative kno wledge. But 
it is the institutions of their coun- 
try which have left so much ta- 
lent in abeyance. The best wo- 
man, says Thucydides, in the 
true spirit of an Athenian, is she 
of whom least is said either in 
the way of good or harm. The 
greatest ornament to a woman, 
the tragic theatre proclaimed, 
is silence. ' My wife abroad '.' 
cried the comic theatre, in the 
language of common life; 
4 s'death and furies, what does 
she from home?' 

Had home been the scene of 
complete dominion, unbounded 
sway might have compensated 
for the ab ence of other privi- 
leges ; but whatever was the au- 
thority vested in the mistress of 
a family over the numerous 
slaves, who composed an Athe- 
nian establishment, the utmost 
deference which she exacted from 
them, was only a pattern to her- 
self of the submission which she 
was bound to pay to her imperi- 
ous lord. 

Such were the virtues incul- 
cated on Grecian women. The 
admonitions recommending pri- 
vacy and retirement were receiv- 
ed with so much docility, that, 
but for a little treatise left us by 
Xenophon, it might almost be 
thought that the wish, of the tra- 
gic misogynist had actually been 
accomplished, that a complete 
annihilation had fallen upon the 
female sex, and that heaven had 
found out some means of con- 
tmuing the human race without 
their intervention. 

Socrates, it appears from this 
interesting little work, had heard 



much talk in Athens of one Isco- 
machus. Men, women, citizens 
and strangers, all agreed in opin- 
ion that this person (would that 
to his other merits, he had added 
a name somewhat more eupho- 
nious !) was a perfect gentleman. 
The character was by no means 
common in Athens, and to a phi- 
losopher, like Socrates, every 
peculiarity in the species was of 
course an object of curiosity and 
speculation. He accordingly 
lies in wait for an opportunity 
of conversing with this mirror of 
gentility, and a lucky accident at 
last throws him upon the object 
of his search. To accost him, to 
address him by name, and in a 
moment to be putting questions, 
which it might be supposed a 
long acquaintance only could 
have justified, were either traits 
of character peculiar to Socrates, 
or belonged to that republican 
freedom of speech which over- 
leaps the fences of modern po- 
liteness and reserve. The con- 
versation therefore soon slips in- 
to the channel into which the 
philosopher wished to direct it, 
— viz. the domestic establish- 
ment of Iscomachus. The an- 
swers elicited give us more 
knowledge on the subject of fe- 
male education than any other 
work of antiquity with which we 
are acquainted. It appears from 
the dialogue that the lady of this 
Athenian with the hard name 
was barely fifteen when she took 
upon herself the duties of a mis- 
tress of a family; that till the 
time of her marriage, she had 
lived under a surveillance which 
the severity of a nunnery could 
hardly exceed; the organs of 
sight, hearing and speech hav- 
ing been strictly restrained, and 
the whole care of her friends, 
as she ingenuously confesses to 
her husband, confined to letting 
her see as little, hear as little, 
and ask questions as little as 
possible. 

A young person, whose educa- 
tion had been thus negative, was 
not likely to bring with her a 
dowry of many accomplishments, 
and the merest boarding-school 
girl will accordingly hear with 
contempt, that all the qualifica- 
tions of this promising bride con- 
sisted in being able to make a 
vest when the materials were 
put into her hands, and to over- 
look her maid- servants when 
they were set to their tasks. She 



was temperate, however, and so - 
ber, or, as these rough republi - 
cans expressed it, 'in matters 
which concerned the belly, she 
had been well disciplined;' and 
out of these slender materials 
was to be framed the head of a 
wealthy Athenian family, 
modern householder might have 
been thrown into despair: but 
Iscomachus was of an active 
turn of mind ; he was not easily 
discouraged by difficulties, find 
he accordingly set his shoulder 
to the wheel. Conscious that 
he was undertaking a task of no 
common magnitude, he begins 
his labours by a sacrifice to the 
gods, and a prayer for assis- 
tance; arguing, like a wise and 
pious man, as he was, that no 
better means existed for ascer- 
taining what was fittest for the 
preceptor to teach and the pupil 
to learn. The bride assisted in 
the solemn rite, and, as Iscoma- 
chus acknowledges, was all that 
her future instructor could de- 
sire ; — anxious to fulfil her du- 
ties, full of promises to use her 
best endeavours, and inspired 
with all proper feeling of obse- 
quiousness to the person who 
thus late in life undertook to 
teach her young ideas how to 
shoot. (The listening Socrates 
here professes an extreme anxi- 
ety to know how the labours of 
the preceptor commenced, and 
declares with warmth, that the 
sight of the best possible exhibi- 
tion in the gymnasium or the 
race-course would afford him 
much less pleasure.) It is to be 
presumed that Iscomachus took 
his pupil in hand, while her 
mind was yet warm with the 
imposing ceremony at which she 
had been present: his own an- 
swer, however, certainly refers 
to a later date, and such was the 
degraded estimate of female cha- 
racter in Athens, that we fear it 
was not merely from association 
of ideas, that his answer is con- 
veyed in terms of the manege or 
menagerie, and that he speaks of 
his wife as we would speak of a 
young colt. 'When I found 
her well in hand, supple and 
tractable, and so as to be conver- 
sable,' (to be prodticeable was a 
labour which the fashion of the 
times did not impose,) 'I put to 
her,' says the husband, ! the fol- 
lowing question: Tell me my 
dear wife, have you ever reflect- 
ed on the causes, motives and 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. C43 



The provision of all necessaries within doors was also usually committed 
to them. I shall not insist on particulars, hut ony observe in the last 

reasons, which induced your pa- attention, but certainly in silence notice of a magistracy, especial- 
rents to consign you to me, and to these injunctions ; but nature ly appointed to prevent such of- 
inuuced me to accept you as a and the sex immediately break fences. The rigour of this tri- 
wife from their hands?' A per- out, when to this catalogue of bunal was extreme. A thousand 
son, whose education had been duties is added "that, which the drachmae were levied for the sin 
so confined as we have stated, harder mind of her husband of an head-dr^ss ill arranged; a 
might with dramatic propriety seems to think will sit least easy robe that was not strictly comme 
be painted rather as a listener upon her — the care of the infirm U faut, incurred a similar pen« 
than a partaker in a discourse, and the indisposed, who consid- alty; the name of the offender 
which ran upon topics of this ering the immense number of was inscribed on a tablet exposed 
kind. The young lady accord- slaves, often comprehended in to public view, and such an ex- 
ingly hears, but gives no sign the establishment of a wealthy posure was equivalent to a corn- 
that they had ever made part of Athenian, must frequently have plete loss of character. With 
her thoughts. It is one of the amounted to a considerable num- such a stimulus it will readily 
properties, however, of that de- ber. ' So help me God,' she ex- be supposed that the women of 
lightful sex, who, as it has been claims with a pardonable vivaci- Athens rather exceeded than fell 
well said, expose their own lives ty, 'it is the most pleasing of all short of the views of the legisla- 
to give birth to others, to com- occupations, and I look for no ture on the subject of personal 
mence a new existence with the other reward than the gratitude appearance. The catalogue 
maternal duties, and to feel and increased good will of those which Piautus gives of the arti- 
wants for their offspring, of who fall under my care '.' This sans who contributed to the com- 
which they had not been sensible burst of feeling was not lost up- plete adornment of a Grecian 
in themselves. Her husband ac- on her husband ; but man rea- lady of fashion, is absolutely for- 
cordingly has a very willing lis- sons rather than feels, and Isco- midable ; and a fragment of the 
tener, while he enters into a phi- machus returns to his apiaries great comic writer of Athens 
losophical inquiry, as to the and his queen-bee. — It was time has bequeathed to us a list of ar- 
causes of that nuptial yoke, however for the first lecture to tides, which were to be found at 
which brings two-people together, come to a conclusion ; and as a lady's toilette, many of which, 
and which, accordingly as it is that speaker ill knows his duty, it is to be hoped, are grown ob- 
bome. contributes so much to the who does not endeavour to finish solete, not merely from lapse of 
happiness or misery of the joint with a favourable impression on time. Iscomacha, the jewel of 
bearers of it. the mind rf his hearer, Iscoma- housewives, does not appear to 
Having delivered a long Iec- chus proceeds to state the vari- have been less guilty on these 
ture on the common duties of the ous gratifications, which were points than her neighbours. Her 
two sexes, the husband-precep- to make these duties less irksome husband, to use his own expres- 
tor returns to that which he to his wife. We feel that we sions, had found her daubed with 
thinks more peculiarly the duty should be encroaching too much much fard, 1 to make her ap- 
of a woman, that of not gadding on the time and attention of pear whiter than she really was,' 
aoroad; and he concludes with the reader, if we entered in- and with much rouge, 'to 
proposing the queen-bee, in all to too minute a detail of them; make her appear redder than she 
its qu.ilities. active, sedentary, and our limits forbid us to fol- really was ; and as a beauty in 
public and private, as an admir. low him through his second Greece was the more valuable 
able example of the disposition campaign; his discourse upon for being on a large scale, she 
which should belong to the mis- order, his detail of the various had added to these abominations 
tress of a family. The young lady, causes, by which a kind of beau a pair of high-heeled shoes, 'that 
however, was not much versed in ideal of the beauty of arrange- she might appear taller than she 
apiaries, and when the proper- rnent had been gradually fostered really was.' From the docility, 
ties and carps of this industrious in his own mind, and the ingenu- which this exemplary woman has 
little animal are explained to ity, with which a sort of dignity displayed on more important 
her at considerable length, she is thrown over the meanest points, the reader will easily 
exclaims with an evident feel- branches of household economy, believe that she was not invinci- 
ing of alarm, 'and must all these and the wife intrapped into her ble even in this: — her abjuration 
duties fall upon me?' The du- lowest duties by the application of the practice was indeed almost 
ties, which must fall upon you, of names to stew-pans and pot- the immediate result of a proper 
replies the husband, entering in- tery, which belonged to the most exposition of its perniciousness, 
to the whole economy of a Gre- important political investiga- its disingenuousness, and its 
cian housewife, are to abide with- tions; — all these deserve more easiness of detection, 
indoors; to send to their labour notice than we can now give As to the moral and political 
such of the servants as have out- them. The young Iscomacha, effects of such a system of edu- 
door occupations, and to super- instead of resenting some of these cation as this ; a writer, (M. de 
intend those whose labours are instructions as a fastidious mo- Pauw,) who is accused of being 
confined to the house. All that dern female would infallibly do, more poetical than philosophical 
is brought in, you must receive; grows absolutely high-minded in in his researches into ancient 
what is necessary for immediate the contemplation of her duties ; history, assures us, that both mis- 
use you must distribute; and and her magnanimity even stands ogynism and misanthropism pre- 
where there is an overplus, it a test, which we believe, formed vailed to a. considerable extent in 
will be left to your foresight and with many of her countrywomen Greece. The mode of conducting 
caution to beware, that what the only consolation, that their the education of the two sexes at 
ought to be the consumption of a retired habits allowed. Athens was entirely calculated 
year is not made the waste of a Whatever degree of beauty to produce both these aberra- 
month. It will further rest with nature had conferred upon aGre« tions of feeling, 
you to see that the wool, which cian woman, she was by no On the side of letters, the ef- 
is brought in, be converted into means unwilling to call in art fects of this system were not 
clothes, and that the corn be in a for an accessory. This indeed more favourable; it has indeed 
proper state to furnish the fami- was not altogether a matter of rescued the Greeks from that 
ly with provision.' — The pupil choice; for a negligence of dress mawkish gallantry, which writ- 
listens, it is to be hoped with brought the fair sloven under the ei s, who court the favour of bs» 



644 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



place, that their usage was very different according to the temper of their 
husbands or guardians, the value of their fortunes, and the humour of the 
place or age they lived in. 

The Lacedaemonian women observed fashions quite different from all 
their neighbours: their virgins went abroad barefaced, the married women 
were covered with veils; the former designing (as Charilus replied to one 
that inquired the reason of that custom) to get themselves husbands, where- 
as the latter aimed at nothing more than keeping those they already had. 1 
We have a full account of the conduct of the Spartan women in the follow- 
ing words of Plutarch. 8 * As for the education of youth which he looked 
upon as the greatest and most glorious work of a lawgiver, he began with 
it at the very source, taking into consideration their conception and birth, 
by regulating the marriages. For he did not, as Aristotle says, desist from 
his attempt to bring the women under sober rules. They had, indeed, 
assumed great liberty and power on account of the frequent expeditions of 
their husbands, during which they were left sole mistresses at home, and 
so gained an undue deference and improper titles; but notwithstanding 
this he took all possible care of them. He ordered the virgins to exercise 
themselves in running, wrestling, and throwing quoits and darts ; that their 
bodies being strong and vigorous, the children afterwards produced from 
them might be the same; and that, thus fortified by exercise, they might 
the better support the pangs of childbirth, and be delivered with safety. 
In order to take away the excessive tenderness and delicacy of the sex, the 
consequence of a recluse life, he accustomed the virgins occasionally to be 
seen naked as well as the young men. and to dance and sing in their pre- 

cond and third-rate women, so But the more serious effects speak of the sex, or if they do, 

much affect; and sentiment, as remain yet to be told. What- it is evidently with a strong 

the term is understood in novels ever shape men may assume it feeling of their inferiority. The 

and romances, is a word not to as their right to give to female tragedians occasionally produce 

be found in their productions, character, a strong reaction will an Antigone, a Macaria, an Al- 

These are solid advantages: but always take place upon them- cestis, an Iphigeneia, like bless - 

at the same time it has confined selves ; and the outrage done to ed spirits, to temper the dark 

the circle of their literature, and the sex in Greece was terribly views of Grecian mythology ; but 

left it, to a certain degree, with- avenged. But the pollutions of the poet generally hurries them 

out variety. Even in their co- Grecian literature, and the con- from the stage as quickly as the 

inedy there is little relief. It is sequences which ensue, when the business of his drama will allow, 

all men — all business— all public glaring fires of genius are not or dashes their noble aspirations 

matters. We have ever before tempered by the mild influence with some disgraceful sentiment, 

us the gymnasium, the senate, of female beauty, innocence, and which materially enfeebles or 

the general assemblies, and the delicacy, are not lightly to be destroys their effect. When 

courts of law; there is bustle, meddled with. Je devois dire, such opinions were held of them 

Eursuit, energy, and activity; says the admirable Montesquieu, by the "philosophers and the tr' 

ow indeed should it be other- maisj'ouis la voix de la Nature gic poets, we may readily believ*> 

■wise in a country, where man crier contre moi. that the comic writers did not 

was defined to be 'a political The consequences of this sys- spare them, and certainly the 

animal,* and where the first of tern on the side of Grecian wo- comedies of Aristophanes, who, 

deities was Jupiter or Political men themselves must not.be dig- however, amid all his raillery, 

Wisdom? but there is none of missed quite so hastily. The elo- pays more compliments to the 

that floating drapery which mo- quent author just quoted, assures sex than any other Greek writer, 

dern manners have thrown over us that the Grecian women were give us no reason to conclude 

BOciety;none of that pleasing conspicuous for their virtue. But that ignorance and seclusion are 

variety, which wanders from the Montesquieu (as we could readi- better safeguards to female vir- 

camp to the court, from philoso- ly show) had not studied the tue, than a fair participation of 

phy to the boudoir, from the en- Grecian democracies so accu- the instruction and freedom 

terprises of the field to the cour- rately as he has the Roman re- which men have in all ages 

tesies of domestic life. These public; and it may be safely af- claimed to themselves. — Qwr- 

are combinations which, among firmed that the Greek writers by tcrlxj Review, No. 43, pp. 172 — 

the Greeks, (at least while the no means bear him out in this 181. 

democracy was in full vigour,) flattering testimony to the merits 1 Plutarchus Apophthegmut. 

met neither in actual life nor in of their countrywomen. The Laconicis. 

manuscript. philosophers, indeed, seldom 2 Lycurgo. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. C45 



sence on certain festivals. There they sometimes indulged in a little 
raillery upon those that had misbehaved themselves, and sometimes they 
sung encomiums on such as deserved them, thus exciting in the young 
men a useful emulation and love of glory. For he who was praised for 
his bravery, and celebrated among the virgins, went away perfectly happy: 
while their satirical glances thrown out in sport, were no less cutting than 
serious admonitions ; especially as the kings and senate went with the 
other citizens to see all that passed. As for the virgins appearing naked, 
there was nothing disgraceful in it, because every thing was conducted 
with modesty, and without one indecent word or action. Nay it caused a 
simplicity of manners and an emulation for the best habit of body; their 
ideas too were naturally enlarged, while they were not excluded from their 
share of bravery and honour. Hence they were furnished with sentiments 
and language, such as Gorgo the wife of Leonidas is said to have made use 
of. When a woman of another country said to her, ' You of Lacedaemon 
are the only women in the world that rule the men:' she answered, 1 We 
are the only women that bring forth men.' 

These public dances and other exercises of the young maidens naked, in 
sight of the young men, were moreover incentives to marriage: and to 
use Plato's expression, drew them almost as necessarily by the attractions 
of love, as a geometrical conclusion follows from the premises. 1 

Afterwards, when the laws of Lycurgus were neglected, and the Spartans 
had degenerated from the strict virtue of their forefathers, their women 
also were ill spoken of, and made use of the freedom which their lawgiver 
allowed them to no good purposes ; insomuch that they are censured by 
ancient writers for their wantonness and excessive desire of unlawful plea- 
sures, and branded by Euripides, 2 with the epithet of o.^^o/^xhTs, possessed 
with furious love of, and, as it were, running mad after men. 



CHAP. XIY. 



OF THEIR CUSTOMS IN CHILD-BEARING AND MANAGING INFANTS. 



Those who desired to have children were usually very liberal in making pre- 
sents and offerings to the gods, especially to such as were thought to have the 
care of generation. The Athenians invoked, on this account, certain gods 



\\t was indeed especially ia gymnastics of his young females ous, and proverbial for its inde- 
his conduct in respect of the fe- their dancing, running. wrestling, corous exhibition of the person, 
male sex that Lycurgus showed leaping, throwing the javelin (tpaivopr/oiies.) It may be doubt- 
his ignorance of the true source and the quoit, were performed in ed, whether this state of things 
of human happiness. Political public. Their garment, if they was a part of the legislator's de- 
liberty he secured : but in its at- had one, was certainly immodest; liberate design, or wh-therit 
tainment. he lost almost all that and it is only by a very charita- arose] from his systematic i*e- 
could make it valuable ; for he ble construction of a Greek am- gleet; but, in either case, the ef- 
violated all the sanctities of do- biguity, that they can be suppos- tects were equally immoral. — So' 
mestic life, and many of the de- ed to have had any at all. Even rial Condition of the Greeks. 
eencies of natural propriety. The their ordinary dr6ss was notori- 2 Piut. Numa. 



646 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



called T£tro*a<rd*&s f or T^iToarxr^ug. Who these were, or what the origin of 
their name, is not easy to determine. According to Orpheus their proper 
names were Amaclides, Protocles, and Protocleon, and they presided over 
the winds. 1 According to Demo they were the winds themselves; but 
what business the winds or their governors have in generation is difficult to 
imagine. Another author tells us that their names were Cottus, Briareus, 
and Gyges, and that they were the sons of Ov^avos and Ttj, Heaven and 
Earth. Philochrus likewise makes Earth their mother, but instead of 
Heaven, substitutes the Sun or Apollo for their father ; whence he seems 
to account as well for their being accounted the superintendents of genera- 
tion as for the name of T^Tocrar^s?, for being immediately descended from 
two immortal gods, themselves, says he, were thought r^lroi trarfyts, the 
third fathers, and therefore might well be esteemed the common parents of 
mankind, and from that opinion derive those honours which the Athenians 
paid them as the authors and presidents of human generation. 2 

The goddess who had the care of women in childbed was called E/aej- 
foiu, or E/Ajj^wa, sometimes 7 EAst/^: 

MSxGov 'E~\ev6ovs You're past the pangs o'er which Eleutho reigns. 

'Ea^uyey. 

She is called in Latin Lucina. Both had the same respects paid by wo- 
men, and the same titles and epithets given them. Elithyia is called by 

Nonnus, 3 

■ 'Apr/yav $7)\vTepcLa:v. The succouring deity in child-birth. 

Ovid speaks in the same manner of the Latin goddess: 4 

Gravidis facilis Lucina puellis. Lucina, kind to teeming ladies. 

The woman in Theocritus invokes Elithyia: 5 

*Ev0a yip ElXttdvtav kpitaaro \vei%wvov Thy mother there to Elithyia prays, 
To ease her throes 

The Roman women called for Lucina's assistance ; whence Ovid : 

Tu voto parturlentis ades. Thou kindly women in their travail hear'st. 

Several other things are common to both. As Elithyia was styled ctiivav 
l<pra,£coyoS) 3-wXiiajv ffwrztoa,, &c. so likewise Lucina was graced with various 
appellations denoting her care of women. Their names, indeed, appear to 
have distinct originals, yet both have relation to the same action; for 
EtkMutet is derived a.cro <rov Ikzvfaiv, from coming, either because she came 
to assist women in labour, or rather from her being invoked to help the 
infant %£%iff6eti sis tc (pus, to come into the light or the world. Lucina is 
taken from lux, light, for the same reason. 6 The Greek name QucQofiost 
sometimes attributed to this goddess, is of the same import with the Latin 
Lucina, and is derived a*ro rov <p£; (piguv, from bringing light, because it was 
by her assistance that infants were safely delivered out of their dark man- 
sions, to enjoy the light of this world. In allusion to this, the Greek and 
Latin goddesses were both represented with lighted torches in their hands ; 



1 Suidas. chium, &c. 

2 Vide Suidam, Etymologici 3 Dionysiacis. 
Auctorem. Phavorintun, Hesy- 4 FasU lib. ii. 



5 Idyll. 
(i Ovid. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE, 647 



which reason seems far more natural than that which some assign, viz. 
on yvvcuQv zv '/rep kou <xv^ urh at ddtns, that the pain of bearing children 
is no less exquisite than that of burning. 1 

Who this Elithyia is, authors are not agreed : some will have her to be 
a Hyperborean, who came from her own country to Delos, and there 
assisted Latona in her labour: they add that this name was first used in 
Delos, and was thence derived to other parts of the world. 2 Olen, the 
first writer of divine hymns in Greece, makes her the mother of Cupid, 
whence it might be inferred she was the same with Venus, were not 
Pausanias, who cites this passage of Olen, against it, when he brings this 
as a different account of Cupid's descent from the received one of his 
being Venus's son. 3 The same poet, cited by the same author, 4 will 
have her to be more ancient than Saturn, and the self same with ITsor^- 
^sv>j, which is the Grecian name for Fate. Others make her the same 
with Juno, Diana, the Moon, &c. What appears most probable is, that 
all the Ssoi yivifatot, i. e. those deities who were thought to have any 
concern for women in childbed, were called Elithyise and Lucime, for 
these are general names, and are sometimes given to one deity, some- 
times to another. 

Juno was one of these goddesses ; whence the woman thus invokes her : 

Juno Lucina, fer opem. Juno Lucina, help, assist the labour. 

There are several remarkable stories concerning Juno's power in this 
affair, of which I shall only mention that about Alcmena, who having 
incurred this goddess's displeasure by being the mistress of Jupiter, and 
being with child by him, Sthenelus's wife being likewise with child at 
the same time, but not so forward as the other, Juno first obtained that 
he who should be first born should rule over the other, then altered the 
course of nature, caused Eurystheus to be born of the wife of Sthenelus, 
and afterwards Hercules of Alcmena ; and hence Hercules was always 
subject to Euiystheus, and undertook his famous labours in obedience to 
his commands. 

The daughters of this goddess were employed in the same office, and 
dignified with the same title. 5 

The moon was another of these deities, insomuch that Cicero will have 
Luna, the name of the moon in Latin, to be the same with Lucina ; and 
it was not without reason that the moon was thought one of the deities 
that had the care of childbirth, since, as several philosophers are of 
opinion, her influences were very efficacious in carrying on the work of 
generation. 6 

Diana being commonly reputed the same with the moon, was likewise 
thought to bear the same office, 7 and that not in her celestial capacity 
only, and as bearing the same character with the moon, but as frequent- 



] Pansanias Arcadicis, p. 443, 
edit. Hanov. 

% Idem Attieis, p. 3. 



3 Boeoticis, p. 231. 

4 Arcadicis, p. 437. 

5 Horn. Iliad. \'. 269. 



6 Cicero de Nat. Deor. ii. 

7 Horat. Carmine Seculars, 



648 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ing these lower regions and traversing the woods.i Hence she is called 
in Theocritus, ftoybtroxo;, the common epithet of Elithyia : 

'AXXce. ri'/j /3ci<r/Ai<«, fjcoyotrrozo? 'A^ts/a/j itrn. 
Orpheus gives her various other titles relating to this affair: 2 

Q-hlveav It? at guys j not) aihUaiv a/AV^rs, 
Aueri^uvl, &C. 

The epithets QatrQeeog, tptfafiio;, &c. which denote the giving of life 
and light, being likewise attributed to Proserpine, it is probable that she 
also was thought to be concerned for women in labour ; and this cannot 
appear strange, if we consider her as the same goddess with Diana, who 
being in three different capacities, as conversant in heaven, earth, and 
hell, has three distinct names: in heaven she is 2sX»v>?, the Moon ; on 
earth "a^ts^/j, Diana y in hell IIs£<rs<povs7, Proserpine y hence come those 
epithets by which the poets denote her threefold character: t^i/^o^o;, 
tr if or mis, tergemina, with several others. 

One end of involdng these goddesses was, that the women might be 
delivered without pain, which was thought an infallible token of the 
divine favour. 3 Nay, so great an opinion had they of this favour, that 
the gods were believed to vouchsafe it to none but the chaste and the 
virtuous : and hence it came to be looked on as a convincing proof of a 
woman's honesty. 4 

Another token of divine favour was thought to be conferred when they 
brought forth twins. 5 

They had likewise other means to procure an easy delivery, one of 
which was, to hold in their hands palm branches, tokens of joy and con- 
quest, and used as emblems of persons raised from great afflictions to 
prosperity; it being observed of that tree, that the hanging of heavy 
weights upon it is a means to cause it to branch out to a greater height. 
Latona, when she was delivered of Apollo, made use of this expedient to 
ease her pain: 6 

2« Set. T*'*e irSrvia. A^ri, When handling palm Latona brought you forth. 

SoiWoj padivfc #«p<rlv €(pa\f>a/j.ivT]. 

The ancient Athenians used none but men-midwives, it being forbid- 
den by their laws that women or slaves should study or practise medicine., 
This proving fatal to many women, whose modesty suffered them not to 
intrust themselves in the hands of men, one Agnodice disguised herself 
in man's clothes, studied medicine under a certain professor, called Hero- 
philus, and having attained to a competent skill in that art, revealed her- 
self to her own sex, who agreed with one consent to employ none but her ; 
upon this the rest of the physicians, enraged at their want of business, 
indicted her before the court of Areopagus, as one that corrupted men's 



1 Carmine Seculari, iii. 23. 4 Plaut. Amphitr. act. v. sc. 1. 6 Theog. Gnom. ver. 5. Horn. 

2 Hymno in Dianum. 5 Ibid. Hvmn. in Arjollin. ver. 14. 

3 Tlieocrit. Idyll. ? '. 56. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF. GREECE. 



649 



wives. To obviate this accusation she disclosed her sex ; the physicians 
then prosecuted her with great eagerness, as violating the laws and en- 
croaching upon the men's prerogative; when, to prevent her ruin, the 
principal matrons of the city came into court and addressed themselves to 
the judges, telling them, 4 that they were not husbands, but enemies, who 
were going to condemn the person to whom they owed their lives.' Upon 
this the Athenians repealed the old law, and permitted free women to 
undertake this employment. 1 

No sooner was the child brought into the world than they washed it with 
water. 2 The Lacedemonians bathed their new-born infants, not in water, 
as was the custom of all other countries, 3 but in wine, to prove the temper 
and complexion of their bodies ; for they had an idea that weakly children 
would fall into convulsions, or immediately faint, on their being thus 
bathed, and that, on the contrary, those of a strong and vigorous consti- 
tution would acquire a greater degree of firmness by it, and get a temper 
in proportion like steel in the quenching. 

The next action observable is cutting the child's navel, which was done 
by the nurses, and called op<potXorof4,'i<x, f hence arose the proverb, opQaXo; 
ffov su TrigisTfAvh, thy navel is not cut ; which is as much as if we say, 
you are an infant, and scarcely separated from your mother. There was 
a place in Crete called Omphalium, from IfiQaXos, a navel, because 
Jupiter's navel-string was cut there. 6 

Then the nurse wrapped the child in swaddling bands, lest its limbs, 
being tender and flexible, should be distorted ; the Spartan nurses, how- 
ever, were so careful and experienced, that without using swaddling 
bands, their children were all straight and well proportioned. Their 
management of children differed likewise from all the rest of the Greeks 
in several other respects, for ' they accustomed them to any sort of meat, 
and sometimes to bear the want of it ; not to be afraid in the dark, or to 
be alone ; nor to be froward, peevish, and crying, as they are generally in 
other countries, through the impertinent care and fondness of those who 
take charge of them. On this account Spartan nurses were frequently 
hired by people of other countries ; and it is reported that she who suckled 
Alcibiades was a Spartan.' 6 

At Athens new-born infants were commonly wrapped in a cloth, on 
which was represented the Gorgon's head, because that was described in 
the shield of Minerva, the protectress of that city ; and thus, it may be, 
infants were committed to the goddess's care. It might also serve to 
remind them, when arrived at men's estate, that they were to imitate 
such noble and generous examples as were there represented ; or to be a 
happy omen of their future valour : for which reasons it was likewise cus- 
tomary to lay them upon bucklers. 7 

1 Hyginus, Fab. 274. ubi consulendus Meursii com- ver. 44. 

2 Callim. Hymno in Jovem, mentarius. Plut. Lycurgo. 6 Plutarchus Lycurgo. 
ver. 14. 4 Suidas in ista voce. 7 Theocriti Idyll. initio. 

5 Lycoph, Cassandra, ver, 319, 5 Callim, Hymno in Jovem, 

3 i 



650 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



The Lacedaemonians religiously observed this latter ceremony. 1 
In other places they placed their infants in a thing bearing some re- 
semblance to whatever sort of life they designed them for. Nothing was 
more common than to put them in vans, or conveniences for winnowing 
corn, in Greek \'ixva., which were designed as omens of their future 
riches and affluence. 2 This was not always a real van, but commonly an 
instrument bearing the figure of it, composed of gold, or other material. 3 
One thing more is to be observed concerning the Athenians, before we 
dismiss this head, viz. that it was a common practice among them, espe 
cially in families of rank, to place their infants on dragons of gold. This 
custom was instituted by Minerva, in memory of Erichthonius, one of 
their kings, who had feet like those of serpents, and being exposed to the 
wide world when an infant, was committed by that goddess to the custody 
of two vigilant dragons: 4 

KgiV^ yap fj Atoj /cSpr; To him as guards 

Qpovpto irapaZev'taaa. d>v\uKas o-^aroy, Minerva gave two dragons, and in charge 

Aio-o-i ipd,KovTe, irafjdevoi^ 'AyAaupi'<« Consign'd him to the daughters of Aglauros: 

aISuhtc okZetv' o9ei> ' Ep?x9el6*ts enel This right to the Erechthidai hence remains, 

NiJ/aoj rty eartv '6<peoiv ev xpvoT)\aTois 'Midst serpents wreath'd in ductile gold to nurse 

Tpetpeiv rixva. Their children potter. 

On the fifth day after the birth, the midwives having first purified 
themselves by washing their hands, ran round the fire-hearth with the 
infant in their arms, thereby, as it were, entering it into the family, and 
putting it under the protection of the household gods, to whom the hearth 
served instead of an altar ; hence the day was called AoopiuQiov vpteg, or 
(which was the more usual name) * AfAfpi&gopbtet. It was celebrated as a 
festival, with great expressions of joy: they received gifts from their 
friends ; if the child was a male, their doors were decked with an olive 
garland : if a female, with wool, in token of the work in which women 
were usually employed. The cheer consisted of different sorts of things, 
among which K^apfin, colewort, was always one, which the Athenian 
midwives used to administer to women in childbed, as conducing to create 
milk. The whole ceremony is described in the following verses of 
Ephippus : 5 

eirstTa. nS>i But what's the reason that no crown is placed 

Ov orl(pavos ov6' sly e<rrt irp6o6e tS>v Svpa>v, Before the doors, nor grateful victim slain, 

05 Kulooa Kpovei ptvoy vTrspo^ay cUpay Whose frying fat delights the smelling sense, 

'AfKptSpoptwv 'ovTuv, Iv oly vofilterai When the joyful Amphidromia are kept, 

'Qm$,v re rvpov Xsppofrjairov rSfiovs, In which is toasted Chersonesian cheese, 

"E^siv t* eXaiou pa<pavov ^yXalV^lvjji/, And colewort tied in bundles seeth'd in oil, 

riviyetv t« iraxkuiv apvsiZu gttjBv fia, ' And linnets, doves, thrushes, and cuttle-fish, 

TtWetv re cparras kou Kt'^Xay 6p.ov oirlvots, And calamary dress'd and eat in common, 

Koi*^ re xv*veit> rev&loiv arinliia, And polypus's claws with care procured, 

mXelv re iroXXoy irXe/crdvas 67r«rrp<50a>y To drink 'em down amidst their less-mix'd cups ? 

TltvBLv re ffoXXay «uXt«ay 8u2fa>pe(TT£pay. 

The seventh day was likewise honoured with festival solemnities, that 
being the time when the child was commonly named ; to celebrate this 
day was called l&opsvzffdoii. The reason why the child's name was imposed 

1 Nonnus Dionysiacis, xii. quentem. 5 Athen. ix. 2. ii. 24. 

2 Etymologici Auctor. Calli- 3 Gallim. Hymno in Jovem. 
machi Scholiastes in versura se. 4 Ion. ver. 15, 1427. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



651 



on this day was, on \<xt<rnvov t% rumo'ia., because by this time they began 
to conceive hopes that it would live ; for weakly infants, <ra rtku<rroi uvcu- 
gurcct vrfi rni If&opyis, commonly die before the sevenths 

Some kept the eighth day after the infant's birth, calling that yin&Xtos 
yi/u&ga, the birth-day, because solemnized in memory of the child's nativity. 
The same day was kept every year after during the life of the child. The 
same day was also observed by the Jews for their circumcision, as has 
been remarked by the ancient interpreter upon the following passage of 
Terence :2 

porro autem Gcta Another gift when Madam's brought to bed ; 

Ferietur alio munere, ubi hera pejwrerit: Another too when Master's birth-day's kept, 

Porro alio autem, ubi erat pnero natalis dies y And they initiate him. 

Geta, moreover, shall be struck for more COLMAN. 

Others named their children on the tenth day after their birth, on 
which also they invited their friends to an entertainment, and offered 
sacrifices to the gods : 3 

Tls <re fi-nrvp if 6bk&t V tokov uv&fxaotv ; What mother on the tenth day nam'd you? 

Some are of opinion that the tenth day was the same with 'ApQiligoptx, 
but, although some persons might join the two solemnities, they were 
commonly distinct: to celebrate this day was called lixumv ^iza.ry t v 
octfoflvav, Itixoiryiv Icrnccerou. 4 

When the child received its name, whether on the tenth, or any other 
day, a considerable number of friends were present. This custom was 
observed not only by the Greeks, but at Rome, and in most other parts of 
the world ; the chief end of it seems to have been, to prevent controversies 
that might afterwards arise, when the child came into business, and was 
under several civil relations, if his name was not certainly known. 

The child's father usually imposed the name. There was a law at 
Athens, by which the fathers were authorized to give names to their 
children, and to alter them as often as they pleased. 6 In imposing names 
they observed no constant rule ; yet it was common to choose some of 
their most eminent ancestors, whose name they were desirous of transmit- 
ting to posterity, as an honour to themselves and their family, and a per- 
petual remembrance to stir up their children to the imitation of great exam- 
ples: thus we find the names of Pyrrhus, Philip, Ptolemy, &c. preserved 
in several of their successors. Ulpian speaks of Proxenus, descended 
from one Harmodius and the father of another. 7 Plutarch, says Thucy- 
dides was the son of Olorus, who derived his name from one of his ances- 
tors. 8 Aristophanes makes Callias both the father and son of Hipponicus. 9 

This was a custom of very great antiquity. 10 The same seems to have 
been common in most other nations. Most of the Roman families afford 
continual instances of this nature. Hannibal the Carthaginian bore his 

1 Harpocrat. in e(35oftevof*hov. i. 1. Aristoteles Hist. Animal. 7 Scholiast, in Demosthenis 

2 Phormion. act. i. sc. 1. vii. 12. Hesychius, Suidas, Har- Orat. de male obita legatione. 
3Eurip. iEgei t'rag. ver. 14. pocration, Etymologici Auctor, 8 Gimone. 

4 Aristoph. Avibus., ver. S22. Phavor. in vv. 9 Avibus. 

edit. Brunck. GDemosth. Orat. adv. Boeotum, 10 Eustath. in Iliad i. p. 441, 

5 De his diebus videndi Pollux, 7r*,ot o^ctoy edit. Basil. 



652 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



grandfather's name: and, in St Luke's gospel, we find the friends of 
Zacharias strangely surprised when his son the Baptist was called John, 
because none of his relations were known by that name. 

The actions of parents were frequently perpetuated by the names of 
their children : 1 so Cleopatra, or rather Marpissa (for Eustathius and the 
old scholiast are of different opinions herein), was called Halcyone, because 
when she was ravished by Apollo, her mother was no less afflicted than 
the halcyon is wont to be for the loss of her young. 2 Hector's son 
Scamandrius was named by the Trojans Astyanax, because his father was 
rod amos clvcc?, the defender of the city of Troy ; for the original signifi- 
cation of aval* is no more than a saviour or defender ; whence the gods are 
commonly called avaxrsr. 3 Ulysses was called 'O^yovsy?, to ooutr<rur0cu 
rov Abrokvzov, from the anger of his grandfather Autolgcus* 

Men's own actions, complexions, or condition, frequently gave occasion 
to their names. Thus CEdipus was named ha, to olhtv tovs nohas' because 
his feet were swollen.* 

The son of Achilles was first called Iluppog, from his ruddy complexion, 
or the colour of his hair, afterwards Nsosr-roXs^a?, from undertaking the 
management of the Trojan war when very young. To mention other 
instances is needless, wherefore I shall conclude this head with Plutarch's 
words, in which we have an account of the Roman as well as of the Grecian 
method of imposing names: 6 ' Hence (i. e. from the taking of Corioli, the 
chief city of the Volscians) came Coriolanus the third name of Caius Mar- 
cius. By which it appears that Caius was the proper name ; that the second 
name, Marcius, was that of the family ; and that the third Roman appel- 
lative was a peculiar note of distinction, given afterwards on account of 
some particular act of fortune, or signature, or virtue of him that bore it. 
Thus among the Greeks additional names were given to some on account 
of their achievements, as 2^r^, the preserver, and KaXklvixos , the victo- 
rious; to others for something remarkable in their persons, as ^utrxuv, the 
gor-bellied, and r^wros, the eagle-nosed; or for their good qualities, as 
Euioy&rvi;, the benefactor, and $ihaSz).<$os, the kind brother; or for their 
good fortune, as BvlatifAuv, the prosperous, a name given to the second 
prince of the family of the Batti. Several princes also have had satirical 
names bestowed upon them : Antigonus, for instance, was called Avo-wv, 
the man that will give to-morrow, and Ptolemy was styled Aa^y^:, the 
buffoon, from the fond opinion he had of his own wit and pleasantness. 
But appellations of this last sort were used with greater latitude among 
the Romans. One of the Metelli was distinguished by the name of Aia.- 
^TifAocroi, because he went a long time with a bandage, which covered an 
ulcer he had in his forehead : and another they called Celer, because with 
surprising celerity he entertained them with a funeral show of gladiators, 
a few days after his father's death. In our times, too, some of the Ro- 



1 Eustath. in Iliad. U p. 513. 3 Horn. Iliad, t'. 399. 

2 Horn. Iliad. i. p. 557. 4 Id. Odyss. r'. 406. 



5 Senec. CEdip. ver. 818. 

6 Marcio Goriolano. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GFiEECE. 653 



mans receive their names from the circumstances of their birth; as that 
of Proculns, if born when their fathers are in a distant country ; and that 
of Posthumus, if born after their father's death ; and when twins come 
into the world, and one of them dies at the birth, the survivor is called 
Vopiscus. Names are also appropriated on account of bodily imper- 
fections ; for amongst them we find not only Sylla, the red, and Niger, 
the black; but even Cacus, the blind, and Claudius, the lame; such per- 
sons by this custom being wisely taught, not to consider blindness or any 
other bodily misfortnne as a reproach or disgrace, but to answer to appel- 
lations of that kind as their proper names. 

Sometimes the Greeks took a more compendious way to dispose of their 
children, either killing them outright, or exposing them in some desert 
place, or elsewhere, to the mercy of fortune. To do the latter of these 
they termed IxTih^xt, or arforiQiffQar. and it was not accounted a cri- 
minal or blame-worthy action, but was permitted by some lawgivers, and 
expressly encouraged and commanded by others. The Lacedaemonians 
were remarkable for their behaviour in this matter; for they did not 
allow fathers to rear their children when inclined to do it, but obliged 
them to carry all their new-born infants to certain triers, who were some 
of the gravest men in their own tribe, and kept their court at a place called 
Aiff^/i, where they carefully viewed such as were brought to them ; if they 
found them lusty and well favoured, they gave order for their education, 
and allotted a certain proportion of land for their maintenance; but if 
weakly or deformed, they ordered them to be cast into a deep cavern 
in the earth, near the mountain Taygetus, thinking it neither for the 
good of the children themselves, nor for the public interest, that they 
should be brought up, since nature had denied them the means both 
of happiness in themselves, and of being serviceable to the public, by not 
enduing them with a sufficient measure of health and strength. On this 
account it was that new-born infants were bathed in wine, 1 as has been 
already observed. The place into which the Lacedcemonians cast their 
infants was called 'Avogirur hence avor'ifatr0cct is usually taken for exposing 
with a design to destroy: whereas Ixr'i0z<r0cti commonly bears a milder 
sense ; for many persons exposed their children when they were not will- 
ing they should perish, only because they were unable to maintain them: 
daughters especially were thus treated, as requiring more charges to edu- 
cate and settle them in the world than sons; whence the saying cited out 
of Posidippus: 

Xlbu rpkip't tap Kciv ire»7is Ttf &irTv\y> A man, though poor, will not expose his son, 

etyarepa ii ex-lQwi «fy y irXoutrtoj. But if he's rich, will scarce preserve his daughter. 

The Thebans disliked this barbarous custom, and had a law by which 
the practice of it was made a capital offence ; such as were not able to pro- 
vide for their children were ordered to carry them as soon as born to the 
magistrates, who were obliged to take care of their maintenance, and 



1 Plutarchus Lycur^o, 

3 i 3 



654 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



who, when they were grown up, used them as slaves, taking their service 
as a recompence for the charge and trouble they had been put to. 1 

Children were usually exposed in their swaddling clothes and laid in a 
vessel. 2 Aristophanes, speaking of CEdipus, calls it o'trr^axov. 3 

— — A'JTOV yiVOfJLlVOV 

It is sometimes termed %vrgx, whence is the same with 

Iter i faction and %ur(?nrpos with ex fang* 

The parents frequently tied jewels and rings to the children they expos- 
ed, or any other thing by which they might afterwards discover them, if 
providence took care for their safety. Another design in thus adorning 
these infants was, either to encourage such as found them to nourish and 
educate them, if alive, or to give them burial, if dead. 5 Terence intro- 
duces Sostrata assigning another reason for this practice, when she relates 
how she had caused her daughter to be exposed, to save her from her hus- 
band Chremes, who had strictly commanded that she should be put to 
death: 6 

Ut stultce et miserce omnes, sumus Are generally weak and superstitious, 

Religiosee ; cum exponendam do Mi, de digito an- When first to this Corinthian old woman 

nulum I gave the little infant, from my finger 

Detraho, et eum dico ut una cum puella exponerct, I drew a ring, and charg'd her to expose 
Si moreretur, neexpers partis esset de nosfris bonis, That with my daughter: that if chance she died, 

As we women She might have part of our possessions with her. 

COLMAN. 

Women during their confinement were looked on as polluted ; whence 
the Athenians enacted a law that no woman should bring forth in Delos, 
an island consecrated to Apollo, because the gods were believed to have an 
aversion to all sorts of pollution. Iphigenia in Euripides tells us, that no 
person who was guilty of murder, or had touched a woman in childbed, 
or a corpse, could be admitted to the altar of Diana. ? 

When the fortieth day came, the danger of childbirth being then over, 
they kept a festival, called from the number of the day 7z<r<Tccoa.xo<T<ros' at 
this time the woman, having been before purified by washing, entered into 
some of the temples, most commonly into that of Diana, which, from her 
labour, till that time she was not allowed to do ; 8 here she returned thanks 
for her safe delivery, and offered sacrifices. It was likewise the custom 
to present her garments to Diana, w r ho acquired hence the surname of 
Xircor/) ; 9 and women after their first child offered their zona to the same 
goddess, who was on that account called kwiZJovn, and had a temple at 
Athens dedicated to her under that title. 10 



1 JElian. Var. Hist. ii. 7. 

2 Euripides lone, ver. 16. 

3 Ranis. 

4 Hesychius. 



5 Eurip. loc. cit. ver. 26. 

6 Heauton. act. iv. sc. 11. 

7 Iphigen. Taur. ver. 280. 



8 Censorinus de Natal, ix. 

9 Callim. Schol.Hymn. L 

10 Apoll. Schol. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 655 



CHAP. XV. 

OF THEIR DIFFERENT SORTS OF CHILDREN, WILLS, INHERITANCES ; THE 
DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS, &C. 

The scholiast on Homer mentions four different sorts of children: 1. Ol 
yviirioi or ttityivu;, children born in lawful marriage. 2. Ol v'otioi, those 
horn of concubines or harlots. 3. Ol <rxortot, those whose fathers were not 
known, wherein they were distinguished from the former. 4. Ol 
uai, such as were born of women, who, though vitiated before marriage, 
were still taken for virgins. This and other divisions of children I shall 
pass by, only taking notice of three sorts. 

1. Tvmici, lawfully begotten. 

2. 'Sofa, born of harlots, which word, in a large sense, may compre- 
hend the three latter sorts of children before mentioned. 

3. Giro), adopted. 

Those were reputed lawfully begotten who were begotten in lawful 
marriage, which was measured by different rules, as the affairs of every 
state required. In some places, whoever had a citizen for his father, 
though his mother was a foreigner; in others, those also who were born 
of free women, when their fathers were foreigners, passed for legitimate, 
and inherited the freedom of the city in which they were born, and all 
privileges of citizenship. Most commonwealths at their first constitution, 
and after great losses of inhabitants by war, plagues, or otherwise, seem 
to have taken this course to replenish and strengthen their countiy with 
people ; but when that exigency ceased, and it became necessary to re- 
strain the too great increase of free citizens, they commonly enacted that 
none should be esteemed legitimate but such as were descended from 
parents who were both citizens -} and this order was dispensed with or 
abrogated as oft as fresh occasion required. This may be observed at 
Athens in the time of Pericles ; for when Pericles was in a flourishing 
condition, and had sons lawfully begotten, he proposed that Solon's old 
law should be revived, by which it was enacted that they only should be 

eputed true citizens of Athens whose parents were both Athenians, 
whereupon almost five thousand lost their freedom, and were sold for 

laves. But Pericles himself afterwards having lost all his legitimate 
sons, so far prevailed with the Athenians, that they cancelled the law, 
and permitted him to enrol his natural son in the register of his own ward 
by his paternal name, which was a thing the 'Sofa, natural children, 
were incapable of, as having nothing to do with the name, family, 2 or 
estate of their father, as neither were they allowed to intermeddle in 
sacred or civil affairs. Lest any person should insinuate such children 
into the city register, in which all the citizens' names were enrolled, 



1 Aiistoteles Politic, iii, 5. 



2 Aristophanis Sclioliastes, Avibus. 



656 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



they made severe scrutinies in every borough, which were termed S/a^jj- 
(pitrus, 1 by which all persons not duly qualified were ejected from the 
city. There was also a court of justice in Cynosarges, a place in the 
suburbs of Athens, where examination was made concerning such per- 
sons. Nor were such as had only one parent an Athenian, though allowed 
the freedom of Athens, reputed equal to such as were Athenians of the 
whole blood; for we find, 2 that while these performed their exercises at 
the schools within the city, those of the half blood, with the foreigners, 
were only allowed to exercise at Cynosarges, where was a gymnasium 
dedicated to Hercules, who himself was illegitimate, as not being de- 
scended from two immortal gods, but having a mortal woman for his 
mother. Themistocles, offended at this reproach, persuaded several of 
the young noblemen to accompany him to anoint and exercise themselves 
at Cynosarges, whereby he seemed with some ingenuity to take away the 
distinction between the truly noble and the stranger, and between those 
of the whole and those of the half blood of Athens. 3 

There was never any time that I know of (whatever some may pretend 
to the contrary), when illegitimacy was not reckoned a disgrace, unless 
in those ages when men lived without laws and government, allowing 
promiscuous mixtures, and all other sorts of uncleanness. Eustathius will 
have concubines and their sons to have been as honourable as wives and 
sons begotten in lawful marriage, about the time of the Trojan war; 4 but 
the whole course of antiquity seems to be clearly against him ; for I do 
not find a single instance, in any ancient author, which can countenance 
this opinion. It is possible, indeed, that concubines might sometimes be 
treated with greater respect than lawful wives, and bastards than legiti- 
mate children ; but that was owing to the partial affections of husbands, 
which women, by their superior beauty and arts of insinuation, might 
gain, but can by no means be attributed to the practice of those times. 
The chief reason Eustathius alleges is, that Agamemnon calls Teucer 
vo0o$, when encouraging him to fight; at which time it would have been 
very improper to have given him opprobrious language. The hero's 
words run thus: 5 

Tf5* P «, <pt\n Ke(pa\ y ri, Tf.Xaju.ijv is, notpavt Xa£5v, Smite ever thus the foe. that hope once more 

BiXX' o'vrcof al kLv tb cp6u>$ Aa><aoI<rt ylvrjcu May cheer the Greeks, and Telamon rejoice, 

iTorpt ts ou} Te\afj.i)vc, '6 <r' 'erpetpK tvtQov iSvra, Who rear'd thee, though his spurious son, with 

Kol <re v69av ttf.q f.6vra Ko/jtiaaaro <S svt oEkoj. Care 

Brave Teucer ! Oh my friend, heroic prince ! In his own mansion. COtt'PER. 

In which words Agamemnon excites Teucer, the natural son of Telamon, 
to behave himself with courage, by two reasons: first, that so doing, he 
would be instrumental in delivering the Greeks from their enemies, 
who daily got ground of them ; the other, that such an action would be a 
credit to his father, for whose honour he ought to have a more tender 
concern, since he had received such extraordinary benefits from him, as 

3 Vide lib. i 9. 5 Iliad. 3'. 281. 

4 Iliad, p. 599. edit Basil. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OP GREECE. 657 



having, notwithstanding his illegitimacy, been carefully educated, and 
that not in any remote place, where he might have been neglected, but 
under Telamon's own eye, and in his own house. This is so far from 
establishing an equality between legitimate children and bastards, that it 
evidently shows the contrary, the particle <z-zg after vodov plainly implying 
that such care of bastards was something more than common in those 
days. Nor can the poet be blamed for making Agamemnon call him by 
such a name, since the thing was no secret, but was known to all the 
Greeks, and, no doubt, appeared every day from Teucer's submissive be- 
haviour to Ajax, his half-brother, and the lawful son of Telamon. As a 
confirmation of what I have said, I shall add the words of Agamemnon in 
Sophocles, spoken likewise to Teucer ; which show what difference there 
was between the sons of lawful wives and those of concubines, and in par- 
ticular concerning Teucer, how great a disgrace it was to him to be the 
son of a captive and concubine, though his mother was of the race of 
kings: 1 

Se eh ra leiva pfi^nT a^kWoval fj,oi, Thee doth this daring insolpnce become, 

TAijvat *ae' r)/xSii> Z>5' avot/xuKrsl x^vslv Sprung from a slave, the captive of the spear ? 

Zi rot rbv Ik i-rjy ol^/xaXcuTi^or Xeya>* Had she who gave thee birth been high in rank, 

"h -rrov rpa<ptU av pvrpos tvyevovs Stto How proudly wouldst thou vaunt, and rear thy 

'TC-^V 6KSfj.ireis-, «di' a/cpcov <Li5ot7ro'pFty, Crest, 

"Or' oviev &v, tov fi.r)iev avrtatr^ v-rrep, Sincp, nothing as thou art, for one who now 

Ko?Tg <TTpa.T V yovs oSts vava PX or S fj. \sZv Is nothing, thou hast dar'd to scorn our rule, 

'H^5y 'A^oii^, ovts aov iiw^icw- Asserting that we came not o'er the host 

AAV avrbs S-px^i <"S <™ </"?f» A - a f tT>st* Or fleet of Greece, commanders, nor o'er thee ; 

T&vr' ovk iKovetv fisydXa irphi SovXav «a«a. And Ajax, such thy descent, ploughed the sea 
Thee to burst forth in rude contemptuous speech Lord of himself. How shameful for a slave 

Against us, by our vengeance not chastis'd, To hear such arrogance ? POTTER. 

Some are of opinion that only the natural children of kings, and of persons 
of rank, were equal to those who were lawfully begotten. It may be true 
that such children were above the legitimate ones of private persons ; but 
that they were of the same dignity with the legitimate issue of princes 
does not appear ; nay, the contrary is manifest from the forementioned 
example of Teucer, both of whose parents were princes. The same might 
be proved by other instances ; Ion, for example, who had Apollo for his 
father, and Creusa, the wife of an Athenian king, for his mother, is 
yet introduced by Euripides complaining of his hard fortune in being 
illegitimate. 2 

It may indeed be objected, that natural children sometimes succeeded 
to the kingdoms of their fathers; but that only happened for want of legi- 
timate issue, and was not always allowed even in such cases. In some 
places the bastards of private persons likewise inherited the estates of their 
fathers, when there were no lawful children or relations: 3 but where there 
were relations, bastards had no share, as is plain from a dialogue between 
Pisthetserus and Hercules, in Aristophanes, where Hercules, having been 
persuaded by Neptune that he was heir-apparent to Jupiter, is undeceived 
by Pisthetferus, who tells him, that being illegitimate he had no right of 

1 Ajace, ver. 1250. 2 lone, ver. 589. 3 Demosthen. Orat. in Macai tatum. 



658 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



inheritance ; and, to confirm what he said, repeats Solon's law concerning 
this affair. The passage is long, but as it is pertinent to this place, and 
contains a true account of the Athenian practice, must not be omitted; 1 

iie. Ol>oi TaXaj y' olov oe ir(>pi=-o0.'?erat ; But hark you in your ear; thus much I'll 

AePp' cof efj.' kieoxo>pri<rov, Zya re rot ippiaai. Say : 

AiaftdWerai <r' 6 3eIo f , Z> rrdvripe ai, Your uncle, though you know it not, would 

laiv yap itarpqmv ovi' i/capel /xereorL trot trick you ; 

Kara roif yo/ious' v<f0oj yap eT, kov yr^fftoj. And truly, if the tenor of the laws 

HP.'Eyd) v69os; ri >«'y e 'r ; HE. sb /j.sv to* vh A(a t Were now consulted, you'd not haveanace 

"Q.v ye %ev7)s yvvat/cS;' v tcDj &v ttotb Of that estate your father leaves behind-, 

'EttikAt/pov elvai ttiv 'Adrivalav <WTy, For you're a bastard, not legitimate. 

Oiaav Bvyarep' Hvrmv iitXfwv yvijTiW; Her. How's this you say? Am I a bastard, then ? 

HP. Ti <5' riv 6 trarrip 1/j.ol 6t&a> to. ^p^ara Pis. Jove of a stranger, by a stolen embrace, 
To. voOtV airo9vri<TKwv ; HE. 'o yoVof airov otic eoT, Begot you ; but why do you suspect it, 

OiiT-o? o Tio<rtt6u>v TrpSroy, b'j evratpei as vvy, Since if but any of his sons were born 

AvOiptrai oov rSiv ira.tp<ao3v x?vna>rwv> Of lawful birth, Pallas were not an heiress? 

^ao-Kwv a5sX<p!>s airoy elvat yvj'/aioi' Her. AVhat if he leave all to his bastard son ? 

'Eom 6e &h koX rhv sdXtovrfy aoi v6/xov, Pis. The law won't suft'er that ; but Neptune 

* Ndfloj Se /j.r] elvai oy^i- first, 

are'iav, rratioov lvra> v yvr)- Who now so much extols you, all will seize, 

oleov' eaf oe ttaZSss Being his lawful brother. But the law 

Mr) Sjui yvr/aioi, ToTy Which Solon made I'll willingly recite : 

'EyyuTa'rco rov yevovs ' Bastards shall not be number'd in the roll 

TAerelvai rZv xprj^draiv.' Of kindred, whilst the lawful children live, 

And for defect of such, the next of kin 
Pis. Alas ! how strangely he comes over you! Shall then enjoy the goods of the deceas'd.' 

H. H. 

Where, though Pisthetaerus tells Hercules that the law would not permit 
him to have vohToc xgvftc&ra, yet that must be interpreted of an equal 
portion of the inheritance, which he could not have whilst his father had 
relations, who were heirs by law; for even bastards were allowed some 
share in their father's estate. Abraham is said to have given portions to 
the sons of his concubines, reserving the inheritance for his legitimate son 
Isaac ; 2 and the Athenian lawgiver allowed them 500 drachms, or five 
Attic pounds, which were termed voQiia., a bastard's portion:^ this was 
afterwards raised to 1000 drachms, or ten Attic pounds. In some places 
the fortune of bastards depended on the pleasure of the father, who had 
liberty to take them into his own family and make them equal sharers 
with his legitimate children, nothing but the privilege of dividing the 
estate being reserved to the latter. An example of this we have in two 
sons, one of whom being begotten in lawful marriage, the other of a slave, 
the division of their common inheritance belonged to the former, who 
placed on one side the whole estate, on the other his half-brother's 
mother, so reducing him to a necessity of letting his mother continue in 
slavery, or of depriving himself of his whole portion. 4 

Those who had no legitimate sons were obliged by the Athenian laws 
to leave their estates to their daughters, who were necessitated to marry 
their nearest relations, or else to forfeit their inheritance, as we find to 
have been practised likewise by the Jews, many of whose laws seem to 
have been transcribed by Solon. These virgins, whether sole heiresses, 



1 Avibus, haud longe a fine. 

2 Genes, xxv. 6. 



3 Aristoph. Schol. in loo. cit. Suidas v. 

4 Sopater. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



659 



or only co-heiresses, were called by Solon himself cjrs^/zX'/^V^gs, by others 
vteLT^ov^ot t or (which is the most common name of all) WixXjjgw, and 
sometimes ^av^a/. 1 These and their nearest relations were empowered 
to claim marriage from one another, and if either party refused, the other 
preferred an action, which was termed IrtStxnfyfffai, which word was 
applied to all sorts of lawsuits ; hence inheritances about which they went 
to law were termed xXyioovopioti WdiKotr those of which they received 
quiet possession, avi*ibi*au. Others state, that whether there was any 
dispute or not, the nearest relation was obliged to claim his wife with her 
inheritance in the archon's court if he was a citizen, in that of the pole- 
marchus if only a sojourner ; and that this was termed \<7rtbix.(x.Z ) i<r6u.i, and 
might be done in any month of the year except in Scirrophorion, the 
magistrates being then busy in making up and returning their accounts. 2 
The law concerning the marriages of heiresses gave occasion to a comedy 
of Apollodorus, entitled 'Er/^a^svoj, or 'Esr^xa^svjf, as Donatus 
reads, understanding it of the virgin's suing for a husband. This was 
translated into Latin by Terence, and called Phormio, and in it we have 
these verses, mentioning the law of which I have been speaking: 

Lex est, ut orbee qui sint genere proximi, The law commands that orphans marry those 

lis nubant, et illos ducere eadem hcec lexjubet. That nearest are allied, and that the men 

Consent to join with these. 

We also find it ordered, that when men had given a daughter in marriage, 
and after that died without sons to inherit their estates, their nearest 
relation had power to claim the inheritance, and to take the woman from 
her husband ; and this Isaeus 3 tells us was a common practice. 

Persons who had no lawful issue were allowed to adopt whom they 
pleased, whether their own natural sons, or, by consent of the parents, the 
sons of other men. But such as were not kv^ioi \ccvrwv, their own mas- 
ters, were excepted ; such were slaves, women, madmen, infants, that is, 
all such as were under twenty-one years of age ; for these not being capa- 
ble of making wills, or of managing their own estates, were not allowed 
to adopt heirs to themselves. Foreigners being excluded from the in- 
heritance of estates at Athens, if any such was adopted, he was made free 
of the city. The adoption being made, the adopted person had his name 
enrolled in the tribe and ward of his new father ; this was not done at the 
same time in which the children begotten of themselves were registered, 
but on the festival called Gagy/iXiec, in the month Thargelion. The 
Lacedaemonians were very cautious and wary in this affair, and for the 
prevention of rash and inconsiderate adoptions, had a law that they should 
be confirmed in the presence of their kings. Adopted children were 
called <zra.3i; S-«<rc), or iltrrtoinro), and were vested with all the privileges 
and rights, and obliged to perform all the duties, of such as were begotten 
by their fathers: and being thus provided for in another family, they 



1 Euslath, in Iliad. W. p. 545, ed. Basil. 2 Petitus in Leges Atticas, qui et alibi consulendus. 
3 Orat, de Pynhi Haired. 



6G0 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ceased to have any claim of inheritance or kindred in the family which 
they had left. 1 unless they first renounced their adoption, which the laws 
of Solon allowed them not to do, except they had first begotten children 
bearing the name of the person who had adopted them ; thus providing 
against the ruin of families, which would have been extinguished by the 
desertion of those who were adopted to preserve them. 2 If the adopted 
persons died without children, the inheritance could not be alienated from 
the family into which they were adopted, but returned to the relations of 
the person who had adopted them. The Athenians are by some thought 
to have forbidden any man to marry after he had adopted a son, without 
leave from the magistrate. And there is an instance in Tzetzes' Chi- 
liads, 3 of one Leogoras, who being ill used by Andocides the orator, who 
was his adopted son, desired leave to marry. It is certain, however, that 
some men married after they had adopted sons ; and if they begot legiti- 
mate children, their estates were equally shared between those begotten 
and adopted. It may be observed in this place, that it was an ancient 
custom for legitimate sons to divide their father's estates by lots, all 
having equal share, without respect to priority of birth, but allowing a 
small pittance to such as were unlawfully begotten. 4 

Such as had neither legitimate nor adopted children, were succeeded 
by their nearest relations, as appears from the forecited dialogue between 
Hercules and Pisthetaerus. This custom w r as as ancient as the Trojan 
war, being mentioned in Homer, when he relates how Diomedes slew 
the two only sons of Phaenops: 5 

"E>9' o ye touj ivapiSt^ <pt\ov <5' faiWo $vp.hv And leaves the father unavailing tears. 

''KfjKporlpoiv, irkTKpi 5i yoav «ai itfj&ea. Xvypa To strangers now descends his heapy store, 

Aal7r\ evti ov Zu>oi>ts naxvi exvoar^aavTR The race forgotten, and the name no more. 

Ai'iaTO' xVP^Tal &i 6ta Krr)Otv &aTtovrai> POPE. 

Cold death o'ertakes them in their blooming years, 

Eustathius, indeed, with the old scholiast, will have %yiga>(rrut in this 
passage to signify certain magistrates, who had a right to the estates of 
such as died %9i£tvovns <ruv haS6%av 9 without lauyful heirs ; but it may as 
well be interpreted of relations ; for those who succeeded to the estates of 
persons without children were called ^vi^uara,), is plain from ancient 
grammarians. 6 Hesiod has used the same word, but in which of these 
senses is equally ambiguous: 7 

"Of ks ydpov <pvyu>v Kal /*ep/*fpa 'i^ya yvvai*wv Wedlock he loath'd, and led a single life; 

Mt? yvnn oXoiv 6" exi yvp<*s i'/^rat, But now, when bowing age his limbs has seiz'd, 

Xv-rst ynpoK6/xoic, 6 o' ov /JkSj-ov eir*&evhs Justly he wants whom he before despis'd : 

Zi«t, &.iro<petnivo» be &ta kt^siv &*t»ovto.i He dies at length, and his remoter friends 

Share his possessions. - 



Averse to all the troubles of a wife, H * H * 

It is not worth disputing which signification is more pertinent in these 
passages, since it is certain that both are agreeable enough to the practice 
of antiquity ; for as persons having relations were usually succeeded in 
their estates by them, so, when any died without lawful heirs, their pos- 

1 Isaeus de Hered. Astyphili. 3 Chiliad, vi, Hist. 49. 6 Hesyc. v. «w«9ra»', Pollux. 

2 Harpoc. Haius de Haered. 4 Horn. Odyss. 200. 7 Theogonia. 
Aristarc. Idem de Hsered. Phil. 5 Iliad, i. 155. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



661 



sessions belonged to the prince, the commonwealth, or the supreme magis- 
trates, as the laws of each state directed. 

The Grecian practice concerning wills was not the same in all places: 
some states permitted men to dispose of their estates; others wholly 
deprived them of that privilege. 1 Solon was much commended for his law 
concerning wills ; for before his time no man was allowed to make any, 
but all the wealth of deceased persons belonged to their families ; but he 
permitted them to bestow it on whom they pleased, esteeming friendship 
a stronger tie than kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put 
every man's estate in the disposal of the possessor. He did not, however, 
allow sorts of wills, but required the following conditions in all persons 
that made them : 

1. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves or foreigners; for 
then their estates were confiscated for the public use. 

2. That they must be men who have arrived at twenty years of age ; for 
women, and men under that age, were not permitted to dispose by will of 
more than one medimn of barley. 2 

3. That they must not be adopted ; for when adopted persons die with- 
out issue, the estates they received by adoption return to the relations of 
the man who had adopted them. 

4. That they should have no male children of their own, for then their 
estates belonged to them. If they had daughters only, the persons to 
whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to marry them. 3 Yet 
men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed thsir children, in case these 
happened to die under twenty years of age. 4 

5. That they should be in their right minds, because testaments extorted 
in the frenzy of a disease, or in the dotage of old age, were not in reality 
the wills of the persons that made them. 

6. That they should not be under imprisonment or other constraint, 
their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to be reputed voluntary. 

7. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and insinuations 
of a wife ; for, says Plutarch, the wise lawgiver, with good reason, thought 
that no difference was to be put between deceit and necessity, flattery and 
compulsion, since both are equally powerful to persuade a man from reason. 

Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put seals to 
them for confirmation, and were then placed in the hands of trustees, 
called Iviftikvirci), who were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, 
some of the magistrates, particularly the astynomi, were often present at 
the making of wills.5 Sometimes the archons were also present. When 
any thing was given in the presence of the archons, it was termed Yoffts-* 
for this word, though, commonly taken for any sort of gift or present, was 
by the Athenian orators peculiarly applied to legacies, and things dis- 



1 Plut. Solone. red. 5 Isaeus de Haared. Cleonymi 

2 Isaeus deHaered. Aristarclii. 4 Demosth. Orat. ii. in Ste- 6 Haqociat. et Suid. voce 

3 Isajus Orat. de Pyrrhi Hae- phan. testem. <5»'<nr 

3 K 



662 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



posed of by will. Hence ^ovvai is equivalent to ItaQiffGai. Isieus 1 fre- 
quently puts them together, ^tct$i<?0oti xa.) ^ovvocr and to succeed xar« H<nv 
jta) Kara, ^idfatrtv, by gift and will, is opposed to succession xoctgc yivo?, by 
natural right. Sometimes the testator declared his will before sufficient 
witnesses, without committing it to writing. Thus Callias, fearing to be 
cut off by a wicked conspiracy, is said to have made an open declaration 
of his will before the popular assembly at Athens. 2 The same was done 
in the nuncupative wills at Rome. 

There are several copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as those of 
Aristotle, Lycon, and Theophrastus ; from which it appears they had a 
common form, beginning with a wish for life and health; afterwards add- 
ing, that in case it happened otherwise, their will was as followed, in this 
manner: "E<rr«/ (jiXv iv } lav $1 rt cru^Zr^ toZto, ^iaTtfof&sv, &c. 

We have seen how children enjoyed the estates of their parents ; let us 
now pass to their virtuous and noble actions, the rewards of which we find 
frequently inherited by their posterity : these consisted not only in fruit- 
less commendations and empty titles of honour, or expressions of respect, 
which nevertheless were liberally bestowed upon the whole families of 
persons eminent for serving their country, but in more substantial ac- 
knowledgments thought due to the memory and relations of such men. 
In many places their children, when left destitute of estates, were pro- 
vided for, and educated suitably to their birth at the public expense. 
When Aristides, one of the benefactors of their commonwealth, died in 
poverty, the Athenian people bestowed upon his son Lysimachus a hun- 
dred Attic pounds of silver, with a plantation of as many acres of ground ; 
and, upon the motion of Alcibiades, ordered farther, that four drachms 
a-day should be paid him. On the death of Lysimachus, the people voted 
his daughter Polycrite the same provision of corn with those who obtained 
victory in the Olympian games. The two daughters of the same Aristides 
had each of them three hundred drachms out of the public treasury for their 
portions. Nor is it to be wondered at that the people of Athens should 
take care of those who resided in their city, since, having heard that 
the grand-daughter of Aristogiton was in so low a condition in the isle of 
Lemnos that she was like to want a husband, they sent for her to Athens, 
married her to a person of great quality, and gave with her a farm for her 
dowry. 3 

Men's vices and dishonourable actions were likewise participated by 
their children ; for it was thought no more than reasonable that those who 
share in the prosperity and good fortune of their parents should partake 
likewise of their losses and miscarriages. Agamemnon in Homer could 
be prevailed on by no arguments to spare the sons of Antimachus, their 
father having endeavoured to procure the death of Menelaus and Ulysses 
when they were sent on an embassy to Troy : 4 . 



1 In Ao'yotf «X»7pt*o7f. 

2 Piutarchus Alcibiade. 



3 Piutarchus Aristide. 

4 Iliad. X'. 138. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 663 



NCv fiiv 6h roS irarphs in/tea rioert X^v. Now rue ye both the baseness of your sire.— COWPER. 

There are many other instances to the same purpose ; hence it appears 
this practice was not owing to the passions and prejudices of particular 
persons, but was thought agreeable to justice and reason. It may be 
sufficient in this place to mention the famous Macedonian law, by which 
it was ordered, that men guilty of conspiring against their king should 
not only suffer death, with their children, but that all those who were 
nearly allied to them should share in the same punishment ; hence we 
find,* that when Philotas was found guilty of treason against Alexander, 
of the noblemen and others related to him, some stabbed themselves, and 
others fled into wildernesses and deserts, till the king issued his pardon 
for them. 

It remains that I add something concerning the returns of gratitude 
due from children to their parents, which appear from their assiduous 
attendance on them in the lowest offices; whence one in Aristophanes 
relates how his daughter washed and anointed his feet: 2 

■ koL V pwta. nev f) BvyarTjp First, my dear child did wash her father's feet, 

'ATrovi'r?, *ai to> izuS" i\et<py, icaX -KpoKv^aaa. ipiX^a V . Then she anointed them, and bending down, 

Gave them a sweet endearing kiss. 

They were zealous in vindicating the honour, and revenging the injuries 
of their parents: hence Telemachus in Homer says, Orestes had gained 
the applause of all Greece, and recommended his name to succeeding 
ages, by taking revenge on his father's murderers. 3 

Several other instances might be produced, wherein children showed 
their gratitude to their parents, of which I shall only mention their care 
in providing a comfortable subsistence for their old age (to do which was 
termed ynoofZorxitv), and in performing their funeral rites. 4 So concerned 
were they about these things, that when they undertook any hazardous 
enterprise, it was customary to engage some of their friends to maintain 
and protect their aged parents. Thus, when the Thebans living in exile 
at Athens conspired to free their native country from the Tyrants whom 
the Lacedaemonians had imposed on it, they divided themselves into two 
companies, and agreed that one should endeavour to get into the city, and 
surprise the enemy, whilst the other remaining behind in Attica, should 
await the issue, and provide for the parents and children of their asso- 
ciates, if they perished in the attempt. 5 And thus Euryalus, in Virgil, 
when going to expose his life to danger, passionately entreats Ascanius 
to comfort and make provision for his mother. 6 

The provision made by children for their parents was termed r^tpua., 
by the poets Sgtcrrvgia, or S^scrr^a, and sometimes S^srra. 7 To be 
negligent in this matter was accounted one of the greatest impieties, and 
most worthy of divine vengeance: whence, in enumerating the evils of 
the last and iron age, they mention the disobedience and disrespectful 

1 Ouint. Curt. vi. haud procul 3 Odyss. y'. 203. 5 Plutarchus Pelopida. 
afi" e - 4 Eurip. Medea, ver. 1032. Id. 6 ^Eneid. ix. 283. 

2 Vespis. Alcestide, ver. 662. 7 Horn. Iliaii. 6'. 478. 

3k 2 



664 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



behaviour of children to their parents as one of the greatest, and which 
called to heaven for vengeance i 1 

No crime was thought to be followed with more certain and inevitable 
judgments than this; for the Furies and other infernal deities were be- 
lieved always ready to execute the curse of parents injured by their chil- 
dren ; hence Telemachus in Homer refuses to force his mother Penelope 
from his house, for fear of being haunted by the Furies and reproached by 
men: 



How would my mother curse my hated head ; 

Phoenix was punished with barrenness when his father invoked the 
assistance of the Furies against him: 3 

Many other instances occur in authors, as those of (Edipus, Theseus, 
and others produced by Plato, 4 where he endeavours to prove that the 
gods were always prepared to hear the prayers and revenge the injuries 
of parents. Nor was the punishment of this crime only left to be exe- 
cuted by the gods, but frequently inflicted by human appointment. Solon 
ordered all persons who refused to make due provision for their parents to 
be punished with ar/^/cs, ignominy. 5 The same penalty was incurred 
by those who beat their parents. Neither was this confined to their im- 
mediate parents, but equally understood of their grandfathers, grand- 
mothers, and other progenitors. 

When persons admitted to appear for the office of archon were ex- 
amined concerning their life and behaviour, one of the first questions 
proposed was, whether they had honoured their parents ; if they were 
found faulty in this respect, their suit was rejected. 

Yet there were some cases in which that lawgiver excused children 
from maintaining their parents, as when they had been bred up to no 
calling or profession, by which they might be enabled to subsist in the 
world; for the care and trouble of parents in educating their children 
being the main foundation of those duties they were to expect from them, 
their default herein was thought to absolve the children from their alle- 
giance. In like manner, such as were prostituted by their parents were 
not compelled to maintain them. 6 The sons of harlots were also declared 
to lie under no obligation of relieving their fathers, because they who 
keep company with harlots are not supposed to design the procreation of 
children, but their own pleasure, and therefore have no pretence to up- 
braid those with ingratitude, whose very birth they made a scandal and 
reproach to them. 7 

As the unkindness of parents was made a sufficient excuse for children 

1 Hesiod. Oper. et Dier. i. 13. 4 De Legibus, xi. 6 ^schines Orat. in Timarch. 

2 Odyss. 134. 5 Laertius Solone. 1 Plutarchus Solone. 

3 Horn. Iliad. .'. 454. 




And while in wrath to vengeful fiends she cries, 
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arise 
Abhorr'd by all, accurs'd my name would grow, 
The earth's disgrace, and human kind my foe. 



POPE. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



665 



to deny them relief in their old age, so the disobedience or extravagance 
of children, whether natural or adopted, 1 frequently deprived them of the 
care and estate of their parents: yet the Athenian lawgiver did not allow 
fathers to disinherit their children from passion, or slight prejudice, but 
required their appearance before certain judges appointed to take cogni- 
zance of such matters, where, if the children were found to deserve so 
severe a sentence, the public crier was ordered to proclaim, that such a 
person rejected the criminal, whose name was then repeated, from being 
his son; hence, to disinherit a son is called asroa^la/ tov vlov, and the 
person so disinherited uTOKn^vjcro;? To be disinherited was likewise 
called !«snV<rs/v too ytvoug, to be received again, ecvaXa/tifioiviffticii 11$ to 
yivos. It may be farther observed, that parents were allowed to be re- 
conciled to their children, but after that could never abdicate them again, 
lest ocTTi^ocvrot ruv vruiSajv c&l <npu(>ieiu t xa) <po(ho$ aittos, the punishments of 
children should become endless, and their fears perpetual? 

When any man, either through dotage or other infirmity, became unfit 
to manage his estate, his son was allowed to impeach him before the 
(jp£eiro£t$) men of his own ward, who had power to invest the son with 
the immediate possession of his inheritance. There is an allusion to 
this law in Aristophanes, who has introduced the son of Strepsiades 
exclaiming: 4 

ol' pot, rl Spdc-co TrapatpoovovvTos rov vrarpSs ; What course pursue with one, whose reason wan- 

ndrepof napavolas avrov do-ay*ya>v e\to ; ders 

Woe is me 1 Out of all course ? Shall I take out the statute, 
How shall I deal with this old crazy father ? And cite him for a lunatic ? MITCHELL. 

And there is a remarkable story concerning Sophocles, who being accused 
by Iophon and his other sons, of neglecting his affairs through dotage, 
read to the judges his tragedy called (Edipus Coloneus, which he had 
then lately composed, and was acquitted. 5 

1 Demosthenes in Spudiam. (the Lacedaemonians excepted), adroit : but if they were caught 

2 Hesyctiius, v. dTroK^pfKToj. consisted of four principal in the theft they were whipped. 

3 Isajusde H<ered. Cironis. branches, namely, the Gymnastic Their learning indeed was but 

4 Nub. act. iii. sc. 1. Exercises, Letters, Music, and small: yet they were taught to 
m 5 In order to prevent the vices Painting. Of the first branch express themselves with purity 
inseparable from idleness, great we have already treated. We and conciseness : hence the word 
care was early taken to accustom must now give a short account of laconic, from Laconia, the pro- 
children of both sexes to indus- the three other branches. Before vince in which Sparta was situ- 
try. The tender years of the doing which, however, it will be ated. At the age of eighteen, 
boys were employed in learning proper to say a few words upon they had combats with each other 
the elements of the arts and the education of the Spartan in the gymnasium; and from 
sciences, whilst the girls were youth, as it differed much from this time they were chiefly en- 
closely confined to the house, al- thatof the other Greeks. gaged in military exercises, so 
lowed little food, and their waist With the Spartans, domestic that the Spartans hare been 
was bound about, to render them education ceased at the age of called a nation of warriors, 
nrreeiegant. They were chiefly seven years. Children were By Tpd^ura, letters, we are 
employed in carding wool, spin- then given up to the public offi- to understand r P a W *»™*'? (rijvr,, 
ning, and weaving; although cers, who divided them into understood), which, in its early 
young ladies of the highest birth classes, at the head of which was state, consisted in the art of 
were instructed in music and li- a young chief, called EX pr ,v, a reading and writing with proprie- 
terature, and both girls and boys youth of twenty years of age, who ty ; but it was afterwards great- 
were taught in public schools. gave lessons to his class, and ly extended, comprehending his- 

> If the lathers of the boys were took the lead of them all in their tory, poetry, eloquence, and li« 

rich, or persons of distinction, sports and exercises. terature in general, and was 

they had private masters for Their hair was cut off; and called *t\oAoyt'a. 

them ; called nai<5* ya . y ot, or Uai- they walked barefoot, to accustom Young men possessed of liber- 

&»T P L0* h who instructed them in themselves to the rigour of the al fortunes, also studied philo- 

the hne arts. ^ seasons. Stealing was encour- sophy. For this purpose there 

I ha education of the Greeks, aged, in order to make them were Gymnasia and public 
3 K 3 



6C6 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



CHAP. XVI. 



OF THEIR TIMES OF EATING. 



The following account of the Grecian entertainments may not unfitly be 
divided into five parts, wherein shall be described, 
1. The times of eating. 



schools in different parts of 
Greece. The principal schools 
at Athens were the Academy, 
the Lyceum, and the -R.w6oa.p- 
■yay. 

As this seems to be the most 
appropriate place, we will here 
say a few words upon their ma- 
terials for writing. 

Ink, called usAav, or /iAav ypa- 

<ptKov, writing ink, was made 
sometimes from the blood of the 
cuttle-fish, which was very 
black ; but generally from soot, 
burned with resin and pitch, and 
diluted. This soot was taken 
from furnaces constructed on pur- 
pose, having no passage for the 
emission of the smoke. Ink was 
also made from the lees of wine, 
dried and burned. 

Paper, the general term for 
which was x°-p t vs, w as made 
from several materials. 1. From 
the skins of beasts, prepared like 
our modern parchment : this was 
the most durable. 2. From the 
bark of a tree. 3. From the 
Egyptian Hawpos, papyrus (from 
which our word paper is derived), 
a kind of flag which grew in the 
river Nile. These flags were 
dipped into the water of this 
river, which was of a glutinous 
quality, and then pressed and 
dried in the sun. 

Thin sheets of lead, or layers 
of wax, were also used for writ- 
ing: in which case they employ- 
ed the hard styli. 

The ctvXos, stylus , or pen, was 
made of various substances. 
"When they wrote upon wax, 
lead, or any hard substance, the 
stylus was made of iron or ivory. 
It was round, with one end large 
and smooth, for erasing any mis- 
take ; the other terminating gra- 
dually in a point, with which in- 
cisions were made in the plates, 
similar to modern engraving. — 
When softer substanceswere used, 
such as parchment, they wrote 
with pens made of the quills of 
birds, or of a small and thin 
reed, called K a\afj.o S , something 
like our alder. 

The word noveucr], the music- 
art [rex**) understood), was ap- 
plied by the Greeks indifferently 
to melody, measure, poetry, 
dancing, gesticulation, &c. 

It seems to have derived its 
name from the nine muses, or 
from the Hebrew word moiar, 
C^DO), art, science. 

There were seven musical 
notes which were consecrated to 



the seven planets:— 1. 'r^or^ 

to the moon. 2. UzpVTrdrr]. to 

Jupiter. 3. At^aviy, to Mercury. 
4. User,, to the Sun. 5. liapa- 

fj-iarj, to Mars. 6. Tplr-n, to Ve- 
nus. 7. Nr/Tj?, to Saturn. 

The tone, mode, or key, whe- 
ther grave or acute, in which the 
musician sang or played, was 
termed Nd^oy. 

There were four principal N<J- 
(iot, or modes; the Phrygian, 
which was religious ; the Doric, 
martial ; the Lydian, plaintive ; 
and the Ionic, gay and flowery. 
Some add a fifth, the iEolic, 
which was simple. The mode 
used to excite soldiers to battle, 
was called "OpStoy. 

In later times, the term No/xot 
was applied to the hymns which 
were sung in those modes. 

Their music was either vocal 
or instrumental. 

Their musical instruments 
were divided iato 'EuTrvgtfora, 
wind instruments, and'Evrara, or 
Net-pJogTa, stringed instruments. 

The three principal instru- 
ments of the ancients, were the 
lyre, thejlute, and the pipe. 




The lyre, called KcSapa and 
$op[Acy%, was the most famous of 
the stringed instruments- It was 
played upon by heroes and 
princes, in singing of love, or of 
the exploits of valiant men ; and 
as the honour of its invention is 
ascribed to Apollo, he is some- 
times called $opfj.iKT7)s, and the 
lyre itself Mvrvp vftywv, the mo- 
ther of songs. 

The strings were at first of 
linen thread: afterwards of cat- 



strings, hence the lyre was term- 
ed Tpt X op6ot afterwards it had 
seven strings, and was called 
'EwTa^-op<5oy, «7ria^S<ryyoy, iirra- 
yXaioo-oy. 

The strings or chords were 
touched either with a bow, or 
with the fingers. To play on 
the lyre was called Ki£api'?str, 
Kpoustv 7rA?i*Tptt>, AaitTvXoif >epov- 
mm, and CaXAeiv. 

AdXos, thejlute (see page 495), 
was a celebrated instrument, used 
at their sacrifices, their festivals, 
at their games, entertainments, 
and funerals. The straight flute 
is said to have been invented by 
Minerva; and the curved flute 
by Pan. In Scripture, Jubal is 
mentioned as its ii.ventor. 

The flutes were generally 
made of the bones of stags or 
fawns, and hence called N6#p«o» 
avXol, from v£^poy, a fawn. They 
were also made of the bones of 
asses and elephants, sometimes 
of reeds and canes. 

Sufiiyf, the pipe {see page495) t 
differed greatly, in sound, from 
the flute. The tones of the 
flutes were sharp and shrill, and 
hence they were called Aem-a- 
\sai : those of the pipes were 
grave, full, and mellow, and 
theretore they were called papii- 

Music was regarded as an in- 
dispensable part of Grecian edu- 
cation. It was thought to exert 
a very strcng influence, not only 
on the minds, but on the b"dies 
of men, and is said to have cured 
various diseases. 

Pointing was so fashionable an 
art, as to be considered an es- 
sential branch of polite educa- 
tion, and the Greeks, it is pro- 
bable, learned the art from the 
Egyptians. 

This art was termed ypafuch* 
from the verb ypd<psiv, to paint. 
It was also called XwypatpiKri, 
{rix**i being understood. ) 

In the infancy of painting only 
one colour was used; at length 
they used five, and afterwards 
many more; and so imperfect 
was the art in its origin, that 
the first painters were obliged 
to write, at the bottom of their 
pictures, the names of the ob- 
jects they had attempted to re- 
present. Since no terms expres- 
sive of painters or painting are 
used by Homer, it may be in- 
ferred that the art was unknown 
or little practised in his time. 

The instruments and materi- 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 667 



2. The several sorts arid occasions of entertainments. 

3. The materials whereof those entertainments consisted. 

4. The ceremonies before entertainments. 

5. The ceremonies at entertainments. 

The times of eating, according to Athenseus,i were four every day. 1. 
'Ax^n^a, the morning meal, so termed because it was customary at this 
time to eat pieces of bread dipped in wine unmixed with water, which in 
Greek is called ux^ktcv. This meal, which was taken about the rising of the 
sun, is by Homer called eioitrrov, either tcrro rod oat guv, from its being first 
taken away; or rather ccvro rov aoitrrxv, because the heroes immediately 
went to the war from this meal, and there valiantly behaved themselves. 2 
Sometimes it was termed huvwrteftost jentaculum, breakfast. 2. AsJVvav, 
so named because after this meal ^/Vm/v, it was usual to return to the 
war, or other labours : whence it is sometimes synonymous with agitrrov, 
being taken for the morning meal, as Athenseus hath observed from the 
following verse of Homer, in which the heroes are said to put on their 
armour after the htvrvov. 

Oi h' a.%a, Zutfvov iXovr , ocxo o avrou Swg'/iinrovTO, 

3. Aukivov, sometimes also termed la-vrigtorftu, the afternoon meal. 4. 
Aogvros, the supper, (which afterwards among the later Greeks was termed 
litwvov,) so named from IxuiPtros, that meal being eaten orxv ih ro Ixvuv 
toosom^x, the last before we go to sleep. Philemon, as he is cited by 
Athenteus, thus enumerates the times of eating: 1. 'A^a^^a. 2. "Apitr- 
rov. 3, 'Efl'flrs^/^as. 4. A'Stvov. But most authors agree, rpitr) rpoipxTg rovs 
vrxXa,iou$ xgrnrtloci, that the ancient Greeks had only three meals a-day, and 
leave out the third meal, called luXtv'ov. And they who have accounted 
^uXtvov, or ifffrUio-poi, a distinct meal from the 'Sogtros, seem to have had no 
better foundation for that distinction than that verse of Homer, 

> ffv d 'i^io SzizKiYjO'Gts' 

where the word htiXwtrx;, by a mistaken interpretation, was understood of 
taking meat; whereas it was only meant of abiding or remaining in a 
certain place in the afternoon. And this sense of that passage was, in the 
opinion of Athenseus, so certain, that in another place 3 he pronounces 
those men to be yiXotov;, o\ (pdo-xovrs; on ritrffxgxi IXctftfiecvov r^otya;, ridi- 
culous, ivho say that the ancient Greeks used to eat four meals a-day. 

Others are of opinion that the primitive Greeks had only two meals 
a-day, the xoio-rov and Yootfos, and that the rest are only different names 
of these. A thenaeus himself affirms,* that no man can be produced, tfxpa, 
ru tfowrri rp); Xct/xfioivav rootyxg, eating thrice a-day in Homer. And it 
cannot be doubted that in those early ages the mode of living was very 

als used in painting were, oxpt- (pap/taxa, the prepared colours; of the Greeks, and Cicero de Se- 

Pas and Ka\v3as, the easel, or S.v»n, the flowers; yp*<pls, the style; npctute, Auctor Vitae Sophoc. 

frame on which they placed the irroypafU, the pencil. Aristophanis Scholiastes ad fla- 

canvass ; jr*Va? and v-tva/ciov, the The outlines, or the sketch, nas. 

canvass; Xj7«u0oi, little boxes, in were called viroriirwot^ inroypa- 1 Lib. i. 9. 

which the painters kept their <pr), <rma, and oxiaypacpta. 2 Schol. in. Horn. Iliad. 

colours; kipok, the max; xp">- The finished picture was 3 Lib. v. 4. 

|i*t», the unprepared colours ; termed tlniiv.— Social Condition 4 Loc. cit. 



C6S 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



frugal and temperate. It was thought sufficient if they had a moderate 
breakfast, and after the business and labour of the day, refreshed themselves 
with a plentiful meal. Hence Plato wondered that the Sicilians and Ita- 
lians should eat two plentiful meals every day; and amongst the Greeks it 
was accounted extravagance to breakfast or dine to the full ; neither was 
it thought convenient by Cicero the Roman, 1 bis in die saturum Jieri y 
1 twice a-day to eat to the full ;' and so temperate were the ancient Romans, 
that v ties et rusticos cibos ante ipsos focos sumpserunt, eosque ipsos capere 
nisi advesperam non licuitp ' they lived upon very mean food, and used not 
to allow themselves that till the evening;' whence Isidorus, 3 explaining the 
words ccena and vesperna, by which the supper or evening meal is signi- 
fied, adds, that dinners were not used. 



CHAP. XV 11. 

OF THE SEVERAL SORTS OF ENTERTAINMENTS. 

In the primitive ages, 4 ira-tra ovp<zw'iov ffwaywyri <njv alr'iav us Btov a»s- 
(pzgz, all meetings at entertainments were occasioned by their devotion to 
the gods; neither was it usual either to indulge themselves with the free 
use of wine or dainties, unless they did it on a religious account; 5 for on 
festival days they used to rest from their labours, and to live more plenti- 
fully than at other times, believing that the gods, on such occasions, were 
present at their tables. 6 

men:ce credere adesse Ceo*. 

And inconsequence of this opinion, ras zooras erwQ/ovus xcti xeo-fitus hvyov, 
they behaved themselves with sobriety and decency at their festival enter- 
tainments; neither did they drink to excess, but having moderately 
refreshed themselves, offered a libation to the gods, and then returned home. 7 
Afterwards, when a freer mode of living was in use, we find mention of 
three sorts of entertainments ; itA.cx.7riv, yoipos, and 'i^ctvos, 

EjX«!T<v. r\ yx/AOi, \ti) ovx t^ccvog ra, $i y' sct/j-. 3 

Hence there are commonly said to have been three distinct sorts of enter- 
tainments among the ancient Greeks ; but these may be reduced to two, 
tlXasftvn and soum, under one of which yapos, the marriage entertainment, 
may be comprehended. The first of these (il\a,*Un), sometimes termed 
ivoj^lx, and a.cvpfio'kov ^iitrvov, was an entertainment provided at the ex- 
pense of one man: on the contrary, 'igavos was an entertainment made at 
the common charge of all present, being so named uvo rov ffuvtoav xcu 
ffVfjMp'zguv zxacrrov, because every man contributed his proportion, 9 this 



1 Tusculan. Quaist. V. 

2 Salvianus, 1. 

3 Origiiiibus. 



4 Athen. v. 

5 Id. ii. 

6 Ovid. Fastor. v. 



7 Athen. viii. 16, sub fineta. 
6 Horn. Odys. a'. £26. 
9 Athen. viii. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. CC9 



entertainment was sometimes termed Slxtog- hence the guests, who are 
more commonly named Icavto-rou , were called erwhctirMrcti. The contri- 
bution of each guest was termed av^ooa, ucrQoox, xarnfioXv, trvpifioXh, &c 
hence the entertainment was named ^uxvov a-'j^o^rov, o-vpfiokipxTovi avro 
cv^oXri',. x,a.ra.i$o\iov, and sometimes to be xotvou, &c. At Argos they 
called the contribution by a particular name, ;^v. The persons who col- 
lected the contributions were called by the same name with the guests, 

iOOCVtffTCH. 

Hither may be referred ^uvrvov o-uvaytoytpovj mentioned in the Fragments 
of Alexis, which is by Menander termed erwocyaytov. Both names are 
derived from trwdyuv, which, by a particular use, signified pir aXXrikuv 
tr'ivuv, to drink together. But whether this entertainment was the same 
with Uavos is not determined. 1 

As/Vva imVofftpcc, or, si* Iv/Sopx-nov, were entertainments in which some 
of the guests contributed more than their exact proportion ; to do which 
is termed ivrtiihomi. 

To this place also must be reduced to aero <r<pruo'idos> in Latin called e 
sportuld cosna: when any man having provided his own supper, puts it into 
a basket, and goes to eat it at another man's house. 2 Different from this 
was the Roman sportula, which was an alms received by clients from their 
rich patrons, in a basket of that name, of which we have frequent mention 
in Juvenal, Martial, and the histories of the Roman emperors. This cus- 
tom is also mentioned by Hesychius, who tells us, that uvro ovrufios htr- 
viiv signifies to receive in a basket a piece of silver, or fragments of meat 
instead of a supper. Which explication of that expression, though rather 
taken from the writers of the Roman than Grecian affairs, gave occa- 
sion to the mistake of Meursius, who, in his learned Commentary upon 
Lyeophron, confounds the Grecian a&ogis with the sportula of Rome. 

The ioxvot being provided at less expense than other entertainments, in 
which one person sustained the whole charge, were generally most fre- 
quented, and are recommended by the wise men of those times as most 
apt to promote friendship and good neighbourhood. 3 They were also for 
the most part managed with more order and decency, because the guests 
who ate of their own collation only were usually more sparing than when 
they were feasted at another man's expense. 4 And so different was the 
behaviour at their public feasts from that at private entertainments, that 
Minerva in Homer, having seen the intemperance and unseemly actions 
of Penelope's courtiers, concludes their entertainment was not i^kvos, pro- 
vided at the common charge, but il*.a,<?h, or yupo;, and furnished at the 
expense of a single person. 5 

They who were present without contributing towards the entertainment 
were termed uiruftfioXor in which condition were poets and singers, and 



1 Athen. sub finem, viii. 340. 5 Odvss. a'. 226, 

2 Idem. Ioc. cit. 4 Eustath. Comment, in Cdys. 

3 Hesiod. Oper. et Dier. ii. a', p. 50, ed. Basil. 



670 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



others who made diversion for the company; hence that saying of Anti- 

phanes. 1 

'A K avrva yap ad loiSol Svo/xtv. We singers always feast without smoke. 

For akccxvo. S-uuv, to feast or kill without smoke, is a proverbial phrase for 
such as partake of entertainments without the charge and trouble of pro- 
viding them ; whence in Leonides's epigram to Caesar, there was this ex- 
pression : 

KaXXtdims yip HicaTrvov del Swoj. Calliope always kills without smoke. 

By which is meant, that the Muses and their favourites are always en- 
tertained at other men's expense: hence also u,avy.$o\o$ is sometimes taken 
for a useless person who is maintained by other men, and contributes 
nothing towards the charge; as, for example, in Plutarch, 2 where he relates 
the celebrated fable of Menenius Agrippa, in which the rest of the mem- 
bers are said to accuse the belly, piows oc^yoZ x,cu kevpfio'kov xccfafypivou, 
that when they ail had some use or employment, she alone remained idle 
and contributed nothing to the common service. 

It must not be omitted, that there were in many places public entertain- 
ments, at which a whole city, or a tribe, or any other body or fraternity of 
men were present; these were termed by the general names ovtrff'inu, 
Trxv^cc'ttrnu, &c, or sometimes from the body of men who were admitted, 
^rifAoSotviai, liltfvu Itnuocria,, and liyuorixcc, (pgargixoij (pvXirmk, &C, accord- 
ing as those of the same borough (Sj?^?), fraternity, (jpgargia), or tribe, 
(jpvXh), met together. And the provision was sometimes furnished by 
contribution, sometimes by the liberality of some of the rich, and some- 
times out of the public revenue. The design of these entertainments, 
which, in some places, were appointed by the laws, was to accustom men 
to parsimony and frugality, and to promote peace and good neighbourhood. 
They were first instituted in Italy by king Italus, from whom that country 
received its name. 3 The next to these, in order of time, were those 
appointed by king Minos in Crete, after whose example Lycurgus insti- 
tuted the public entertainments at Sparta, though the name was varied ; 
for 4 the Cretans termed their Syssitia, or public entertainments, avbguu, 
and the Lacedaemonians, (puYiriix,' yet this difference was not primitive, 
if we may believe Aristotle, who affirms that anciently the Lacedaemonians 
did not use the name of <puYiria,, but that of avhffua, which was the Cre- 
tan word. These entertainments were managed with the utmost frugality, 
and persons of all ages were admitted, the young being obliged by the 
lawgiver to repair hither, as to h^cctrxaXua, o-Mipgoo-uvns, schools of temper- 
ance and sobriety, where, by the example and discourse of the more aged, 
which was generally instructive, they were trained to good manners and 
useful knowledge. The Athenians had likewise their Syssitia, particu- 
larly that in which the senate of five hundred, together with such as, for 
the public services, or the eminent merit of themselves or their ancestors, 



1 Athen. i. 7. 

2 Coriolauo. 



3 Aristot. De Repub. vii. 10. 



4 Plut. Lyeurgo. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 671 



were thought worthy of this honour, were entertained at the public 
expense ■ many others, both at Athens and in other places, are mentioned 
by the Greek authors. 



CHAP. XVIII. 



OF THE MATERIALS OF WHICH ENTERTAINMENTS CONSISTED. 



In the primitive times, men lived on such fruits as sprung out of the earth 
without art or cultivation, and desired no sort of drink but that which the 
fountains and rivers afforded. 1 iElian, describing the most ancient food of 
several nations, reports that at Argos they fed chiefly upon pears, at Athens 
upon figs, in Arcadia upon acorns ; 2 and so celebrated were the Arcadians 
for living upon that sort of diet, that they are distinguished 3 by the name of 
fiakav/KpcZyot, acorn-eaters. Most of the other nations of Greece also made 
use of acorns. Hence it was customary at Athens, when they kept their 
marriage festivals, for a boy to bring in a bough full of acorns, and a plate 
covered with bread, proclaiming, "E<puyov xc&zov, tvoov ci^uvov, I have escap- 
ed the worse, and found the better; which was done in memory of their 
leaving the use of acorns for that of bread. At Rome, also, the corona 
civica was composed 4 of oak-leaves, because that tree afforded the most 
ancient food ; for the same reason, some of the trees which bear acorns 
were termed in Greek q>a.yoi, from Qoiyuv, to eat, and in Latin esculi, from 
esca, food; 5 and, as Macrobius 6 has observed, "Ancient authors have 
either delivered upon their knowledge, or feigned, that in the first ages, 
men lived upon acorns and berries, and were for a long time unacquainted 
with the art of ploughing the earth for corn;" nevertheless they believed 
that in the golden age, when men enjoyed all sorts of plenty and prospe- 
rity, the earth produced corn without cultivation. 7 But this age being 
expired, the earth, as they imagined, became unfruitful, and men falling 
into extreme ignorance and barbarity, lived 8 not unlike to brute beasts, 
till Ceres taught them the art of sowing, and several other useful inven- 
tions, the memory of which was celebrated many ages after on their festival 
days. The first whom Ceres taught to sow and till the ground was Trip- 
tolemus, by whom that knowledge was communicated to his countrymen, 
the Athenians. Afterwards, she imparted the same art to Eumelus, a citi- 
zen of Patrae in Achaia, by whom it was first introduced into that country, 
as it was also by Areas into Arcadia. 9 Some farther state that the invention 
of making and baking bread is due to Pan. We must not omit to mention 
that barley was used before any other sort of corn ; for it is reported that 



1 Lucret. v. 935. 

2 Var. Hist. iii. 38. 

3 Lycophro. v . 482. ubi conf. 
Commentarii, 



4 A. Gellius, v. 6. 

5 Isidorus Orig. xvii. 7. 

6 In Somnium Scipionis, ii. 10. 

7 Hesiod. Oper.et Dier, i, 116. 



SMacrob. Oper. loc. cit. 
9Vid. Pausanias Att-cie, 
Achaicis, Arcadicis. 



672 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



this was the first food which the gods imparted to mankind and that it 
was the most ancient sort of victual, appears both from the custom of the 
Athenians mentioned by Menander, and from the name of those gladiators 
who are called hordearii, from the Latin name of barley. 2 But in more 
civilized ages, barley bread came to be the food of beasts, and of the poor, 
who were not able to furnish their tables with better provision. In the 
Roman camp, 3 soldiers who had been guilty of any offence, were fed with 
barley instead of bread-corn; as, for example, in the second Punic war, 
where the cohorts which lost their standards had an allowance of barley 
assigned them by Marcellus. 4 Augustus Csesar commonly punished the 
cohorts which gave ground to the enemy, by a decimation, and allowing 
them no provision but barley. 5 

The first ages of men wholly abstained from flesh, 6 from an opinion 
that it was unlawful to eat, or to pollute the altars of the gods with the 
blood of living creatures. Swine were used for food first of all animals, 
being wholly unserviceable for all other purposes, and having, in the lan- 
guage of Cicero, 7 animam pro sale ne putrescant, 6 lives only, instead 
of salt, to keep them from putrefying/ On the contrary, for several ages 
after flesh came to be eaten, it was thought unlawful to kill oxen, because 
they are very serviceable to mankind, and partners of their labour in cul- 
tivating the ground. 8 It was also unusual to kill young animals (hence 
Priam is introduced by Homer reproving his sons for feasting upon young 
lambs), either because it savoured of cruelty to deprive those of life that 
had scarce tasted the joys of it, or that it tended to the destruction of the 
species; whence, at a time when sheep were scarce at Athens, there was 
a law enacted to forbid utzktou ugvog yivzcQou, the eating of lambs ivkich 
had never been shorn. Neither did the ancients seek for dainties or 
rarities, but were content with sheep, goats, swine, oxen, (when it was 
become lawful to kill them,) what they caught in hunting, and what was 
most easy to be provided, and aflbrded the most healthful nourishment. 
Hence all the Greeks in Homer live upon a simple diet; young and old, 
kings and private men, are contented with the same provision. Aga- 
memnon entertains Ajax, after his combat with Hector, with the chine 
of an ox, as a reward of his valour. Alcinous, king of Phseacia, who 
affected a more splendid and delicate way of living, feeds upon beef. 
Menelaus sets before Telemachus a chine of beef at the marriage-feast of 
his son. And the courtiers of Penelope, though given to all sorts of 
pleasure, are never entertained with either fish or fowl, or any delicacies. 
This has been observed by Athenseus;9 who has likewise remarked, that 
Homer's heroes neither boil their meat nor dress it with sauces, but only 
roast it. This was in most places the ancient way of dressing meat; 
hence Servius also affirms, 10 that in the heroic ages they did not eat 

1 Artemidor. i. 71. 5 Sueton. in Octav. cap. 24. cap. de Sucrinciis. 

2 Plin. Nut. Hist, xviii. 7. 6 Plato, vi. de Legibus. Por- 9 Lib. i. p. 9. 

3 Veget de re Militaxi, i. 13. phyr. 10 In iEneid. i. 

4 Plutarchus, Marcello. Lir. 7 Lib. ii. de Natura Deorum. 
xxvii. 8 Arclutologiaa hujus lib. ii. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 673 



boiled flesh, and that among the Romans the primitive diet was roast, 
then boiled, and last of all broths came into use. Nevertheless, as Athe- 
nncus has elsewhere taken notice, even in Homer's time boiled meat was 
sometimes provided ; which appears both from that entertainment in the 
Odyssey, where an ox's foot is thrown at Ulysses; it being well known 
that (in that author's words) £ no man ever roasts an ox's foot ;' and also 
from the express words of the 21st Iliad: 1 

'Qj li \ipm ?T«I ev&ov s-rretySfievos irv e l vaXXf, As when the flames beneath a caldron rise, 

Kvlovy fj, t \o6fxivos avaXoTpoipsos aciXoto. To melt the fat of some rich sacrifice. POPE. 

This was the mode of living among the ancient Greeks; the Lacedze- 
monians of later ages were not less temperate than their ancestors, so 
long as they observed the laws of Lycurgus. They had their constant 
diet at the ffutrtrlria, or public entertainments, wherein the food was ex- 
tremely simple, of which each person had a certain proportion allotted. 
The chief part of the provision was /xiXxs &/u,h, the black broth, peculiar 
to that nation, which was so unpleasant that a citizen of Sybaris happening 
once to be entertained at Sparta, cried out, 1 that he no longer wondered 
why the Lacedaemonians were the most valiant soldiers in the world, 
when any man in his sound mind would rather die a thousand times than 
live on such vile food.' 2 And it is reported that Agesilaus distributed 
certain sweetmeats, which had been presented to him by the Thasians, 
amongst the slaves, saying, i that the servants of virtue ought not to in- 
dulge themselves with such delicacies, it being unworthy of men of free 
birth to share those pleasures by which slaves are allured.' For this rea- 
son the cooks of Lacedsemon were ' only dressers of flesh, and they who 
understood any thing farther in the art of cookery were banished from 
Sparta, as the filth of men, infected with the plague.' 3 Hence Mithsecus, 
a very eminent cook, designing to follow his profession in that city, was 
immediately commanded by the magistrates to depart. 4 This custom 
was not unlike that of the ancient heroes, who kept no cooks, but some- 
times dressed their own provisions. 5 

Ta^vf v <5' S.pi <5Zo$ 'AjiXAst-y, Achilles at the genial feast presides, 

Kal to. eZ ^iVruXXs, Kal d/xp' 'opeXoloiv lirtt.pt. The parts transfixes, and with skill divides. POPE. 

Sometimes the xrtovxis, heralds, those servants «v^<yvrs S-zwvrz, of gods 
and men, as they are called by the poet, who were not only employed in 
civil and military affairs, but also performed many of the holy rites at 
sacrifices, served as cooks; and hence the ancient cooks are by some 
authors reported to have been §vriz,r,s 'iparitpm, skilled in the art of divin- 
ing by sacrifices, and ^0'iffros.vro yotpuv xcct Sutriwv, had the management 
of marriage-feasts and sacrifices . 6 

But in other cities of Greece, and in later ages, the art of cookery was 
in better esteem, though even Heraclides, and Glaucus the Locrensian, 
who wrote books concerning it, affirm, ' that it was unworthy of the 

1 Vers. S62. . 4 Maximus Tyr. principle Dis- 5 Horn. Iliad, ix. v. 2C9. 

2 Coiif. Athen. iv. 6. p. 133. sert. vii. 6 Ather.acus, xiv. 22. 

3 x'Eiianus, xiv. 7. 

3 i 



674 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

meanest person who was free bom.' 1 The Sicilian cooks were prized 
above all others. 2 Mithaecus before-mentioned was of that nation ; and the 
Sicilians were so remarkable for their luxurious way of living, that 2<xs- 
"kiw <r£cl<z's£cc 1 a Sicilian table, was a proverbial phrase for one furnished 
very profusely and luxuriously. 3 

Next to the Lacedaemonian tables, those of Athens are said to have 
been furnished most frugally, the Athenian soil being unfruitful, and un- 
able to supply more provision than was just necessary for the support of 
its inhabitants. Hence Lynceus the Samian is cited by Athenaeus for 
contemning the Athenian entertainments: 4 

M.ciyu%, o B-veov o t$si&vi£cov 7 tfJtX, 

Au'xvois' ot.Y^icc yoig i<rriv Arnxvi. 
And the same author goes on in his description of the meanness of the 
provisions at Athens, which were so exceedingly parsimonious, that Dro- 
meas, an Athenian parasite, being asked whether the suppers at Athens 
or those at Chalcis were more magnificent ? replied, that the vrgootptov, 
first course, at Chalcis was preferable to the whole entertainment at 
Athens. Hence to live 'Arnxvgas, like an Athenian, is to live penuri- 
ously. An example of which proverb we find cited by Athenaeus out of 
Alexis, who has there also left us a large description of an Athenian 
entertainment.^ 

From the Grecian meat, let us, in the next place, proceed to their 
drink. In the primitive times, as has been already observed, water was 



1 Athen. xiv. 23. 

2 Ibid. loc. cit. 

3 Suidas. 

4 Lib. iv. 3, 5. 

5 At Athens, before each 
meal, and between each course, 
water was poured upon the 
hands : iu the use of perfumery 
they were profuse. Oil from 
Egypt was applied to the feet: 
the palm tree furnished ointment 
for the bosom, sweet-marjoram 
for the hair and eyebrows, wild- 
thyme for the arms. The room 
was fragrant with cinnamon and 
frankincense, myrrh, musk, cam- 
phor, and cassia. The feast had 
commonly three courses: the 
first provoked appetite, rather 
than satisfied it, by sharp herbs, 
eggs, oysters, asparagus, olives, 
and a mixture of honey and wine. 
The third consisted of sweet- 
meats, with Thasian, Lesbian, 
and Chian wines. But it was on 
the second course especially that 
Athenian cooks exercised their 
art, and Athenian epicures their 
appetite. Poultry and fish were 
its chief materials. Of the latter, 
a fragment of a comedy, by Mne- 
stniachus, enumerates, in a bill 
of fare, twenty -six different 
kinds ; the names of which are 
translatable, with a reasonable 



probability of correctness. The 
shop of the Athenian poulterer 
also ottered a tempting variety 
to the palate; ducks, pigeons, 
pullets, becaficas, quails, thrush- 
es, larks, redbreasts, woodcocks, 
turtle - doves, partridges, and 
pheasants. Byway of stimulants 
to the appetite, were used, pick- 
led radishes, olives, onions, cole- 
wort, garlic, gourds, beans, or 
lettuce. Athens was celebrated 
for its pastry; Cappadocia for a 
species of bread, made of milk, 
oil, salt, and flour of wheat; 
Bceotia for eels; Salamis for 
ducks ; Euboea for apples ; Phoe- 
nicia for dates ; Corinth for 
quinces ; Naxos for almonds. 
Xenophon remarks, that from the 
extent of their commercial trans- 
actions, the Athenlms learned 
different modes of "good liv- 
ing:" " whatever," says he, " is 
delicious in Sicily, in Italy, Cy- 
prus, Egypt, Lydia, Pontus, in 
Peloponnesus, or anywhere else, 
is collected at Athens. Nor did 
the taste of the epicure fail to 
discriminate amidst variety : ac- 
cordingly, he rejoiced in tunny- 
fish from Tyre, a kid from Melos, 
turnips from Mantinea, cheese 
from Sicily, radishes from Tha- 
sos, beet root from Ascra. Ma- 



terials collected by so wide a 
search abroad, were employed 
with great culinary skill at 
home: nor were the secrets of 
this art transmitted along the 
line of cooks only by oral tradi- 
tion. Archestratus wrote ex- 
pressly on the subject: frag- 
ments of his works are preserved 
in Athenaeus, together with some 
ancient receipts— the singularity 
of which may excite a smile, 
without any strong regret that 
they are now superseded. Flour 
was kneaded with aromatic 
herbs and blossoms ; sesame, 
with honey and oil; pounded 
barley, with oil and lamb gravy: 
a pig might be served up with 
the skin unbroken, and stuffed 
Avith thrushes, yolks of eggs, 
oysters, and various other shell- 
fish. A wild boar's liver was 
esteemed a delicacy; also a 
lamb's head, and a sow's belly 
seasoned with cummin and vine- 
gar; small birds were dressed 
with sauce of scraped cheese and 
oil. A fragrant cake might be 
made, by bruising rose leaves in 
a mortar, mixed with the brains 
of birds and pigs, and the yolks 
of eggs, with oil, pepper, and 
pickle, boiled over a, slow fire.— . 
Social Conditio?! of the Greeks. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



675 



the general drink, with which they were supplied from the nearest foun- 
tain. Afterwards hot fountains came into request, from the example of 
Hercules, who being very much fatigued with labour, refreshed himself 
at a hot fountain, which;, as fables tell us, was discovered to him by 
Minerva or Vulcan ; and this sort of water was thought extremely bene- 
ficial on similar occasions. Hence Plato 1 commends his Atlantic island, 
which he describes to be the most delightful country in the world, on 
account of its hot as well as cold fountains ; and Homer relates that one 
of the fountains of the river Scamander was exquisitely cold, and the other 
hot f yet it will be difficult to infer from Homer that hot waters were 
drunk in the heroic ages ;3 they seem only to have been used for bathing, 
unless prescribed by the physicians, as was usually done to old men, and 
others who had weak stomachs. Certain, however, it is that, at least in 
later ages, hot waters were in request amongst the Greeks, and from 
them came to be used at Rome ; hence the Roman authors mention the 
use of them as a Grecian custom.4 

Quo Chium pretio cadum 

Mercemur ? quis aquam temperet ignibus ? 

Where Acron explains temperet by tepefaciat ; nam tepefactis aquis sole- 
bant Grceci vinum temperate : ' for the Greeks/ says he, 1 used to temper 
their wine with warm water/ 5 

But there is more frequent mention of cold water than of hot, both in 
the Greek and Roman authors ; and in order to drink it exquisitely cold, 
it was customary to temper it with ice, which they had several methods 
of preserving through all the heat of summer: Plutarch 6 relates that it 
was usual to wrap it in" cloths and straw; hence St Augustine asks, 
6 Who has endued the straw with such a degree of cold as to preserve ice, 
or with so much heat as to bring unripe fruit to maturity? 7 Chares the 
Mitylemean reports, that when Alexander the Great besieged Petra, a 
city of India, he filled thirty ditches with ice, which, being covered with 
oaken boughs, remained a long time entire. 7 The custom of preserving 
ice was so common amongst the Romans, that they had shops in which it 
was publicly exposed to sale; whence Seneca thus inveighs against the 
Roman luxury and extravagance : 8 ' The Lacedaemonians banished the 
sellers of ointment, and commanded them to be gone with the utmost 
speed out of their country; what would have been done had they seen 
shops for the depositing and preserving of ice ?' 

The invention of wine was ascribed by the Egyptians to Osiris, by the 
Latins to Saturn, and by the Greeks to Bacchus, to whom divine honours 
were paid on that account. It is reported by Hecatceus the Milesian, 
that the use of wine was first discovered in iEtolia, by Orestheus the son 
of Deucalion, whose grandson (Eneus, the father of iEtolus, from whom 

1 Critia. 4 Plaut. Curculione. Horat. 6 Svmpos. vi. 

2 Iliad. x >. V47. Horat. iii. Od. 19. 7 Allien, iii. 36. 

3 Jul. Poll.ix. (j, Cjzif. Athcn. 5 Conf. Athenaeus, ii. 2. 8 Natur. iv. 
iii. 35. 

3 l 2 



676 GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

that part of Greece received its name, was so called from olvx), which was 
the old name of vines. Others derive oho; t the name of wine, from this 
(Eneus, who, as they report, was the first who discovered the art of press- 
ing wine from grapes. 1 Others will have the vine to have been first dis- 
covered in Olympia, near the river Alpheus ; of which opinion was Theo- 
pompus of Chios. And Hellanicus reports that it was first known at 
Plinthion, a town of Egypt ; hence the Egyptians are thought to derive 
their immoderate love and use of this liquor, which they thought so neces- 
sary to human bodies, that they invented a sort of wine, made of barley, 
for the poorer sort, who wanted money to purchase that which was pressed 
from grapes. 2 

In Greece, the matrons and virgins drank wine, as appears from the 
examples of Nausicae and her companions in Homer. 3 And because the 
same freedom was rarely allowed that sex in other countries, the Grecian 
women were ill thought of on that account. 4 It was likewise customary 
to give it to children, unless the management of Achilles was different 
from that of other infants. 5 

The wine was generally mixed with water, 6 and hence drinking cups 



1 Athen. initio ii. 

2 Conf. Athenssus, sub finem 

i, 

3 Odyss. vi. 

4 Conf. Athenaeus, x. 

5 Horn. Iliad. .'.484. 

6 Amphictyon is reported to 
have issued a law, directing that 
pure wine should be merely 
tasted at the entertainments of 
the Athenians ; but that the 
guests should be allowed to drink 
freely of wine mixed with water, 
after dedicating the first cup to 
Jupiter the Saviour, to remind 
them of the salubrious quality of 
the latter fluid. However much 
this excellent rule may have 
been occasionally transgressed, 
it is certain that the prevailing 

Sractice of the Greeks was to 
ritik their wines in a diluted 
state. Hence a common division 
of them into iro\v<pngot., or strong 
win^s, which would bear a large 
admixture of water, and oXtyo- 
#opoi, or weak wines, which 
admitted of only a slight addi- 
tion To drink wine unmixed 
was held disreputable; and those 
who were guilty of such excess 
were said to act like Scythians — 
inioKvQiaat. To drink even equal 
parts of wine and water, or, as 
we familiarly t p rm it, half and 
half, was thought to be unsafe: 
and, in general, the dilution was 
more considerable; varying, ac- 
cording to the taste of the drink- 
ers, and the strength of the 
liquor, from one part of wine and 
four of water, to two of wine and 
four, or else five parts of water, 
which last seems to have been 
the favourite mixture. From 
the account which Homer gives 
of the dilution of the Maroneah 
wine with twenty measures of 



water, and from a passage in one 
of the books ascribed to Hippo- 
crates, directing not less than 
twenty-five parts of water to be 
added to one part of old Thasian 
wine (De Morb. iii. 30), some 
persons have inferred, that these 
wines possessed a degree of 
strength far surpassing any of 
the liquors with which we are 
acquainted in modern times, or 
of which we can well form an 
idea. But it must be remem- 
bered, that the wines in question 
were not only inspissated, but 
also highly seasoned with vari- 
ous aromatic ingredients, and 
had often contracted a repulsive 
bitterness from age, which ren- 
dered them unfit for use till 
they were diffused in a large 
quantity of water. If they had 
equalled the purest alcohol in 
strength, such a lowering as 
that above described must have 
been more than enough ; but 
the strong heterogeneous taste 
which they had acquired would 
render further dilution advisable; 
and, in fact, they may be said to 
have been used merely for the 
purpose of giving a flavour to 
the water. In the instance cited 
from Hippocrates' works, the 
mixture with Thasian wine is 
prescribed for a patient in fever, 
and can therefore he regarded as 
nothing more than a mild diluent 
drink. 

Since water, then, entered so 
largely into the beverages of the 
ancients, neither labour nor ex- 
pense was spared to obtain it in 
the purest state, and to ensure 
an abundant supply from those 
fountains and streams, which 
were thought to yield it of the 
most grateful and salubrious 



quality. It is related of Ptolemy 
Phihdelphus, that, after the 
marriage of his daughter with 
Antiochus, king of Syria, he 
caused her to be constantly pro- 
vided with water from the Nile, 
in order that she might not have 
occasion to drinjc any other: and 
the king of Persia, as we learn 
from Herodotus, would use only 
that of the river Choaspes ; and 
in all his journeys and expe- 
ditions, part of his equipage 
consisted of a number of four- 
wheeled wagons, drawn by 
mules, and bearing a quantity of 
this water, which was preserved 
in silver vessels, having been 
previously boiled (Herod. Hist. 
Clio.). The exertions of the Ro- 
mans to procure a liberal distri- 
bution of this necessary of lifa 
are well known. They were not 
content, like modern nations, to 
fill their cisterns from a muddy 
river, or a putrid canal; but they 
sought for the choicest springs, 
and conveyed the waters of 
them, often from a great dis- 
tance, clear and uncontaminated, 
into their cities, by means of 
those majestic aqueducts, of 
which the ruins strike us with 
astonishment, and must always 
be regarded as among the noblest 
monuments of ancient art. Of 
these, the Aqua Marcia so called 
from Ancus Marcius, who first 
brought it to Rome, was held in 
peculiar estimation, on account 
of its extraordinary freshness 
end purity (Plin. Hist. Nat. 
xxxi. 3.), and appears to have 
been preferred by the Romans 
to all others, for the purpose 
of diluting their wines (Tibul. 
Eleg. ii. 7.) 
In order more effectually to 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



677 



were called x^av^tst 1 vra^a, ro xigoi<rcc<70ou, from the mixture made in 
them: this derivation is mentioned both by the grammarians and Athe- 
naeus, and there are allusions to it in Homer; for the custom of drinking 
wine tempered with water existed in the time of the Trojan war and the 
most primitive ages : 2 

01 phv ap' oTvov spioyov Sri KprjTvovi *a\ vStop. Some mixed wine and water in the cups. 

Some ascribe the first use of it to Melampus,s others to Staphylus, the 
son of Silenus. Others report, 4 that Amphictyon, king of Athens, 
learned to mix wine with water from Bacchus himself, on which account 
he dedicated an altar to that god, under the name ofOgfaos, because from 
that time men began to return from entertainments sober, and otfo), up- 
right. The same king enacted a law, that only wine tempered with 
water should be drunk at entertainments ; which being afterwards disused, 
was revived by Solon. 5 There was no certain proportion observed in this 
mixture: some to one vessel of wine poured in two of water; others with 
two of wine mixed five of water ; and others more or less, as they pleased. 6 
The Lacedemonians used to boil their wine on the fire till the fifth part 
was consumed, and after an interval of four years, began to drink it. 7 

Nevertheless, most of the Greeks, and particularly the Lacedaemonians, 
sometimes axgawrsgav ar/vgiv, drank wine with little or no water, which 
they termed IvriffKvQlerut, to act like a Scythian ; for the Scythians were 
very much addicted to drunkenness, and used wine without water ; hence 
axoa.ro<7Tiiiv is commonly termed trnvQiffr) muv, or trxv&omuv' and oixgx- 
To^rocricc is called IxvQtxr, ^rotris' these expressions came into vogue at 
Sparta from the time that Cleomenes the Spartan, by living and convers- 
ing with the Scythians, learned to drink to excess and madness. 8 The 
Thracians also drank their wine unmixed with water; and both they and 
the Scythians were generally such lovers of it, that the women and all the 
men thought it a most happy life to fill themselves with unmixed wine, 
and to pour it upon their garments. 9 Hence also by &gaxiet vrgovrotns, the 

dissolve those wines which had prepared to fall in with the <pia\rj, ttot^oiov, «t>Ai?, Sevas, «v- 
becoine inspissated by age, the opinion of Bacci, who pronounces t*AXoi/, afj.<putvne\\ov, okvQo^kvu- 
water was sometimes purified by them to have been superior in 0iov, x&idoov, &c. Some of the 
boi'ing; and when the solution colou r , in brightness, and in names were derived from the 
was completed, the liquor was richness, to our modern Malm- form of the cup, others from the 
strained through a cloth, in seys, and other sweet wines (De materials of which it was corn- 
order to free it from any impuri- Nat. Vin. Hist.) Such methods posed. The ^avadXiov was a 
ties which it might have con- were by no means calculated to vessel with a narrow mouth, 
tracted (Mart. Ep. xii. 6i.) As enhance any one of these quali- which, when any thing was 
tli is operation, however, was apt ties in good wine; and it is ob- poured into it, produced a sound 
to communicate an unpleasant vious, that the repeated transfu- that seemed fiavtstv, to resemble 
taste, or at least to deprive them sions and changes of temperature the barking of a dog. — Paul, 
of their natural flavour, such must have tended to deaden and Robinson. 
persons as were nice in the dissipate a great portion of the 2 H >m. Odyss. a', 
management ef their wines a- aroma, on the retention of which 3 Athenagus, vi. 2. 
dopted the expedient of exposing the excellence of all wines so 4 Plinius, vii. 56. 
them to the night air, which was materially depends. — Hmd-er- 5 Athenaeus, ii. 2. 
thought to aNsist their clarifi- so?l's History of Ancient and Mo- 6 Idem, x. 8. 
cation, without impairing their dern Wines', pp. 98— 101. 7 Idem, x. 7. Geoponic. vii. 
other virtues (Hor. Sat. ii. 4 ) 1 The ancient Greeks seem to 4. Pallad. xi. tit. 14. 
That the liquors which had un- have drunk out of the horns of 8 Chaniaeleon Heracleota, de 
dergone these processes would oxen ; but in more modern times Temidentia apud Athenaeum, x. 
be rendered more potable and they used cups made of earth, 7. 

grateful than before, may be rea- wood, glass, iron, gold, and si I- 9 Athenaeus., x. sub fir.em cap. 

dily conceived; but I am not ver. A drinking cup was called 0. 

3 l 3 



678 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Thracian mode of drinking, was meant ux£etroxoffla. i drinking wi?ie not 
mixed with water} 

Some used to perfume their wines, and wine so used was termed oJvos 
fcvppiviryis, 2 and sometimes puffinus, for that word, according to Hesy- 
chius, signifies a potion mixed with odours. Different from this were 
the Murrhina of the Romans, and the Iffftuovurftivos ohos, wine mingled 
with myrrh, mentioned in St Mark's gospel, with which malefactors were 
commonly intoxicated before they suffered. Several other ingredients 
were mixed with wine; sometimes uXtplrct, meal, hence oTvos ocrnX^i- 
nuf&ivog, wine thickened with meal, which was very much used by the 
Persians. 3 They had also many sorts of made wines, as oivo; xgrfivos, 
wine made of barley, and o7vo; I-^'/itos, palm, wine, sometimes termed o%os 
l^rrTov, for o%og was a general name for all made-wines. 4 



1 Pollux, vi. 3. 

2 iElian, Var. Hist. xii. 31. 

3 Athena?us, x. 9. 

4 Among the Greek wines, 
the earliest of which we have 
any distinct account is the Ma- 
ronean; probably the production 
of the territory of that name on 
the cojst of Thrace, or of Isma- 
rus, near the mouth of the He- 
brus, where Ulysses received 
the supply which he carried 
with him on his voyage to the 
land of Cyclops. It was a black 
sweet wine-, and from the evi- 
dent delight with which Homer 
enlarges on its virtues, we may 
presume it to have been of the 
choicest quality. He describes 
it as " rich, unadulterate, and fit 
drink for gods," and as so po- 
tent, that it was usually mixed 
with twenty measures of water. 
Pliny mentions the growths of 
Maronea as being still in high 
estimation in his time, and of so 
strong a nature, that they were 
commonly drunk much diluted, 
namely, with eight parts of wa- 
ter to one of wine: and we col- 
lect from Dr Sibthorpe's obser- 
vations, that one of the species 
of grapes now cultivated in the 
island of Xante is called maron- 
ites ; the colour, however, is 
white. Other parts of Thrace 
were famous tor their wines, 
but Ismarus seems to have long- 
est maintained its credit (Ovid. 
Fast. iii. 409.) The black wine 
of Sciathos, mentioned by one of 
the poets, must have been of a 
much lighter quality, as it was 
drunk with only an equal mea- 
sure of water. 

The Pramnian, which was a 
red, but not a sweet wine, ap- 
pears to have been of equal an- 
tiquity; for we find Hecamede, 
under the direction of Nestor, 
preparing a copious draught of it 
tor Machaon, when he received 
the wound in his shoulder. Ac- 
cording to certain writers, the 
Pramnian was derived from the 
island Icarus, where there was a 
rocky hill of that name; < tfcers 



describe it as the growth of 
Ephesus, or Lesbos ; while some 
again suppose, that the appella- 
tion was intended to express its 
durable quality, quasi irapafxHvios, 
or denoted a particu'ar grape 
from which it was made (Athen. 
i. 24.) Be this as it may, we 
have sufficient authority for pro- 
nouncing it to have been a 
strong, hard, astringent liquor ; 
and perhaps we shall not err 
much, if we compare it to our 
common Port wine. It was nei- 
ther sweet nor thick, but austere, 
and remarkably potent and dura- 
ble ; in all which particulars it 
perfectly resembled the modern 
growth, to which I have ven- 
tured to assimilate it. Like Port, 
too, it was much commended for 
its medicinal uses, and on that 
account was sometimes called 
pharmacites. The Athenians, 
however, would seem to have 
had no relish for a beverage of 
this character; for Aristophanes 
tells us, ** that they disliked 
those poets who dealt in the 
rough and horrible, as much as 
they abominated the harsh Pram- 
nian wine, Avhich shrivelled the 
features, and obstructed the di- 
gestive organs." But in these 
respects it was far exceeded, if 
we may rely on the testimony of 
Alexis, by the Corinthian wine, 
which to drink, he says, was 
actual torture (Athen. i. 24.) In 
the age of Pliny, the Pramnian 
was still a noted growth of the 
vicinity of Smyrna. 

It was in the luscious sweet 
wines that the Greeks surpassed 
all other nations, and to this 
class the commendations of their 
later poets must be regarded as 
chiefly applying. They were, for 
the most part, the products of the 
islands of the Ionian andiEgean 
seas, where the cultivation of the 
vine was assiduously practised, 
and where the finest climate, and 
the choicest soils and exposures, 
gave to its fruit an uncommon 
degree of excellence. Lesbos, 
Chios, and Thasos, in particular, 



seem each to have contended for 
the superiority of its growths ; 
but several of the other islands, 
such as Corcyra, Cyprus, Crete, 
Cnidos, and Rhodes, yielded 
wines which were much esteem- 
ed for their sweetness and deli- 
cacy ; and it was from them that 
the greater part of Europe was 
supplied, till a comparatively 
recent period, with the richest 
sweet wines. 

It has been already observed, 
that these wines were not white, 
in the proper acceptation of the 
term ; but rather of a straw or 
amber colour, according to their 
greater or less age. This hue 
they would naturally derive from 
their being fermented along with 
the skins of the grapes, which 
were used in their ripest state, 
or after they had become par- 
tially dried, and which, being 
generally of the muscat sort, 
would impart a grateful perfume 
to the liquor, a quality on which 
the Greeks placed a due value, 
as may be seen from the frequent 
allusions to it by their poets. 
The aroma of the Saprian, which 
was probably Chian wine ma- 
tured by great age, was exqui- 
site. The Lesbian would seem 
to have been less odorous, but to 
have possessed a delicious fla- 
vour ; for it is said to have de- 
served the name of ambrosia 
rather than of wine, and to have 
been like nectar when old 
Athen. i. 22.) Horace terms 
the Lesbian an 'innocent' wine 
(Carm. 1. xvii. 21.) ; but it was 
the prevailing opinion among 
the ancients, that all sweet wines 
were less injurious to the head, 
and less apt to cause intoxica- 
tion, than the strong dry wines. 
By Pliny, however, the growths 
of Chios and Thasos are placed 
before the Lesbian, which, he 
affirms, had naturally a saltish 
t.iste; but the Clazomenian, 
which came from the coast of 
Ionia, and which was less adul- 
terated with sea- water, is sairl 
to have been preferable to all tli« 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. G?9 



CHAP XIX. 



OF THE CUSTOM BEFORE ENTERTAINMENTS. 



The person by whom the entertainment was provided was commonly 
named o itrnaru^ \<rrmv, Qivl^w, vvi; ffuvoutr'tizs hySfAwv, trvpirotriou cc^eov, 
et/ficz , ofiX(>x;o$, by the tragedians olxoozftwv, &c. 

The persons entertained by him were termed ^airv^ovi;, oaiTaXus,, 

trvfAfforctt, o-vvtiitfvoi, &c, and very often xknro), trvyzXyiroi, zvr'uckyiroi ; in 

which names is expressed the immediate cause of their meeting, which 
was xXrifft;, in Latin vocatio, an invitation or calling by the entertainer. 

The persons employed to invite the guests were called by the Romans 

others, on account of its purer this conjecture be well founded, Caesar by that voluptuous fe- 
flavour. The Thasian was a we may discover some analogy male, would appear to have been 
generous sweet wine, ripening between it and the best growths in still higher estimation, and to 
slowly, and acquiring by age a of the Rhine, which are obtained have borne some resemblance to 
delicate odour of the apple. The from a small white grape, and the Falernian (Luc. Phar. x» 
Chian, again, is by some writers are remarkable for their perma- 161.) The Tasniotic, on the other 
described as a thick luscious nency. A light rough wine, hand, which derived its name 
wine; and that which grew on named Omphacites, was procured from the narrow strip of land 
the craggy heights of Ariusium, in Lesbos and Thasos from a where it grew, was a grey or 
extending three hundred stadia particular species of grape, greenish wine {inr&% A»pos), of a 
along the coust, is extolled by which was gathered before it greater consistence and more 
Strabo as the best of all Greek, had attained its full maturity., luscious taste than the Mareotic, 
wines (Geog. xiv.) From Athe- and exposed to the sun three or but accompanied with some de~ 
naeus we learn, that the produce four days previously to pressure, gree of astringency, and a rich 
of the Ariusian vineyaids was After the lirst fermentation was aromatic odour. The wine of 
usually divided into three dis- over, the casks were kept in a Antylla, also the produce of the 
tinct species, — a dry wine, a sunny situation, till the vyine was vicin ty of Alexandria, was the 
sweetish wine, and a third sort sufficiently ripened (Diosc. ver. only remaining growth, from 
of a peculiar quality, thence 12.) among the numerous vineyards 
termed airoKparov (Lib. i. c. the above are all the principal which adorned the banks of the 
All of them seem to have been wines of Greece to which it is Nile, that attained any degree of 
excellent of their kind, and they possible to assign distinctive celebrity (Athen. i. 25.) Pliny 
are frequently alluded to in characters. But, besides these commends the Sebennytio wine, 
terms of the highest commenda- indigenous growths, the Greeks which he describes as made from 
tion (Virg. Bucol. ver. 71. Sil. were familiar with the produce three kinds of grapes, but with- 
Ital. vii. 210.) The Phanean, of the African and Asiatic wines, out affording the means of de- 
which is extolled by Virgil as of which seveial enjoyed a high termining its peculiar quality, 
the king of wines, was also the reputation, and may be consider- On the mountain Tmolus, in 
product of the same island. The ed as the parent stocks from Lydia, a brown sweet wine was 
wines of Naxos, Rhodes, and which the first Grecian vineyards produced, which is classed by 
Cos, on the other hand, were were supplied. According to Virgil and Galen among the 
still more liable to the censure F;orentinus, some of the Bithy- first-rate growths, but described 
passed on the Lesbian in Pliny's man wines, but especially that by Pliny as too luscious to be 
time; and those of Zante and procured from a species of grape drunk by itself, and as chiefly 
Leucadia had the character of called mersites, were of the tised for flavouring and correct- 
being heady. As the latter were choicest quality (Geop. ver. 2.); ing the harshness of other wines, 
prepared with gypsum, they the wines of Byblos, in Phceni- The Scybellites, so called from 
were probably of a drier nature, cia, on the other h^nd, vied in the place of its growth in Gala- 
and more potent quality, than fragrancy with the Lesbian; tia, is only noticed by Galen on 
the wines of the other islands. and, if we may confide in the account of its thickness and ex- 
Among the lighter kinds, the report of Athenajus, the white treme sweetness. The Abates, 
Mendean, which most likely took wines of Mareotis and Taenia, in which was a wine of Cilicia, ap» 
its name from Mende, a town in Lower Egypt, were of almost pears from his report to have 
Thrace, was a white wine, and unrivalled excellence. The for- been a sweetish wine, of a red 
of such moderate strength, that mer, which was sometimes called colour. The Tibenum, Arsynium, 
it bore dilution with only three Alexandrian, from the neigh- and Titucazenum, are enume- 
parts of water. For the manu- bouring territory, was a light, rated by the same author among 
iacture of it, the grapes, while sweetish, white wine, with a the lighter growths of his native 
still hanging on the vine, are delicate perfume, of easy diges- country: the two first were pro- 
said to have been sprinkled with tion, and not apt to affect the bably dry red wines ; the latter 
elaterium, which was supposed head; though the allusion of is described as a sweet wine, 
to impart a peculiar softness to Horace to its influence on the but not very rich or high-colour- 
the wine. The A rgitis, celebrated mind of Cleopatra would seem ed. They ripen the soonest of 
hy Virgil for its extraordinary to imply, that it had not always all the Asiatic wines. — Henriier* 
durability, and procured from a preserved its innocuous quality son's History of Ancient and Me* 
small grape abounding in juice, (Carm. I. xxxvii. 14.) The wine dern Wines, pp. 74 — 80» 
is also believed to have been a of Meroe, however, which was 
white wine (Georg. ii, 'J9.) If produced at the feast given to 



680 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



vocatores, and by the Greeks xxfoogtg, or ^uvrvoxX-nTo^is. They were 
also, though not so frequently, called \\iu,r^oi and ikuar^o), from Ikzos, 
the name of the table on which the provision was placed in the kitchen. 
Thus Ixsar^a}, according to Pamphilus in Athenseus, 1 are ' they who 
invite to the king's table/ Sometimes to invite was termed xuruyooi- 
Quv, to write down, from the custom of inscribing the names of the per- 
sons to be invited upon a tablet. The hour was signified at the invita- 
tion; and because they then numbered the hours by the motion of the 
sun, there is frequent mention, on these occasions, of <rxik, the shadow of 
the sun, and of trret^iiov, the letter of the dial. 2 Relations often went 
without invitation, as hath been observed 3 from that verse of Homer 
where he describes an entertainment at Agamemnon's tent: 4 

Valiant Menelaus came to him c&urof&<t<ros r 'that is, anv rod xk^^vai, 
without being invited. Such as were brought without invitation to the 
entertainment by some of those who had been invited^ were termed <rxia) 7 
shades, from their following the principal guests, as shadows do bodies. 
The same persons were by the Romans called umbrae? 

They who forced themselves into other men's entertainments were in 
Greek called p,v7cu, in Latin muscle, flies, which was a general name of 
reproach for such as insinuated themselves into any company where they 
were not welcome : thus the parasite is described by Antiphanes : 

AuttvCiv xxKtjtos, palx' e|sA0e7v, ^gsosg. 

In Plautus, 7 an entertainment free from unwelcome guests is called 
hospitium sine muscis, ' an entertainment without flies and an inquisitive 
and busy man, who pries and insinuates himself into the secrets of others, 
muscat In Egypt, a fly was the hieroglyphic of an impudent man, be- 
cause that insect, being beaten away, still returns again; 9 on which ac- 
count it is by Homer made an emblem of courage. 10 The same persons 
whom they termed muscce at entertainments, were called Muxovtoi, My- 
conians, from the poverty of that nation, which led them to frequent 
other men's tables oftener than was consistent with good manners; 
whence Pericles was reflected upon by Archilochus, 4 as one who in- 
truded into other men's entertainments, after the manner of the Myco- 
nians. 11 But the most common appellation of such men was that of vrotea- 
ffWoi, parasites : which word, in its primitive sense, signified only the 
companions of princes and men of quality (such were Patroclus to 
Achilles, and Memnon to Idomeneus), or those who had their diet at the 
tables of the gods ; 12 but it afterwards came to be a name of reproach for 



1 Athenaeus. iv. 21. 

2 Aristoph. Oncion. p. 744. 
Conf. ibi Schol. item Sunlas, 
voce Aexdirovs a«la, et Hesych. 

VOCe U/ea-rrovv aro^elof. 

3 A then. iv. 2Q. 



4 Iliad, pf. 408. 

5 Plut. Sympos. vii. 6. 

6 Horat. Sat. ii. 8. 22. Epist. 
i.5. 23. 

1 Poenul. act. iii. sc. 3. ver. 76. 



8 Mercat. act. ii. sc. 3. v. 26. 

9 Hor. Apoll. Hierogly. 
in Iliad. P '. 570. 

11 Conf. Athen. i. 7. 

12 Vide lib. ii. cap. de Sacer. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 6S1 



those who, by flattery and other mean arts, used to insinuate themselves 
to the tables of other men ; in which sense it was first used by Epichar- 
mus, and afterwards by Alexis nevertheless, it was common for friends 
and men of credit to visit one another's houses at the times of entertain- 
ment, without expecting a formal invitation, as appears from that saying 
cited by Eustathius: 2 

And that other in Plato; 3 

— ih oa°x> %<&( czyacQcov \irl "baTiToc^ 'iciffiv 

A'JTO/XCCTOi <x.yctQo i. 

Which is sometimes thus cited in one hexameter verse: 

AuropctTOi ct.yix.6o) kyccBSv isr/ $c&7tks 'ioutiv. 

The number of guests was unlimited : some chose to invite three, or 
four, or five at the most. 4 Among the ancients it was not usual for more 
than five to sup together. 5 In after times the numbers were indefinite. In 
the ffveaWiu,, or common meals, not above ten were admitted ; which, in 
the opinion of some, was the ordinary number of guests at entertainments 
in the primitive times ; and hence they think it is, that when Agamem- 
non in Homer 6 speaks of distributing the Grecian army at an entertain- 
ment., he mentions only ^x^sj, tens. But this must only be understood 
of the entertainments of private men. Princes often invited greater num- 
bers; Agamemnon in Homer entertains all the Grecian princes together; 
and Alexander the Macedonian is reported, before his expedition against 
Persia, to have furnished a tent with 100 beds for an entertainment. 7 And 
the same vanity by degrees crept in amongst private men, insomuch that 
in the time of Athenseus, 'fya.ppu.x.oeioi, infinite numbers, were invited. 
Hence, partly to prevent tumult and sedition, and partly to restrain the 
expensiveness and prodigality of their citizens, some lawgivers thought it 
necessary to limit the number of guests ; at Athens in particular no per- 
son was allowed to entertain above thirty at once. In order to put this 
statute in execution, certain magistrates, called Tuvcuzovoftoi, were obliged 
to go to entertainments, and to expel thence such as exceeded that 
number ; and the cooks who were commonly employed to dress the victuals 
at entertainments were obliged to give in their names every time they were 
hired .8 

It must farther be observed concerning the guests, that men and women 
were never invited together. 9 In this respect the Greeks differed from the 
Romans, amongst whom the women were allowed more freedom: 6 for 
what Roman,' to use the words of Cornelius Nepos, ' was ever ashamed to 
bring his wife to an entertainment ? And what mistress of a family can 

1 Conf. Athen. vi. 7. Pollux, 4 A then. i. sub finem 4. 7 Diod. Sic. p. 530. 

vi, 7. 5 Id. xv. 3. 8 Conf. Athen. vi. 11. 

•2 Comment, in Iliad. 8*. 6 Iliad. . 126. Confer Eu- 9 Gic. Orat. iii, in Verrera. 

3 Sympoisio. stath. p. 144, edit. Basil. 



682 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



be shown, who does not inhabit the chief and most frequented part of the 
house ? whereas in Greece she never appears at any entertainment except 
those to which none but relations are invited, and constantly lives in the 
innermost part of the house, which is called yvvauuafTrts, the women's apart- 
ment, into which no man, except near relations, has admission. 1 

Before they went to an entertainment, they washed and anointed them- 
selves, for it was thought very indecent to go thither defiled with sweat 
and dust. 2 They who came off a journey were washed and clothed with 
apparel suitable to the occasion, in the house of the entertainer, before they 
were admitted to the feast : thus we find in Homer, where he describes 
the reception of Telemachus and Pisistratus by Menelaus-. 3 

"Ej p ZtrapCveovs fiavres Iv^ktrrovf Xovaavro' Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, descend : 

Tot-? <5' sttsI oZv 6/jia>a.l Ao5<mv, Kal ^pto-av IXalcp, Where a bright damsel-train attend the guests 

, K f i<pl f s. ? a ^AcuVas oCXay pdXov t?c« X lT£iva -*-\ With liquid odours, and embroider'd vests. 

*Ef pa Spdrooj U^ovto irap' "Arpe'ilTjv McrcAaor. Refresh'd. they wait ihem to the bower of state. 

From room to room their eager view they bend; Where circled with his peers Atrides sate. POPE. 

The same persons also washed their hands before they sat down to 
meat. 4 

It was also customary to wash between every course, and after supper. 
Hence Homer introduces his heroes ^uvucvvra;, cpiXovv-a;, ura a.trovi4>a- 
yAvov; cron7 craXiv^u^rvouvra;, supping, conversing, then washing, and after 
that again slipping; and Aristophanes speaks of bringing v^uo Kara, x^Z * 
fjcira, T^a-yrl^ag, water to wash the hands after the courses, 5 By those who 
spoke accurately, to wash the hands before supper was termed vtyaerfat, to 
wash after supper, a^ov^zo-^ai. Hither are to be referred the words 
uffopaZ i a.<r$ai ) lva<zro{4a%a<r0ai, 0.^0^7^01, and the like, which signify to wipe 
the hands. The towel was termed Ixputyziot, %uooftaxT£ov, &c, instead 
of which the ancient Greeks used u-7ro{*a,yoa>Jai, which were the soft and 
fine part of the bread, which afterwards they cast to the dogs, hence asro- 
fia,y!ia.\ta.\s by the Lacedaemonians called zwd;. 

It is farther to be observed, that in the washing after supper they used- 
some sort of trpwyftu avrogv^ztv; %a£iv, stuff to scour the hands; 6 for which 
use nitre and hyssop are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. Lastly, upon 
washing, the hands were perfumed with odours. 

It may not be improper in this place to add something farther, by way 
of digression, concerning the custom of washing and anointing, which in 
Greece and other hot countries was so frequent. To wash is aTofanzov 
fih pwzrou, uva^vx/i; nvo§ a'/ncv, a means both to cleanse the body from 
filth and refresh it; whenever therefore they ceased from sorrow and 
mourning, it was usual to bathe and anoint themselves: whence Eurynome 
in Homer advises Penelope to leave off lamenting: 7 

X«jyr' anronii^auiv'/;, aa) tm^itroicra, craeuois, 

washing her body and anointing her face. s The ancient Greeks com- 



1 Cornel. Nepos praefat. in 3 Odyss. 48. 
Vitas Imperat. 4 Odyss. i', 0% 

■I Allien, it. 27. 5 Vespis. 



6 Athen. x. ult. 

7 Odyss </, J70 

8 Artemidor. i. 66. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 683 



monly bathed >5 vokipov xtzrua-Toi^Pa/xiM, w piya'kov vra.vtra.pzvoi -rovov, after 
the finishing of a u-ar, or any other great fatigue. Thus ? in Homer, Te- 
lemachus and Pisistratus are bathed and anointed at the palace of Mene- 
laus, after a long journey ; Diomedes and Ulysses, after their return from 
discovering the manner of their enemies' encampment, 'having bathed 
and anointed, sat down to supper.' In the heroic ages, men and women, 
without distinction bathed themselves in rivers; this we find done by 
Nausicae, the daughter of Alcinous, king of Phceacia; 1 and Europa, in 
Moschus,2 cleanses her body in the mouth of Anaurus. Helen also and 
her companions wash in the river Eurotas, 3 

"Anpes yap tratrai <r«vo^Xt««j, y j Sp6,uos avTo$ Her equals we in years, but not in face, 

Xpiaapiivatf avtpiorl -rra.p Evpiirao XorrpoTy, Our limbs diffusing with ambrosial oil, 

Terpa/cts e^^Kovra ic6pai, S^Ae? veo\ala. Were wont on smooth Eurotas" banks to toil 

Thrice eighty virgins of tne Spartan race, In manly sports. FAWKES. 

Though the expressions in these verses are manifestly accommodated to 
the institutions of Lycurgus, by which the virgins were obliged to bathe, 
and accustom themselves to such exercises as in that age were only prac- 
tised by the men ; hence the poet observes that it was done avtyrrt, after 
the manner of men; which would have been a very improper expression 
in heroic times, when it was customary for both sexes to use this diver- 
sion alike. But if the sea was within a convenient distance they commonly 
bathed in it rather than in the rivers, the salt water being thought 4 fjta.- 
Xiffra. <ro7? v-uooi; rfoocrtpooo;, conducive to the strengthening of the nerves , 
by drying up superfluous humours : thus Diomedes and Ulysses in Homer, 
after very great fatigue, 

17)%% srcAAev a--iviXov70 SruXoMrffy 

went into the sea, to cleanse themselves from sweat ; and they who lived at 
a greater distance from the sea sometimes removed thither for their health's 
sake. Of this we find an example in Minutius Felix, by one of the persons 
in whose dialogue it is resolved, < to go to the most pleasant city, Ostia, in 
order to enjoy the benefit of bathing in the sea, which is an easy and ex- 
peditious method of drying up the superfluous humours of the body.' Hot 
baths were also very ancient. 'HgaxXua Xovrax, the hot baths shewed by 
Vulcan, or as others say by Minerva, to Hercules, at a time when he had 
undergone a very great fatigue, are celebrated by the poets. Pindar 5 
speaks of S-sopcc vuftQa* Xovrox, the hot laths of the nymphs. Homer 
commends cne of the fountains of Scamander for its hot water. In the 
22d Iliad Andromache provides a hot bath for Hector against his return 
from the battle. Nestor, in the eleventh Iliad, orders Hecamede to make 
ready §ioun Xozrok, a hot bath ; and to mention but one instance more, 
the Phaeacians are said, in Homer's Odyssey, to place. their chief delight 
in 1 changes of apparel, hot baths, and beds.' Yet hot baths do not seem 



1 Horn. Od\ s. vi, 

2 Idyll, p. 3]. 



5 Olymp. xii, 



684 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



to have been then so much used as in later ages : and in the affirmation of 
Artemidorus, 1 that baths seem to have been thought hurtful by the ancients, 
is probably meant of hot baths only ; and then the following words, that baths 




were anciently never used but after some great fatigue, must be under 
stood in the same sense : however that be, it is plain, that the ancient 

- Greeks had no baths like those of 
later times, but washed in certain 
vessels called u,ffu.pivQoi, which 
word 2 signifies vrviXov, 
Xs%e&v/iv, a large basin or vessel 
to wash in, being derived sra^a 
to T5jv atrrrj /uivvhtv, from taking 
away the fdth of the body ; 
whence a<roc/Lttv0os is mentioned 
by Pollux amongst the A r essels 
which belong to balneos ; and 
the ancient Romans had a ves- 
sel in their own houses in 
which they washed, called lava- 
trina, or latrina, which was after- 
wards termed balneum; and 
when two baths came to be used, 
one hot and the other cold, in 
the plural balnea. 3 Public baths 
were unknown till later times: 




1 Lib. i. 66. 

2 Phavorinus V. kea^v^o^ 

Conf. id. V. (SalaveUv. 

3 Varro de L. L. Nonius Mar- 
cellus. 

Figs. 1 and 2 represent Tazzas, 
■which were large basins or re- 
fervoirs of water, set apart for 
the various lustrations "which 
in general use among the 



ancients. On fig. 1 it will be 
seen that the word A^oma is in- 
scribed, which denotes that _ it 
was intended for public use. Fig. 
2 is a two-handied Tazza, with 
knobs on the rim and handles; 
on the outside is a draped 
female with mirror and tympa- 
num. Fig. 3 represents the 
inside of the Tazza fisr. 2. In 
the centre a female figure is 



reaching a fan and tambourine to 
a naked youth, who holds in his 
right hand a patera and wreath. 
It is surrounded with an elegant 
pattern of leaves and berries, 
which, as well as the ornaments 
and figures, are beautifully touch- 
ed with white. From Sir John 
Coehill's collection. Diameter, 
I foot 3| inches. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



685 



Athenceus tells us that in his age, they were but lately come into use, arid 
that formerly no such places were allowed to be within the city. 
The baths commonly contained the following rooms : 

1. 'Afo^ur: no>, in which utfiSvovro ra. span*, they put off their clothes. 

2. 'Tvozxvo-rov, or <7rv£iarn(>iov, the sweating room, most commonly round, 
and provided with kv^ uxuwov, fire so contrived that it should not smoke, 
for the benefit of those who desired to sweat ; it was also termed Laconicum, 
from the frequent use of this mode of sweating in Laconia. 

3. BxtfTtG-rrigiov, a hot bath. 

4. Aout^&jv a cold bath. 

5. 5 ' AXutfrnoiov, the room in which they were anointed. 

After bathing they always anointed, either to close the pores of the body, 
which was especially necessary after the use of hot baths, or to prevent the 
skin from becoming rough after the water was dried off it. 2 If we may 
believe Pliny, 3 they had no better ointment in the time of the Trojan war 
than oil perfumed with odoriferous herbs, especially with roses ; whence 
poYow zXouov, oil mixed with roses, is mentioned in Homer's twenty-third 
Iliad, 4 where Venus anoints the body of Hector: 

Afjc^^oeriu ■ — 

To the same ointments he elsewhere gives the epithets of a^jS^icv, 
I^zxcv, and rifovpUov, 5 speaking of Juno: 

'Afifipoerl-r) fj.sv irpuirav ivro x?°°s Ipepttvros Her beauteous body with ambrosial lymph, 

Av/j.ara iravra Kadripev' a\el\p<i-ro is AtV eAa'oj Then polish'd it with richest oil divine 

'A/iiSpo<nVi £Sav$i t6 pa ol t %9vaifj,evov fa. Of boundless fragrance. CCnvPER. 

First, she laved all o'er 

But Athenssus is of opinion, that Homer was acquainted with the use of 
more precious ointments, but calls them oil, with the addition of an 
epithet to distinguish them from common oil. 6 The same observation is 
made by the commentators upon that poet, when they explain those words 
iboo^is sXuiov, perfumed oil : and it is well known that the Jews called all 
sorts of ointments by the name of oil ; the reason seems to have been, that 
oil was the first ointment; however the ancient heroes never used psZ^a., 
costly ointments. Athenseus himself acknowledges that Homer never in- 
troduces any of his heroes anointed with any ointment besides oil, except 
Paris, a soft and effeminate person, In more delicate ages, when very 
much of the primitive plainness was laid aside, it was still thought indecent 
by many for men to anoint themselves with precious ointments. Chrysippus 
would have the name of pv^ov derived un-o tov (aito. <7?oWoZ pogou xcu 
tf'oiov fAcx.ra.iou y'tn<r6a.i, from the vain and unprofitable labour of com* 
pounding it. And Socrates was of opinion, that the smell, as well as the 
garments of men and women, ought to be different ; that for women it was 
decent enough to smell of perfumed ointments, but that men should rather 

1 Lib. i, sub finem, 14. 3 Nat. Hist. iii. 1. 5 Iliad. 170. 

2 Conf. Eustathius in Iliad. 4 V. 186. 6 Lib. xv. 1 1. 

3 M 



686 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



smell of oil, which was used in the schools of exercise. Solon prohibited 
men from selling ointments ; and the laws of Sparta entirely forbade any 
person to sell them; 1 nevertheless, women, and some effeminate men, 
were so curious in their choice of ointments, that they could tell very 
critically what sort suited best with each member of the body; an example 
of this we will find in the following verses of Antiphanes, which are cited 
by Athenaeus: 

E« xevfroxoWYtTov ~h\ scatter ibo; pCgu 
AtyvsrrZa jjtiv rob; Trot as scat) rot oscite/iy 
<&oivist.'va) bs rob; yvotOov; scot) rot nrtiioi, 
S/j'yw^/vw e>s rov irtoov fioaf/javot, 
'AfActoctsciva hi rots ofgv; scot) rr.v scoiJt'w, 
'EiGfruXte'voj ro yovv stoti rov otv^iva. 

The feet being most exposed to dust and filth, were oftener washed and 
anointed than other parts of the body ; on which account they are by some 
thought to be called X^a^o) vr'oh; in Homer. Women were generally- 
employed to wash and anoint the feet, both in the heroic and later ages ; 
it was customary for them to kiss the feet of those to whom they thought 
a more than common respect was due ; thus the woman in the gospel 
kisses the feet of our blessed Saviour, while she anointed them. The same 
ceremony was performed towards Philoleon by his daughter, as himself 
relates in Aristophanes: 2 

zou a -at fJtiv Srvyctr^ fjti 

'Astov/^'/j stoti rob noV otXu'tp-/) scot) xgoo~stC*pxo'ct Qite^ff'/j. 

The first ceremony after the guests arrived at the house of entertain- 
ment was the salutation performed by the master of the house, or one 
appointed in his place ; to do this was termed by the general name of 
a.ff9rctl^i<T0oti, though this word in its strict sense, signifies to embrace 
one with arms around, being derived avro rov ctyotv e<7roto~8u.i us lotvrov rov 
'irigov, from forcibly drawing another to one's selfj 6 but the most common 
salutation was by the conjunction of their right hands, the right hand being 
accounted a pledge of fidelity and friendship; whence Pythagoras advised 
(jth vrctvri IpfiotWuv rhv hfyuv, that the right hand should not be given to 
every man, meaning that all persons were not fit to be made our friends. 
This ceremony was very ancient. 4 Hence 2s|/ ovo-Qcu is sometimes joined 
with ttaKaZsio-QKi, and is almost synonymous with it: 5 sometimes it is used 
figuratively for any sort of entertainment or reception. Thus we find 
tifyovoSott 2ociTi, li^ioveQoti r^atviZfl, tfyovvQai o^a/sois, ^zfyouffDott x^a-roT; 
Xoyot;, scot) i^yot;, &C 

Sometimes they kissed the lips, hands, knees, or feet, in salutations, as 
the person deserved more or less respect. There was a particular sort of 
kiss, which is called by Suidas ^y'r^sv, by Pollux xurgoc, the pot, when they 
took the person, like a pot, by both his ears; this was chiefly practised by 

1 Od. xv. 10. 3 Schol. Aristoph. in Plutum, 4 Horn. Odyss. y'. 33. 

2 Vesuis, p. 473. p. 77. 5 Aristoph. Pluto. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



6S7 



or towards children. We find it mentioned by Eunicus, 1 Tibullus,2 and 
Theocritus, from the last of whom it appears to have been sometimes used 
by men and women. 3 

The o-uests when admitted, did not immediately sit down at the table, 
which was accounted ill-breeding, but spent some time in viewing and com- 
mending the room and furniture. 4 



CHAP. XX. 



OF THE CEREMONIES AT ENTERTAINMENTS. 



The ancient Greeks sat at meat. There are three sorts of seats men- 
tioned by Homer : 

1. A/^ay, which contained two persons, as the name seems to import, 
and was commonly placed for those of the meanest rank. 

2. S/ovos, on which they sat upright, having under their feet a footstool, 
termed e^vy?. 




3. Khir/ios, on which they sat leaning a little backwards, as the word 
signifies. 5 

And it was not the custom in Greece only, but in most other countries, 
to sit at entertainments ; it was practised by the primitive Romans, as we 
are informed by Isidorus 6 and Servius?. And Philo has observed that 



1 In Antia, apud Julium Pol- 
loceni. 

2 Lib. ii. 

3 Idyll. 132. 

4 Aristoph. Vespis. 

5 A then, v. 4. 



cut, she is dressed in the Xtrwr 
and pepluni, and her head-dress 
is the tiara or crescent-formed 
A Grecian lady seated on a diadem, such as is worn by Juno 
GooVos, having jnder her feet a and Venus. 
ef,fjci'S,is represented in the above 

3 m 2 



(588 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 




Joseph ordered his brethren to sit according to their ages, the custom of 
lying at entertainments not having then obtained. 1 But afterwards when 
men began to be soft and effeminate, they exchanged their seats for beds, 
in order to drink with more ease ; yet then, the heroes who drank sitting 
were still thought praiseworthy ; and some who accustomed themselves to 
a primitive and severe mode of living retained the ancient posture. Tins 
was done by the Cynic philosophers. 2 

In Macedonia, no man was allowed to sit at meals till he had killed a 
boar without the help of nets. 3 Alexander the Great sometimes adhered 
to the ancient practice ; and once entertaining 400 commanders, he placed 
them upon silver seats, covered with purple cloth. 4 And in the most 
luxurious and effeminate ages, children were sometimes not permitted to 
lie down, but had seats at the end of their father's beds. In the time of 
Tacitus it was the custom for the children of princes, and the rest of the 
nobility of that age, to sit at their meals in the sight of their relations. 5 
Hence Suetonius, describing the behaviour of Augustus towards his grand- 
children, says that they always sat at the end of the bed when they supped 
with him. 6 The same author reports that the emperor Claudius always 
supped with his children, and some of the noble boys and maids, who 
according to ancient custom sat at the bottom of the bed. 7 The same 
place was commonly assigned to men of mean condition, when they were 
entertained by persons of superior rank ; hence in Plutarch, 8 the rest of 

1 Libro de Joseph, p. 555, edit. 7 Claudii, cap. 32. his head is decorated with a 
Francf. 8 Symposio Sapientium. crown of vine leaves, his neck 

2 PJaut. Stich. act. v. sc. 4, 22. with a wreath of roses ; by his 

3 Athen. i. 14. Thr- above cut represents a side is a tripod or small table, on 

4 1.1. ibid. Bacchanalian reclining on a which are to be seen fruits and 

5 Annal. xiii. KA«r^i$ ; in his one hard is a viands, from which he is regal- 

6 Augusll. cap. 64. *p° r '??) in the other a thyrsus; ing himself. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 689 



the guests lie down; only iEsop is placed upon a seat next to Solon. And 
Donatus reports, 1 that Terence being ordered to repeat some part of his 
comedies to Cseeilius, went to him at the time of supper, and being in 
mean apparel, was placed upon a seat near the bed ; but after he had 
recited a few verses was invited to lie down to supper. 

The manner of lying at meat was thus: the table was placed in the 
middle, round which stood the beds covered with cloth or tapestry, accord- 
ing to the rank of the master of the Louse : upon these they lay, inclining 
the superior part of their bodies on their left arms, the lower part being 
stretched out at length, or a little bent; their heads were raised up, and 
their backs sometimes supported, with pillows. 2 If several persons lay on 
the same bed, then the first lay on the uppermost part, with his legs 
stretched out behind the second person's back; the head of the second 
lay below the navel or bosom of the former, his feet being placed behind 
the third person's back ; and in like manner the third, fourth, fifth, &c. ; 
for though it was accounted mean and sordid at Rome to place more than 
three or four upon one bed, yet, as we are informed by Cicero, 3 the Greeks 
used to crowd five, and frequently a greater number, into the same bed. 
Persons beloved commonly lay in the bosoms of those who loved them ; 
thus the beloved disciple in the gospel lies in the bosom of our blessed 
Saviour at the celebration of the passover. 4 Thus also Juvenal 

Casna sedct, gremio jjacuit nova nupta mariti. Supper is set ; the new-married wife lay in the 

husband's bosom. 

At the beginning of the entertainment it was customary to lie flat upon 
their bellies, that so their right hand might with more ease reach the 
table ; but afterwards, when their appetites began to decrease, they reclined 
on their sides ; in this sense we are to understand the words of Plutarch, 6 
iKcttrrov sv ao^t) jttiv z<rt CTO^ct vroovivnv, awofiXttfovra, tfQOi <rhv T^dcTfi^ccv' 
vtrngov fMr/ztr^'/i/uccri^av \<tt) (hd.6o$ ^Xoctovs t«v Ka,<rotx\Yi<riv, or, as it 
should be read, Ku.ra.x,\tfftv t that at the beginning every one put his 
mouth fonvard, looking towards the table; but afterwards changes the pos- 
ture of his inclination from depth to breadth. Horace also alludes to this 
custom.7 

It was customary, from the heroic ages downwards, for the guests to be 
ranked according to their quality. It is evident that in Homer,s the chief 
persons had the uppermost seats at entertainments. Afterwards, at public 
entertainments, there was ovoftazXwrai?, nomenclator, a person appointed 
to call every guest by name to his proper place. But to determine in what 
order they sat, and which were accounted the chief places, is more difficult. 
It seems probable that the heroes sat in long ranks, and that the chief 
persons were placed at the head of each rank, on both sides of the table,. 



1 Terentii Vita. supported, irpoo «*0aWa. 6 Sympos. lib. v. quasst. 6. 

2 The coverings of the couches <> Orat. in Pisonem. 7 Lib. ii. sat. 4, v. 37. 
were called arp^ara ; the pil- 4 Joan. Evane;. xiii. 23. 8 fcustath. in Iliad, or'. 
lows by which the guests were 5 Sat, ii. v. 120. 

3 m 3 



690 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



which is the meaning of the word axgoi, uppermost; thus, 1 when Achilles 
entertains the embassadors of Agamemnon, he places himself uppermost 
in one rank, and Ulysses, as the principal ambassador, in the other: 



Neptune, though coming last to an entertainment of the gods, yet t^tr' 
lv f/icffoifTt, sat in the middle, that place being reserved as a right 
belonging to him. Jupiter was at the head of one rank; next to him, on 
the same side, sat Minerva, his daughter, who, on a certain time, gave 
place to Thetis, probably as being a stranger: 2 



Juno led the opposite rank; and being the wife and sister of Jupiter, 
neither gave place to Thetis nor any other,? The most honourable places 
in beds at entertainments were not the same in all nations. In Persia, 
the middle place was the chief, and was always assigned to the king, or 
to the chief guest; in Greece, the first or nearest to the table; and 
amongst the Heracleotte, and the Greeks who lived about the Euxine sea, 
the first place of the middle bed was the most honourable. At Rome, on 
the contrary, the last or uppermost place of the middle was preferred be- 
fore any other. 4 But they who affected a more free and easy way of 
living were not solicitous about places. An example of this we have in 
Timon, 5 who having invited men of all ranks, citizens, strangers, friends, 
and relations, to a splendid entertainment, desired every man to lie down 
in that place which pleased him best; nevertheless, men of proud tempers, 
even on such occasions, like the Jews, who were on that account reproved 
by our blessed Saviour, affected to have the chief places ; so it happened 
at Timon's entertainment, where many of the guests having taken their 
places, one in very fine apparel, and attended with a numerous retinue, 
came to the door of the room, viewed all the company, then presently 
retired ; and being followed by several of those who were present, and de- 
sired to return, replied there was no Jit place left for him. Some dis- 
posed their guests in such order as they thought most apt to promote good 
fellowship, placing men of the same years, of the same profession, or 
temper, next to one another; or tempering the variety of humours, by 
placing men of angry dispositions nearest the meek and gentle, those t)f 
silent tempers nearest the talkative: but in things of this nature there 
was no certain rule ; every man followed his own fancy ; and it is pro- 
pounded as a problem in Plutarch, 6 whether it was best to assign every 
man his place, or leave the guests to take the places which happened to 
them ? It is said to have been a very ancient custom at Lacedfemon, 
for the eldest person present to go before the rest to the beds at the com- 



1 Horn. Iliad. i. 217. qu.xst. 2. 5 Conf. Plut. i. qioest. i. 

2 Idem, »'. ItJO. 4 Conf. Plut i. quest. 3. 6 Lib. cit. 

3 Cunt'. PiUtarchus Synipos. i- 



arao vol* veZfitv 'A^'tXXeif , 



— Achilles serv'd the guests : 

Beside the tent-wall, opposite he sat 
To the divine Ulysses. C 



COWPER. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. £91 



nioii hall, unless the king gave the precedence to another by calling hiir. 
first. 1 

The table was accounted a very sacred thing, by means of which 
honour was paid to the god of friendship and hospitality. 2 This god was 
Jupiter, who, from his protection of guests and friends, received the titles 
of %iviog and <p'iXios. Hercules also had some care of this affair; hence 
he is called <rga,7ri£io$ and IvirgccTri^to;' neither were the rest of the gods 
thought to be wholly unconcerned. It was customary to place the statues 
of the gods upon the table ; whence Arnobius 3 derides the Gentiles f for 
consecrating their tables by placing on them salts and images of their 
gods.' They also offered libations to the gods upon their tables; hence 
Cleodemus in Plutarch calls it ' the altar of the gods of friendship and 
hospitality.' And according to the saying of Thales, 6 as the destruction 
of the earth would occasion disorder and confusion in all parts of the uni- 
verse, so the table being taken away, the whole house would presently be 
dissolved ; the holy fire, and hearth, and entertainment, which are the 
chief endearments of life, or rather life itself, would all be destroyed.' 4 
Hence we may learn why so much veneration was paid to the tables, that 
to dishonour them by any dishonest or indecent behaviour was thought a 
very great crime. 5 Complaints against such as perfidiously violated the 
regard due to the hospitable tables are very frequent in the poets: thus 
Cassandra in Lycophron 6 complains of Paris, who stole away Helena, the 
wife of Menelaus, by whom he had been courteously entertained: 

Aa|ci? 7§cc:r££o4j/, xdvotzv^oJ trees 3-e/xiv- 

Iii the heroic ages the tables were made of wood, polished after the best 
manner of those times, and the feet were sometimes painted with a 
variety of colours: hence the following epithets of tables in Homer, %z<rrh, 
ii%oo;, xvavoK&gcc, &c. The form was circular, if we may believe Myr- 
leanus, 7 who reports that the ancient Greeks made their tables, and 
several other things, spherical, in imitation of the world, which they be- 
lieved to be of that figure. But Eustathius, who is rather to be followed, 
observes, from several passages in Homer, that the tables were not then 
round, but extended in length; which figure is more agreeable to what 
has been before observed concerning the manner of their sitting in long 
ranks. The tables in those days were not covered with linen, but only 
carefully cleansed with wet sponges. Of this custom there are several 
examples in Homer. 8 And later authors speak of the like practice. 9 

In later ages, the tables of men of inferior rank were commonly sup- 
ported by three feet, and made of plain and ordinary wood ; but those 
which belonged to men of better condition were composed of more costly 
materials. The most curious sorts of wood were sought, and many times 



1 Eustath. in Iliad. /?'. p. 186. entum. 

:l Synes. ep. lvii. 5 Juv. sat. ii. 110. 

3 h.b. ii. contra Gentes. 6 Ver. 136. 

4 Pint, cojivivio septem S a p i - 7 Athen. xi. 12. 



SOdyss a'. 112. Id. Odyss. 
150. 

9 Arrian, vii, 26. 31art. Epig. 
xiv. 144. 



692 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



fetched from foreign countries for this use. They were also adorned with 
piates of silver or other metals, and supported by one or more feet, curi- 
ously wrought, and called, after the name of some of the ancient heroes, 
Atlantes, Telamones, &c. The most common support of these tables was 
an ivory foot, cut in the form of a lion, a leopard, or some other animal. 
Some have thought that in Homer every guest had a distinct table by 
himself, l and that the ancients used to eat by themselves; but as that is 
not sufficiently proved by the instances which are produced for that end, 
so, in the following ages, it was certainly accounted more unsociable and 
inhuman to eat in that manner, 2 which was nevertheless practised by some 
of the barbarous nations, and in particular, as Tacitus reports, by the 
Germans. 

T^asT-s in Greek, and mensa in Latin, are ambiguous words, and 
signify not only the tables, but also the meat placed upon them. 3 Hence, 
by Tgwrai, ^iungat, r^lrai T^jr^a*, and in Latin by prima, secundce, 
tertice mensce, are understood the first, second, and third courses of meat. 
This ambiguity of signification is thought by some to have been occasioned 
by the custom then in use, of bringing in and taking away the tables and 
the meat upon them together ; which opinion is confirmed by the follow- 
ing passage of Alexis in AthensBus: 4 

K6ff-/j.ou (2%'J6U(ra.v. 

There were therefore three distinct parts of the supper, which was their 
chief meal : 

1. Aiifvov Koooipiov, sometimes termed ^co^ofjcoc, was, as the names 
import, rather a preparation for, than any part of, the supper, and con- 
sisted of herbs of the sharpest taste ; in particular, at Athens, of coleworts, 
eggs, oysters, ohopiXi, a mixture of honey and, as it is probable, of the 
sharpest wiues, and other things which were thought to create an 
appetite. 

2. AtTvrvov, ccena, the supper, which was sometimes called xnpotxb 
^zivrvov, in Latin caput ccenac ; in this sense the following passage of 
Martial is by some understood: 

— mullus tibi quatuor emptus 
Librarum ccence pompa, caput que fu it. 

This course was always more plentifully furnished than the former; 
and hence the saying of Dromeas, 5 4 that the preface of the supper at 
Chalcis was to be preferred before the whole entertainment at Athens 
meaning by the preface of the supper the several sorts of shellfish, and 
other provision, which were consumed before the supper.6 

3. Aiuri^a, T^aTs^cc, the second course, which consisted of sweetmeats 
of all kinds, called T^y/i^ctTa,, roccy/i/^oiriirpiov, (Jca.TTVoii, r^uya.Xioc,, itfi- 



1 Athen. i. 8. 
t Idem, i. 8, 10. 



3 Jul. Poll. vi. 12. 

4 Lib. ix. 2. 



5 Vide p. 674. 

6 Athen. iv. 4. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 693 



Vocxirpa, Wiboo'zrto'pa'rx, iTTiQooYipcnot, itfldwrva, fAsradoginx, &C. ; and by 
the Dorians, who called entertainments oukXu. and awaiz^ua, termed 
ivctljtXucz.i This course was furnished with the utmost splendour, espe- 
cially in ages addicted to luxury; and hence it was sometimes, by way of 
eminence, called rod^s^a,, the course? But in this sort of provision, the 
Greeks were very much excelled by the Persians, who used to say, * that 
the Greeks leave off eating while they are hungry, because nothing of any 
value is ever set before them after supper ; and yet if any thing is pro- 
duced they still eat on.'' 3 

Sometimes the three forementioned provisions were called t^t», Ibv- 
rtpetof rotm rgutfi^Xj the first, second, third course, the 'zooo'iptov luvrvou 
being reckoned a part of the supper, and making the first course; and 
where there was a great variety of dishes, a paper was delivered to the 
master of the feast, containing a catalogue of all the dishes which the 
cook had provided, and this was communicated by him to the guests as 
occasion required, that each of them might choose what pleased him best. 
It is not, however, to be imagined, that the Grecian suppers always con- 
sisted of such a variety of dishes or courses; whatever might be the 
custom at the tables of princes, and others of the first rank, the rest were 
content with meaner provision for their ordinary diet, and in the heroic 
ages had rarely more than one course, except on the festivals of the 
gods, or on other special occasions, when they allowed themselves more 
freedom. 4 

The ancients had so great a sense of the divine providence, that they 
thought it unlawful to eat till they had first offered a part of their provi- 
sion, as a sort of first-fruits to the gods. This custom was so religiously 
observed in the heroic ages, that Achilles, though disturbed by the am- 
bassadors of Agamemnon at midnight, would not eat till an oblation was 
offered : 5 

Qeotai is 5D<rat dviiyet The first fat offerings, to the Immortals due, 

TldrpoxXov ov kraigov. 6 6' sv irvpl /SaXXe 5»7?Xaf. Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw.— POPE. 

And Ulysses, in another place of Homer, reports, that in the den of 
Polyphemus, himself and his fellow-soldiers were not unmindful of this 
duty. 6 

In the entertainments of Plato and Xenophon, we find oblations made ; 
and, to forbear the mention of more examples., the neglect of this duty 
was accounted a very great impiety, of which none but Epicurus, and 
others, who worshipped no gods at all, would be guilty. 7 The first of 
these oblations was always made to Vesta, the chief of the household 
gods; afterwards they worshipped some of the other gods; and, last of 
all, offered a libation to Vesta. 8 The reason why this goddess had this 
honour paid her, was either because she, being protectress of the house. 



1 Conf. A then. iv. 8. 

2 Ibid. xiv. 1|„ 

3 Herod, i. n3. Athen. iv. 10. 



4 Conf. Athen. xiv. 10. 

5 Horn. Iliad. t '. 219. 

6 Ibid. Odyss. ix. 2ol. 



7 Athen. iv. 27. 

8 Hynuio in Vest, et llfereur. 
ver. ■!. 



694 



GRECIAN AiVTIQUITIES. 



was, in Cicero's language, 1 rerum custos intimarum, 'keeper of things 
most concealed from public view ;' or because she, being the same with 
the earth in the estimation of the people, was the common principle out 
of which all bodies are produced, and into which they are again resolved ; 
or, lastly, this privilege was conferred by Jupiter, for the service done by 
Vesta in his war against the giants: 2 hence came the proverb, 'E<r<r<a? 
ao%t<r0xj, to begin with Vesta, 3 by which was intimated that our domestic 
concernments ought to be our first and chief care. 

During the entertainment, all the guests were 
appareled In white, or some other cheerful colour;" 1 
and, to use Cicero's words, 5 Quis unquam ccenavit 
atratus ? 4 What person was ever found to sup in 
black ?' That colour was reserved for times of 
mourning. It was also customary to deck them- 
selves with flowers, or garlands composed of flowers, 
which were provided by the master of the feast, and 
brought in before the second course, or, as some are 
of opinion, at the beginning of the entertainment. 6 
They not only adorned their heads, necks, and 
breasts, but often bestrewed the beds on which they 
lay, and every part of the room ; but the head was 
chiefly regarded. 7 

Garlands are by some thought to have been an 
invention of Prometheus, who first prescribed the u?e of them, that men 
might, by that emblem of his bonds, commemorate the punishment which 
he had suffered for his kindness to them. To this opinion the following 
verses of iEschylus seem to allude: 8 

TSj hi %sva) y& ffriQotvM) otg%c&7ov tfriQos 
Atcrixcov oi°icrTO$ Ik TLi>ofj,%di&); Xo-yov. 

Others say that Janus invented garlands, ships, boats, and the art of 
coining money ; 9 and hence it was customary, in several cities of Greece, 
and also of Italy and Sicily, for the coin to bear on one side the image of 
two-faced Janus, and on the reverse a boat, a ship, or a garland. Ac- 
cording to Pliny, the first garlands were used by Bacchus, and were 
composed of ivy. 10 And in later ages they commonly made use of ivy 
and amethystus, as preservatives against drunkenness ; hence the latter of 
them has its name from the privative particle a and pUn. 11 Festus affirms 
that the most ancient garlands were made of wool; with one of this sort 
the enchantress adorns her cup: 12 

STti^of rav neXlfiav <potvucea> oloy iunco. And crown the narrow brim with purple wool. 

CREECH. 

Whether garlands were commonly used at the time of the Trojan war, is 




1 Lib. ii. De Nat. Deor. 

2 Schol. Aristoph. in Vesp. 

3 Ptut Eutiiyph. 

4 The above figure represeri 
a Grecian lady in full Boat&ni 



She is dressed i 



viz. in the x> 
b In Vdtinium. 

6 Conf. A i hen. xv. 10. 

7 Ovid. Fast. v. 337. 



i the olden style, 
and pepiuni. 



8 Athen. xv. 5. 

9 Ejusdem libri cap. 13. 

10 Lib. xvi. 1. 

11 Plut. Symp. Ill . qnaist. 1. 
Vl Theoc'ldvll. ii. i. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



695 



not certain. They are used by none of Homer's heroes, yet the poet 
himself has several allusions to them ; hence some conclude that garlands 
were unknown in the heroic ages, but came into use before Homer's 
time. 1 

The flowers and herbs of which garlands were composed were various. 
In the primitive times, they made no entertainments but upon the festi- 
vals of the gods ; and then the garlands, hymns, and songs, were such as 
the gods were thought to delight in. 2 And in later ages, upon the public 
festival of any god, they seem to have used the particular herb or flower 
which was sacred to him ; but at other times all sorts were made use of, 
as the season would allow, or as they were thought most conducive to 
pleasure, refreshment, 3 or health. Some were very curious in the choice 
of their garlands, thinking them to have a very great influence upon the 
bodies of men; hence Mnestheus and Callimachus, two Greek physicians, 
wrote books concerning garlands. 4 I shall only add, that the rose, being 
dedicated by Cupid to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to engage him to 
conceal the lewd actions of Venus, was an emblem of silence ; hence, to 
present it or hold it up to any person in discourse, served instead of an 
admonition that it was time for him to hold his peace ; and at entertain- 
ments it was customary to place a rose above the table, to signify that 
what was there spoken should be kept private. 5 

The ancient Greeks anointed their heads with some common and ordi- 
nary sort of ointment, 6 thinking by that means to keep themselves cool 
and temperate, and to prevent fevers, and other mischievous effects pro- 
ceeding from the immoderate use of wine ; but afterwards, as it is usual 
for men to improve the things which are used out of mere necessity, by 
the addition of others, which serve for pleasure and luxury, they came to 
use precious ointments and perfumes. These, as also the distribution of 
garlands, and second courses at entertainments, with all the arts of luxury 
and effeminacy, were first introduced into Greece by the Ionians, who, 
by conversing with the Asiatics, were taught to lay aside the primitive 
plainness of their manners sooner than the other Greeks ; hence Ionicus 
risns and Ionicus motus became proverbial expressions for profuse laughter 
and unseemly motions. 7 The chief part to which ointments were applied 
was the head ; but other parts of the body had sometimes their share both 
of ointments and garlands. The breast, in particular, was adorned with 
garlands, and anointed, as being the seat of the heart, which they thought 
was refreshed by these applications, as well as the brain. 8 And the room 
in which the entertainment was made was sometimes perfumed by burn- 
ing myrrh or frankincense, or with other odours. 9 

The officers and attendants at entertainments were these which follow: 



1 Athen. i. 15. rosa, 'under the rose,' applied to 7 Valer. Maxim, ii. 6. 

2 Ibid. v. 4, communications which we wish 8 Conf. Athen. xv. £>. 

3 Conf. Athen. iii. 21. xv. 5. not to be divulged. 9 Athen. iii. 22. 

4 Plin. xxi. 2. 6 Athen. xv.13, ex Myronidae 

5 Hence also the phrase sub libro de Coronis et Unguentis. 



C96 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



In the first place, cv^o/ioco^o;, sometimes called evyyKoAovX'ffipz'kYtrm, 
<T0ci<r/i£o7cofio;y r(Jot<z'z£o'?roio;, o st) t^j? T^cc^i^i, u(?%tro'ix,Xivo;, and also 
Ikiu.TQos, &c, was chief manager of the entertainment. This office was 
sometimes performed yb the person at whose charge the entertainment was 
provided, sometimes by another named by him ; sometimes, especially in 
entertainments provided at the common expense, by a person elected 
by lots, or by the suffrages of the guests. 

Next, and sometimes the same with the former, was the (ha,<ri\iu?, 
otherwise termed o-rgarnyo;, ra^iec^o;, &c, and in Latin rex, modim- 
peratot, &c, the king, whose business it was to determine the laws of 
good fellowship, and to observe whether every man drank his proportion, 
whence he was also called o<p0xXp,os, the eye : he was commonly appointed 
by lot. 1 The guests were obliged to be in ail things conformable to the 
commands of the /W/Xsy? ; hence Cicero upbraids a certain person, that 
• he who never had submitted to the laws of the Roman people, should 
yield obedience to the laws of drinking. " 2 And Arrian reports 3 that the 
king being created by lot, commands in this manner: do you drink, do 
you fill the glass, do you go, do you come. The chief magistrates were 
not exempted from yielding obedience, if the lots gave another the pre- 
eminence; hence Agesilaus, king of Lacedasmon, being present at an 
entertainment, was not declared rex till the lots had favoured him, as we 
are informed by Plutarch, 4 who reports in the same place, 5 that being 
asked by the cup-bearer how much wine each guest should drink, he 
made this reply : ' if there is plenty of wine, let every man have what he 
calls for; if not, let every man have an equal share.' 

Aourgos, the carver or distributor, was so termed asro rod lane Out, from 
dividing and distributing to every guest his portion j and hence enter- 
tainments were also called louris. In the primitive times, the master of 
the feast carved for all his guests; thus in Homer, 6 when Agamemnon's 
ambassadors were entertained at the table of Achilles: 

K pea vslfisv 'A ^iXAeuj. Achilles distributed the flesh. 

In later times, the same office was executed by some of the chief men at 
Sparta, as appears from the example of Lysander, who was deputed to it 
by Agesilaus.7 This custom of distributing to every guest his portion was 
derived by some from the ages in which the Greeks left off their ancient 
way of living upon acorns, and learned the use of corn, which being at 
first very scarce, gave occasion to continual quarrels: hence aro^trSaXicc-, 
which originally signified the disorders committed at feasts, became a 
general name for all sorts of injurious and wicked behaviour. To prevent 
these disorders, it was agreed that a person should be named to distribute 
to every man his portion ; and hence, as some are of opinion, the phrase 
^a7i u<rv), equal entertainment, so frequently occurs in Homer. 8 Those 



1 Her. ii. od. 7. ver. 23. Id. 3 In Epictetum. 6 Iliad. 217. 
i. od. 4. ver. 17. 4 Apophthegmat. 7 Athen. i. 10. 

2 Orat. in Verrem. 5 Conf. Plut. Svmp. ii. 10. S Iliad, if. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 697 



to whom particular respect was due were helped to the best parts, and 
very often to a larger share than the rest of the guests : thus EumEeus, in 
Homer's Odyssey, gives vuro;, the chine, which they esteemed the chief 
part, to Ulysses ; the same is given by Agamemnon to Ajax as a reward 
for his service in the war. Sarpedon, one of the Lycian kings, in the 
same poet, is honoured, "E^j? rt, h^cco-'iv <rs, III vrkuois liKa-icav, with the 
first seat, the best share of meat, and full cups. In another place, Dio- 
medes x(na.ffi %a) irXuois ^ivru'ttrfft ^i^iovrcci. is entertained ivith the best 
share of the meat and full cups} It appears from Herodotus that the 
kings of Sparta had ^^karia. cravra, a double portion of every dish. 
And in the sacred writings the mess of Benjamin, the beloved brother of 
Joseph, was five times as large as any of the other messes. 2 They who 
received this honour ' had the privilege of gratifying whomsoever they 
pleased with a part of their portion, as was done by Ulysses, who carved 
a part of the chine which was set before him to Demodocus.' 3 After- 
wards, when Greece learned the arts of luxury, the primitive way of 
dividing to every man his portion was laid aside, ? as covetous and illi- 
beral,' and the guests were allowed to carve for themselves in the manner 
which pleased them best; 4 nevertheless the ancient custom was retained a 
long time at the entertainments after sacrifices, and by some who pre- 
ferred the primitive temperance and frugality to the modern profuse way 
of living. And Plutarch, in his discourse on the question, ' Whether the 
ancient Greeks, who allotted to every man his portion, or the modern, 
who set their provision in common before all the guests, were more to be 
commended ?' informs us, that the entertainments were conducted with 
greater decency, and fewer disorders committed, so long as every man 
had his portion allotted him. 5 

The persons employed to distribute drink w r ere commonly termed oho- 
Xoot, and about the Hellespont Isrsy^t/rai. 6 In the entertainments of the 
heroic ages the xngvp&$ 3 heralds, commonly performed this office. 7 Mer- 
cury, the herald of the gods, is said to be introduced by Alcseus and 
Sappho, filling the goblets at the celestial entertainments; 8 and it is very 
well known that the tlyipukzs were deputed to all sorts of ministrations. 
It was customary for boys or young men to fill the cups: 9 

Ancient authors affirm that the wine used to be filled about by virgins; 13 
and this is agreeable to the manners of those times, in which the guests 
were attended by virgins without any suspicion of lust or immodesty; 
hence the daughter of Cocalus, king of Sicily, is said to have washed 
Minos, king of Crete; and the same is done by other virgins and women 
in several parts of Homer. 11 So common was it in the primitive times 



1 Iliad. M '. 311. 

2 Genes, xliii. 34. 

3 Conf. Athen. i. 11. Eustath. 
Comment, in Homerum. p. 557, 
edit. Basil. 



4 Athen. loc. cit. 

5 Sympos. ii. auasst ult. 

6 Athen. x. 7. 

7 Horn. Odyss. a'. 142. 

3 N 



8 Athen. x. 7. 

9 Horn. Odyss. a'. 149. 
10 Kustath. in Iliad. /. 
] 1 Athen. i, 8. 



693 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



for young persons of both sexes to be employed in all kinds of ministra- 
tions, that ^oZXoi, servants, came to be termed by the names of cra?^ kcu 
*uthiffxaLt, boys and girls, because persons of that age were commonly 
employed to serve. 1 Nor was this done only by children of mean fortune 
or birth; but, in the primitive times, those of the highest rank filled out 
wine, as we find done by Menelaus's son in the following verse of 
Homer: 2 

The same custom was, in later and more refined ages, still retained at 
the entertainments in the temples, where many of the ancient practices 
were observed long after they had been laid aside in other places. At 
the public sacrifices of the iEolians, in particular, care was taken that boys 
of the highest rank should perform this office ; this was also the practice 
at Rome, where they used in all things to imitate the iEolians, even to 
the very tone of their voice. 3 Hence, perhaps, arose the opinion that the 
custom of employing young persons of liberal birth and education to fill 
the wine was derived from the sacrifices of the gods, at which no slave 
was permitted to minister: 4 but it is rather to be ascribed to the plainness 
and simplicity of the ancient Greeks and other nations; which was such 
that the sons and daughters of kings, and others of the first rank, were 
employed in keeping flocks, and in almost all other services. Another 
reason why young persons served at entertainments rather than those in 
years was, because by their beauty and sprightliness they were thought 
more apt to exhilarate the guests, whose eyes were to be entertained as 
well as their other senses : on this account the most comely persons were 
deputed to this ministration, even in the primitive times. Amongst 
the gods, 

Na'jfTflsg ime%a£i 

fair Hebe, the goddess of youth, and daughter of Juno, filled the nectar. ,3 
And Ganymede, the most beautiful of mortal race, was translated by the 
gods into heaven, to serve at the table of Jupiter. 6 Hence we may 
learn, that in the most remote times, which were thought the age of the 
gods, as those which followed were the age of heroes, this practice was 
observed. And hence, by the names of places, which are said to be in 
use among the gods, are to be understood the first and most ancient 
names, 7 where the poet tells us, that a certain place in Troas was by the 
gods, that is, most anciently, called Myrina's Tomb ; but by men, that is 
in later times, Baticea. 

That at the time of the Trojan war it was customary for young persons 
of beautiful countenances, and well dressed, to serve at entertainments, is 
certain. 8 In modern ages, when the arts of luxury were in greater esteem, 



1 H»»sych. voce. 7ral<5«y. Eus- 
talh. loc. cit. 

2 A then, x. 7. 



3 Athen. Inc. cit. 

4 Lib. v. 4. 

5 liiud. 6'. 2, 



f> Horn. Iliad, v'. 2S2. 

7 Iliad. 813. 

8 Odyss o'. 327. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



699 



it was usual to give vast prices for beautiful youths, as we learn from 
Juvenal, 1 who reprobates the practice, and from Philo the Jew, 2 who tells 
us, that it was usual to procure most beautiful slaves to attend at enter- 
tainments, not so much for any service they were to do, as to gratify the 
eyes of the beholders: of these the younger boys filled the wine; those of 
riper age, being washed, trimmed, and painted, with their hair curled in 
various forms, served up the water. 

The cups and drinking vessels come next to be considered; and, in 
Homer, every one of the guests seems to have had a distinct cup, out of 
which he drank when he 
pleased. 3 On this account 
the cups of the heroic 
age were very capacious ; 
that of Nestor, in par- 
ticular, was so weighty, 
that a young man had' 
scarce strength to carry it ; 4 Athenseus, however, tells us that, * though 
men of great estates and high rank in his time used large cups, yet that 
was not anciently the practice of Greece, but lately learned from the 
barbarous nations, who being ignorant of arts and humanity, indulge 
themselves in the immoderate use of drink, and all sorts of dainties; 
whereas it does not appear, says he, from the testimony of any of those 
who lived before our times, that a cup of a very large size was ever made 
use of in any part of Greece, except those which belonged to the heroes.' 
However, the cups which they used after supper were larger than those 
they drank in at supper. 5 In the houses of wealthy men there was com- 
monly a large kvXikuov, cupboard, furnished with cups of all sorts and 
sizes, rather for ostentation than use. The cups used by the ancient 
Greeks were very plain, and corresponded to the rest of their furniture, 
being usually composed of wood or earth. Afterwards, when they began to 
imitate the pride and vanity of the Asiatics, their cups were made of 
silver, gold, and other costly materials, curiously wrought, inlaid with 
precious stones, and otherwise adorned ; but the primitive cups seem to 
have been composed of the horns of animals, which persons of rank tipt 
with gold or silver: these are mentioned by Pindar, ^Eschylus, Xeno- 
phon, and several other authors: they were also used by some in later 
ages, and particularly by Philip of Macedon. Hence, as some are of 
opinion, Bacchus had the surname of Taurus, from his being worshipped 
by the Cyzicenians in the shape of a bull, and painted with horns in several 
other countries; and some think that the words xgurfytg, cups, and 
xiouffai, to mix wine with water, are derived from xi^ura,, horns. 6 

The cups were encircled with garlands, and filled up to the brim. 
Both of these customs are mentioned in the following passage of Virgil: 7 

1 Saiir. v. 60. 4 Iliad, xi. 2. in Iliad, p. 883. Iliad. «,'. p. 

2 Libra de Vita Co:itcmt>i;itiva. 5 Virg. ^Eneid. 5. 727. 519. Iliad- p. 591, ed BasiL 
a Iliad. i\ 262. 6 Athen. xi. 7. Eustath. Com. 7 jEneid. Hi. 025. 

3 n 2 




700 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Turn pater Anchises magnum cratera corona 
Induit. • 

And the latter in this verse of Homer, 1 

For iviffTi^avro signifies they filled up to the brim; and trriQuv, com. 
monly signifies a sort of fulness ; hence they were wont always (rri<puv 
xo'/ivigci;, to fill the cup to the brim, when libations were offered to the gods, 
because we offer nothing imperfect to the gods, but only things whole and 
entire ; and that which is full is entire. 2 The cups were crowned with 
drink, that is, were filled above the brim, so that the drink rose in the 
manner of a crown, for the sake of good luck. 

In the heroic times, the young men who ministered always presented 
full cups to men of high rank, and distributed wine to the rest in equal 
proportions; 3 thus Agamemnon entertains Idomeneus king of Crete -A 

eIttbp yap r £XAot ye Kap7jK0jj.6a>vres 'Amatol Restore our blood, and raise the warriors' souls, 

Aai-rp'ov ■nlvuot.v, abv 6e irXelov <5s7raj alsl Though all the rest with stated rules we bound, 

"Etrr^x' S>Tneo l^ol, -nUstv, ore S-v/j.6 s dvwyoi. Unmix'd, uumeasur'd, are thy goblets crown'd. 
For this in banquets, when the generous bowls POPE. 

Hector, in another place reproaches Diomedes, when he fled from him, 
with the enjoyment of this honour : 5 

Tv5«i<5?7, rreol n&v ere rlov Aavaol l Ta X <>Trw\oi Tydides ! the Achaan heroes thee 

Eo>p ts, Kpiaolv ts, 15s TrAet'oty cWaeaat, Were wont to grace with a superior se^t, 

Nvv <5s a An^aovat, The mess of honour and the brimming cup, 

But now will mock thee. COWPER. 

This respect is also said to be paid by the Lycians to Sarpedon and 
Glaucus, kings of Lycia.6 Another respect was paid to the most 
honourable guests, by drinking first to them; for it was customary for the 
master of the feast to drink to his guests in order, according to their rank. 7 
The manner of doing this was by drinking part of the cup, and sending 
the remainder to the person whom they named, which they termed 
vr(>o<7r'iv~iv: but this was only the modern way, for anciently they drank 
(Airrov rov trxutpov, the whole cup, and not a part of it, as was usual in the 
time of Athenseus ; to do which, as that author thinks, ought rather to be 
termed vrpoiztftuv than, by the old name, T^vrrjuv? The form of saluta- 
tion was various. Sometimes they who drank to another used to say 
^«^£, as in that example, xa7o$, 'A^Xsy, I send you this honey mingled 
with milk. 9 Sometimes the person who sent the cup saluted Ins friend in 
this form, irgowUoi cot %a.\a$ : the other replied XocpGuvaj avro gov hoiw; : 
and, this being a testimony of friendship, to drink in this manner to 
another was sometimes termed iteow'nuv (piXoryio-iocv. Thus iEJian explains 
<ptXo7'/io-U to be 1 a salutation on the account of friendship ;' and <p/AorW«v 
vrgovr'ivuv to be ' when any person at dinner drinks part of a cup, and gives 
the rest to his friend.' The person who received the cup was said 
uvtivTcotIvuv, or awirgoitinn o/xoik; it being required by the rules of good 



1 Horn. Iliad, a'. 470. 

2 Athen. xv. 5. Id. i. 11. 

3 Athen. v. 4. 



4 Iliad. 6'. 261. 

5 Iliad. S'. 1G1. 

6 Iliad. \'. 



7 Plut. Sympos. i. qusest. ii. 

S Lib. v. 
9 Nemeonio. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 701 



fellowship to drink off whatever remained in the cup ; or if the cup was 
emptied, to take another of the same size thus Alexander having begun 
a very large vessel to Proteas a Macedonian, he drank it off, and presented 
his service to Alexander in another of the same dimensions. 

This propination was carried about towards the right hand, where the 
superior rank of some of the guests did not oblige them to alter that 
method : hence it was termed h1>tanri$, whence h.tVia-K^ut in Homer is 
interpreted ^or'nan h%iova6eu: thus, in the fourth Iliad, at an assembly 
of the gods : 

' %£VffUClS tlXOliffffl 

Auhifco&T oiXXYtXovg • 

That is, according to Athenseus, llifyouvTo tfgovlvovrts ixvroTs h%iet7s. 
The same explanation is given by him upon that verse of the ninth Iliad, 
where Ulysses drinks to Achilles: 

Uh7i(rdtu.lvo; c'i'voio "hixcts 5s/Ss*t' 'A%ik%x. 
That is, says he, tbifyovro, o Itrn crgoivrivzv ccvru, tsj t&ovi to tfortgiov, 

he drank to Achilles, delivering the cup with his right hand. This has 
also been observed by Eustathius. 2 But there is express mention of 
drinking toward the right hand, in the following passage of Homer, 3 
where Vulcan fills wine to the gods : 

• 3-so~$ ivdifya, xcitrtv 

y Qvo%cu. 

That is, he filled, as the old scholiast explains it, uto r&Jv Itfyuv pigwv, 
beginning from the right hand. Another example of this custom is pro- 
duced from Critias's epigram upon Anacreon: 

And a third 4 out of the "Ay^oixoi of Anaxandrides. The doing this, 
therefore, was commonly termed tvVtfyu irtvuv; 5 but it was sometimes 
called \v xvxXw cetvuv, and the action itself iyKuxXovroffiu,, because the cup 
was conveyed round the table, beginning from the uppermost seat. 6 

The method of drinking, however, was not the same in all places. 
The Chians and Thasians drank out of large cups to the right, the 
Athenians out of small cups to the right; the Thessalian drank large cups 
to whom he pleased, without observing any certain method. At Lace- 
dcemon, every man had his distinct cup, which a servant filled up as soon 
as it was emptied. 7 

It was also customary to drink to those who were absent. First the 
gods were remembered, then their friends; and at every name, one or 
more cups of wine, unmixed with water, was drunk off. This is termed 
by Cicero, Grceco more bibere, 8 ' to drink after the Grecian manner,' which 
some interpret of drinking draughts of unmixed wine, out of large cups;9 



1 A then. x. 9. 

2 Iliad, rf. p. 557. 

3 Iliad, a', v. 597. 
I A then. xi. 3, 



5 Conf. Pollux, ii. 4. 

6 Plaut. Persa, act. v. sc. 1. 

7 Allien, xi. 3. 

3 n 3 



8 Orat. in. in Yerrem. 

9 Ascon. Ped. Comment, in 
locum Ciceionis. 



702 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



whereas it was Grcecus mos, ut Gi'ccci dicunt, ffvptftuv zvu0t£oiu,'ivovs 1 cum 
merum cyathis libant, salutantes primo deos, deinde amicos nominatim, 
' the Grecian method to drink wine out of small cups, saluting first the gods, 
and then their friends byname:' for it was their custom to drink unmixed 
wine as often as they named the gods or their friends. They were wont 
also i%t,%£(v rn to pour forth some of the wine upon the earth, as often 
as they mentioned any person's name, 1 this being the manner of offering 
libations ; it seems to have been a form of adoration when any of the gods, 
were named, and of prayer for their friends, when they mentioned them: 
amongst their friends they most commonly named their mistresses. 3 
Sometimes the number of cups equalled that of the letters in their mis- 
tress's name, 3 

N a e v i a sex cyathis, septern Jusiina bibatur. 

There were also several other modes of numbering the cups to be 
drunk off at once: thus, three were taken off, because the Graces were 
of that number, and nine, according to the number of the Muses: 4 the 
Greeks thus expressed this custom, "H % rfig T^'a, either three, or 
three times three. There was another saying, which forbade the drinking 
of four cups, that being no lawful number : "H r/ia. vr'ivi, $ pr, rtrruga. 
\ et they did not always observe the number three, as appears from the 
following epigram, which commands to fill ten cups to the health of 
Dirodice, and nine to that of Euphrante. 

"Ey^/ii Au*odtx7)S fc.va.8ov; dizx, tv\s hi zroduvrtS 
Ev^^avTyis ivtx, [xoi '/jtto S/^ey zvtx-dov. 

Sometimes they contended who should drink most. Alexander the 
Macedonian is reported to have drunk a cup containing two congii, (which 
contained more than our pottle, though less than our gallon,) to Proteas, 
who, commending the king's ability, pledged him; then called for another 
cup of the same dimensions, and drank it off to him. The king, as the 
laws of good fellowship required, pledged Proteas in the same cup; but 
being immediately overcome, fell back upon his pillow, letting the cup 
fall out of his hands, and by that means brought on the disease of which 
lie shortly after died. 5 Prizes were sometimes awarded to the conquerors ; 
this custom was ingeniously inverted by Anacharsis, the Scythian philoso- 
pher, who being entertained by Periander, one of the seven sages, and 
king of Corinth, demanded the prize for being first drunk; that, as he 
said, being the end at which all aim in drinking, as racers press forward 
toward the goal. It is reported by Timseus, that Dionysius the Sicilian, 
at an entertainment, promised a crown of gold to the person who should 
first drink a cup containing a congius, and that Xenocrates the philosopher 
obtained the prize. And at the funeral of Calanus, the Indian philoso- 
pher, there were not only exercises and musical contentions, but also 



1 Schol. in Theocrit. Idyll, i. od. 27. Martial, i. Epigr. 72. 4 Antholog. vii. 
xiv. v. 18. 3 Petron. Arbiter. Auson. Idyll. 5 A then, x. 9. 

2 Tibull. ii. Eieg. 431. Horal. xi. ver. J. Horut. iii. od. 19. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



703 



drinking matches, in which the prize, promised by Alexander to the first 
conqueror, was a talent; that to the second, thirty ^va7, that to the third, 
ten §§$mh One Promachus obtained the first prize, having drank four 
eongii of unmixed wine: thirty of the combatants died on the spot, and 
in a short time after, six more expired in their tents. 1 When any person 
drank off a large cup uputrr), that is, a.<7rnv(r<r), clvzu rou a.*a.rttt.vi<T&ce.i, with - 
out intermission, or taking his breath, the company used to applaud him 
in this form: Zntruets, long may you liver 1 At Athens there were three 
public officers who attended at entertainments and observed whether every 
person drank his portion: they were called from their business, elvo^rrai, 
and sometimes by a metaphorical name, cQfaXpo), eyes$ They who 
refused to drink were in most places obliged to depart, by that celebrated 
law of good fellowship, "H frf), n SL&ifa drink, or begone.^ 

Hence it appears how much the Greeks were addicted to drinking; 
nor were the Romans more free from that vice: Seneca himself thought 
it allowable to drink, even to drunkenness, to ease the mind of any great 
and tormenting cares. Cato of Utica sometimes spent whole nights in 
drinking. And concerning the elder Cato, as also Corvinus the stoic 
philosopher, to mention no more examples, we have the testimony of 
Horace, 5 that the latter, though tinged with Socratic principles, was no 
enemy to the wine-cask; and that the former often enlivened and invigo- 
rated his virtue by wine. 

Yet others disapproved of the immoderate use of wine. Some lawgivers 
enacted laws against it, and others prohibited all compotations where more 
wine was used than was necessary for health. Some of the Grecian sages 
allowed no more than three cups ; one for health, a second for cheerful- 
ness, and a third for sleep. 6 Panyasis allowed no more than the second 
cup ; the first to the Graces, Hours, and Bacchus, the second to Venus 
and Bacchus ; they who proceeded to the third cup, according to that 
author, dedicated it to Lust and Strife. Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, 
prohibited unnecessary drinking, which debilitates both the body and 
mind ; and ordered that no man should drink for any other purpose than 
to satisfy his thirst. 7 And to lay on the Spartans a necessity of keeping 
themselves within the bounds of sobriety, the same lawgiver enacted 
farther, that all men should return from entertainments without a torch 
to show them the way. Hence the propinations and methods of drinking 
which other nations observed were unheard of at Sparta. 8 

At Athens, an archon convicted of being drunk was put to death, by 
the laws of Solon ; 9 and others addicted to compotations, and lovers of 
company, were punished by the Senate of Areopagus, for consuming in 
idleness and profuseness the time which they ought rather to have em- 



1 Athen. x. 10. tSIian. Var. 3 Conf. Athenaeus, ix. 6, 7. 6 Athen. Initio, ii. 

Hist. n. 41. 4 Cicero alludes to this prao 7 Xenop. de Reonb Lacedajm, 

- SOidas, voc. •A^ar! *, 5 I* et tice : Tusc. gnaest, v. 8 Critias in Elegiis. 

v Z-vmaj. j Lib. iii. Od. 21. 9 Laertius Solone. 



704 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ployed in making themselves useful to the commonwealth. Lastly, to 
mention only one example more, as the island of Mitylene abounded 
with wine, in order to restrain the inhabitants from the immoderate use 
of it, Pittacus, their lawgiver, one of the seven sages, enacted, that who- 
ever committed a crime when drunk, should suffer double punishment. 1 

There were some particular and solemn cups mentioned in ancient 
authors, which are next to be described ; such were, 

'Aycdov Axipovog xeetrr,^, the cup of Good Genius, by whom was under- 
stood Bacchus, the inventor of wine ; in memory of which benefit a cup 
of full unmixed wine was carried round the table, which all the guests 
tasted, at the same time raising an ejaculation to the god that he would 
preserve them from committing any indecency through the immoderate 
use of that liquor; hence oXtyovrorouvn;, persons who drink very little, are 
termed uyatiotietifAOvio-rui. Whether this cup was brought in before the 
table on which they supped was taken away, or afterwards, is not agreed; 
that it was sometimes brought in before the taking away of the table, 
seems probable from what is related of Dionysius the Sicilian, who, being 
entertained in the temple of iEsculapius in Syracuse, at a table of geld, 
as soon as he had tasted the cup of Good Genius, commanded the table to 
be carried off. 

Kozt'/io Aiog 2so-57£o?, the cup of Jupiter the Saviour, which was mixed 
with water, and dedicated to Jupiter, president of the air, which is the 
most humid element ; in memory of the invention of tempering wine with 
water. 

Kgecrvi£ 'Tytuas, the cup of Health, is added by some, and as well as 
that of Jupiter, is termed piTctwrrfis, or /tsreiviarrgov, as being drunk 
after the washing of their hands, the entertainment being ended ; and the 
same names are, for the same reason, given by some to the cup of Good 
Genius. 2 

Koet-rho 'Y,o{aov, the cup of Mercury, to whom a libation was offered 
before they went to bed, when they gave over drinking. 3 

Others state the order of the solemn cups in a different manner. 
According to Suidas,* three cups were brought in at supper; the first 
dedicated to Mercury, the second to Charisius, which is a surname given 
to Jupiter, from %uois t favour or grace, because through Ids influence 
men obtain the favour and affection of one another; and in this, it is pro- 
bable, respect was had to the invention of tempering wine with water; 
the third to Jupiter the Saviour. 

Others mention one cup of wine, mixed with water, dedicated to 
Olympian Jupiter; a second to the heroes; a third and last to Jupiter 
the Saviour, so called on this occasion, to intimate that the third cup 
might be safely taken, without any disorder of mind or body: this cup was 
called rikuis, either because it was the last, which is one meaning of that 



1 Laertius Pittaco. xv. 5, etH. Pollux, Suidas, &c. 4 "Voce /epar*?. 

2 Conf. Athen. ii. %\ xi. 11; 3 Vid. Pollux. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 705 



word, or from the perfection of the number three, which, having a begin- 
ning, middle, and end, was accounted the first complete number, whence 
it was commonly applied to divine things, and particularly to human souls, 
which, according to the Platonic philosophy, consisted of this number. 
It must not be omitted, that the first and last cups were sacred to Jupiter, 
who is the supreme deity, the beginning and the end of all things; and 
the middle cup, to the heroes, who were thought to be of an intermediate 
nature between gods and men. 1 It may also be observed, that most 
authors, however variously describing them in other respects, agree in 
fixing the sacred cups to the number three; hence the saying 2 

M-'^§/ ya,o toimv qua rtuuv tov? ©%ov;. 

The entertainment being ended, before they engaged in the diversions 
used on such occasions, a libation of wine, with a prayer, was offered, and 
a hymn sung to the gods. »Thus we are told by Xenophon, 3 that when, 
at the entertainment described by him, ' the tables were taken away, and 
they had offered a libation and sung a hymn to the gods, a certain man of 
Syracuse brought in a skilful minstrel/" &c. Virgil describes the libation 
in such a manner that it should seem to have been poured out of the cup 
of Good Genius ; and this is another proof that this cup was not filled till 
the tables were taken away, which indeed 
seems to have been the time of drinking all 
the three solemn cups. 4 

This ceremony being ended, the company 
was entertained with diversions, with dis- 
courses upon various subjects, with the per- 
usal of authors suitable to the tempers and in- 
clinations of those who were present, which 
were also very often read in time of supper ; 
with music of all sorts, with jugglers, with 
mimics, buffoons, and whatever else could be 
thought of for the exciting of mirth and cheer- 
fulness. 

From the most ancient times music and 
dancing were the diversions at entertainments: 
thus Homer ;5 

MoXht? t' opxnervs re, ra yap r lya.9rjfj.aTa San6s. The song and the dance ; for these are the orna- 
ments of a banquet. 

Phemius and Demodocus, two celebrated singers, 6 are introduced at 
entertainments by the same poet. And at an entertainment of the gods, 
Apollo is introduced playing upon the harp, whilst the Muses sing 

1 Pind. Isth. Od. 6. Str. a', ver. 5 Odyss. a'. 152. dressed in the X itwv and a sort of 
I>. etll. Schol. ibid. 6 The above figure represents bib which is beautifully orna- 

2 Athen. x. 11. a female playing on the doubie mented. The representation is 

3 Convivio, p. 574, edit. Fran- flute. She is one of those who taken from a vase in the posses- 
colurt played at entertainments, and is 6ion of Mr Hope. 

4 Sub flnem -Eneid. i. 




706 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



alternately. 1 Dancing was also in use among the gods; hence Apollo 
has the title of o^/jo-rhs, the dancer, in Pindar: the same god, in 
Homer's hymn, plays upon his harp, and at the same time dances: 

Jupiter himself is said to dance, in the following verse, which some 
ascribe to Eumelus, others to Arctinu's the Corinthian: 

Hence A thenars concludes, that in those ages they accounted dancing 
a thing becoming persons of honour and wisdom* At Rome the 
custom was quite otherwise; for there, to use the words of Cicero, 3 
' Nobody ever dances, even in solitude, or at a private meeting of friends, 
who is not either drunk or mad. Dancing is always the last act of 
riotous banquets, gay places, and much jollity.' And Cornelius Nepos, 4 
having related that Epaminondas well understood the art of dancing, 
of playing upon the harp and flute, with other liberal sciences, adds, 
* though in the opinion of the Romans these were trivial things, and not 
worthy to be mentioned, yet in Greece they were thought very commend- 
able.' The same observation is also made by that author in his preface 
to the Lives of the Illustrious Commanders. And these arts were held 
in such estimation among the Greeks, that they regarded vocal and in- 
strumental music as the greatest erudition; and therefore it is recorded of 
Epaminondas, who, in my opinion, was the first man among the Greeks, 
that he played excellently on the flute ; andThemistocles, some years before, 
was deemed ignorant because he refused at an entertainment to play on the 
lyre. For this reason musicians flourished in Greece ; music was a general 
study; and whoever was unacquainted with it, was not considered as fully 
instructed in learning.' 5 Nevertheless, wanton and effeminate dances 
were thought to be indecent in men of wisdom and character ; hence 
Hippoclides the Athenian, having been designed by Clisthenes, king of 
Argos, for his daughter's husband, and preferred before all the young 
noblemen of Greece, was rejected, for his light and unbecoming dances 
and gestures. 6 The Ionians delighted in wanton dances and songs more 
than the rest of the Greeks, their manners being more corrupted than 
those of any other nation in Greece ; their mode of singing was very dif- 
ferent from the ancient, and their harmony more loose and wanton ; 7 and 
wanton gestures were proverbially termed Ionici motus, ' Ionian motions.' 8 
In the primitive ages, the entertainments were seldom made but on 
the festivals of the gods ; and the songs were commonly hymns in praise 
of their deities ; the singing of which was accounted a part of divine wor- 
ship. Soft and wanton songs were then unknown ; hence Athenseus was 
of opinion that music was not brought into use at entertainments for the 



1 Iliad. &. 603. 

2 Lib. i. 19. 

3. Orat. pro Muraena. 



4 Epaminonda. 7 Conf. Athen. xiy. 5. 

5 Cic. Tusc. Quasst. 1. cap. 2. 8 Horat. iii. 6. 
ti Herodot. vi. 23. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 707 



sake of any mean and vulgar pleasure, but to compose the passions of the 
soul, and to improve men's manners. 1 And from the descriptions of 
entertainments which we find in Homer, it appears that the songs used 
about the time of the Trojan war consisted chiefly of hymns, in which the 
actions of the gods and heroes were celebrated ; but in later ages it was so 
uncommon to sing sacred hymns at entertainments, that- Aristotle was 
accused by Demophilus of an act of very great impiety for singing a psean 
every day at his meals. 2 

The most remarkable songs at entertainments were those termed 
cxoX/a, with the accent on the first syllable, by which it is distinguished 
from the adjective o-xoXtK, which is accented upon the last syllable ;3 whence 
in the present editions of A thenars, which often call these songs ffxoXix, 
they who will acquiesce in the judgment of that critic must read a-zoXtu. 
These scolia consisted for the most part of short verses, hence crxoXtov is 
interpreted sonnet, consisting of short verses, and derived from crxoXiov, 
crooked, difficult, and obscure, which, by the figure antiphrasis, may be 
rendered easy.^ Others observe, that scolia cannot be derived from 
exoXio?, difficult, or obscure; because these songs were commonly light 
and cheerful ; but that, as there were three sorts of songs at entertain- 
ments, of which the first was sung by the whole company joining in a 
choir, the second by all the company in their turns, and the third by 
some few who were best skilled in music ; this last was termed erxoXtov, 
from the adjective trxoXtov, signifying crooked, as being sung out of course, 
and not by every man in his own place, like the two former. 5 The cus- 
tom was thus : after the company had all sung in a chorus, or one after 
another, a musical instrument, most commonly a harp or lute, was carried 
round to every person, that such as understood music might entertain the 
company. They who would not, or could not play upon the instrument, 
were presented with a branch of laurel or myrtle, which they held in their 
hands, and to which they sung: this was termed gepls £«<pv>?v, or vrpl; 
ftuppivyv «s£s/v, to sing towards the laurel or the myrtle.^ This branch was 
also termed aiffctxos, or citraxos <xa,oci ro cfo-cti <rov ^i^oif/Avov, because the 
person, who received it was obliged to sing, as we are informed by Plu- 
tarch, 7 who more agreeably to the former account, and perhaps to the 
truth, observes, that the axoXia. were not sung by all who could not play 
upon the musical instrument, which is the opinion of Hesychius, but only 
by those who were skilled in music: hence he derives the name from 
ffKo\to:> difficult, to sing one of these songs being what could not be done 
by any but proficients in the art of music. He farther adds, that some 
were of opinion that the branch of myrtle was not delivered to the com- 

1 Conf. Athenaeus, xiv. 6. de musicls Certaminibus apud to!? KoraKet^evot? «* faaioxris 

2 Athenaeus, xv. initio cap. 16. Aristophauis Scholiastem iuVes- rov Saat &.vtI to? /Sap/Si-row. Which 
'6 Eustath. in Odyss. r/. p. 276. pas p 519. passage ought rather to be read 

4 Schol. Aristoph. in Ranas, 6 This account is given by He- thus: Mvpptvrjs «Xa<5oj* ftvppivvs 
p. 272. Item in Vespas, p. 519. sychius in the following words : kX6.6ov % &a<pvr)$ irapa ttoto* t)i> 

5 Arteiruin Cassendreus, ii. de Mvpplvm «X<£<5o? v Sdcpt-m Tcapa. avv-qOei, 6t6Avai y &c. 
Usu Carmin um convivalium apud ttotov ^vppivr)^ r\v avvrjQtj Si&ovgu 7 Syrnpos. i. qusest. 2. 
Athenasnm, xy. H. Dic&archus, 



703 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



pany in a direct order, but carried from couch to couch, so as when the 
first person in the uppermost couch had done singing, he delivered to the 
first in the second couch, from whom it was transmitted to the first of the 
third couch: that the seconds in each couch delivered it to one another in 
the same manner, and so forward, till it had passed through the whole 
company; and that on this account the songs were termed <rxoXix, from 
(tkoXios, as it signifies crooked, by reason of the several windings in carry- 
ing about the branch of myrtle. These scolia were chiefly used by the 
Athenians, but they were not unknown in other parts of Greece, where 
we find several celebrated writers of scolia to have lived; as Anacreon of 
Teos, Alcseus of Lesbos, Praxilla of Sicyon, and others. Their subjects 
were of various kinds: some of them were 2 (rxuvrnxoi, t% Ti l^eanxoc, 
vroWu. 11 xoti ff<7roi3cc7c&, ludicrous and satirical, others amorous, and 
many of them serious. Those on serious subjects sometimes contained 
vrccooiivztTiv nvcc xu.) yvwpyiv ^^crl^m us rov fitov, a practical exhortation or 
sentence; 3 sometimes they consisted of the praises and illustrious actions 
of great men, and commonly bore the names of the persons whom they 
celebrated: thus ^AepoYiou (tiXog, the song of Harmodius, was the scolium 
composed by Callistratus upon Harmodius, the famous patriot, who deliv- 
ered Athens from the tyranny of Hipparchus the son of Pisistratus, whom 
he killed.4 'A^pnrov Xdyos was a scolium upon Admetus king of Thes- 
saly: it is mentioned by the same author: 

Tovtu 71 \'i$,us trzoXiov.—— 

There are many examples of the ancient scolia preserved in the Greek 
authors, of which I shall only set down that one which was composed by 
Aristotle upon Hermias, tyrant of Atarnea, which, though Demophilus, 
suborned by one Eurymedon, aflirmed to be a sacred psean, in order to 
prove the philosopher, who daily used this song, guilty of impiety, as has 
been before related, yet it is, from the very phrase and diction, plainly 
demonstrated to be nothing more than an ordinary scolium, by Demo- 
critus in Athenseus: 5 

Tivu (B^oTiUj, 

@7l%0ifA(X, ZOtkXtPTCV file*)' 

"2cig fH£i, zrotgdivz, /uogipois 

K«/ &a.vtiv Z,Y,Xoii70? 'EXXccdi troT/aig, 

Koci xovovg 7?i%vai /u.octe°ovg' rotov 

KflSgTOV t oc.8ocvoc.tov, 
'Xgvo-ev x^ua-trcn) xoc) yovscvv, 
'MotXoc.zocuyircio vvvov, 
2iu & o Aiog 'Hoocx^s 



1 Conf. Athenaeus, xv. 14. 3 Athen. loc. cit. 

2 Eustath. in Odyss. p. 277. 4 Aristoph. Vespis. 



Lib. xv. p. 696. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 709 



Av,^as rs jcoZ^oi voXk' otvirXcurotv 
v Eoyot$ ca,v ocygiCovrzs (Hvvccfjitv. 

A'lacs t 'K'ihoco ho[/.ov; '/,xBov. 

HiXt'ov yj.^ct)(ri)) ctvyoig. 
Hotykp ocoiditzos zgyoi; 
'AQocvoltov ri [u,tv ccv^Yjirovci IsLaZtrotiy 
"Mvr,[AO<rvvr,; Svyetrtgis, 
Aiog |«f/oo tri*>u? a,l>%o'j<rctt , 

From the songs let us pass to the sports and pastimes which followed 
entertainments. This was the ancient method, as we learn from Homer's 
description of an entertainment made by Alcinous, king of Phseacia, 
wherein the entertainment being taken away, and the music ended, the 
guests are invited to wrestle, leap, run races, and participate in other 
bodily exercises: 1 

Ks^Xuts $>a.irizav qyvirogis r h<& fAihcvm, 

"H5'/j ju.lv Sutras saxo^fjiiQa. &v[jt,ov ittrys, 

Zfospiyyos 3-', 7j doiiTi rvvyogos Itrri S-kXuvi, 

Uoivruv, &C 

Whence Eustathius observes, 2 that the heroes did not rest after meals, 
for the better concoction of their meat, as became customary in later ages ; 
on which pretence the later Greeks, laying aside the violent exercises 
which were anciently used, diverted themselves with such sports and 
recreations as required less toil and labour. The several sorts of sports 
and games which were practised by the Greeks, are too numerous to be 
recounted in this place ; the Korrxfio;, however, which was more peculiar 
to entertainments, must not be omitted. This pastime was first invented 
in Sicily, whence it was communicated to most of the other parts of 
Greece, especially to Athens, where it obtained very great repute. The 
form was thus : a piece of wood being erected, another was placed upon the 
top of it, with two dishes hanging down from each extremity, in the man- 
ner of scales ; beneath each dish was placed a vessel full of water, in which 
stood a statue, composed for the most part of brass, and called paws. 
They who undertook zorrxfii^uv, to play at the cottabus, stood at some 
distance, holding a cup of water or wine, which they endeavoured to throw 
into one of the dishes, that the dish by that weight might be knocked against 
the head of the statue under it. The person who threw in such a manner 
as to spill the smallest quantity of water, and to knock the dish with the 
greatest force upon the statue, was conqueror, and was thought to reign in 
the affections of his mistress, which was the thing to be learned by this 



1 Odyss, 97. 2 Page 295. 

3o 



710 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



pastime. The sound made by the projection was, by an onomatopoeia, 
termed Xarag; and the wine projected Xarayn, and sometimes Aara£. 
The action, as also the cup out of which the wine was projected, was called 
ayxukyi, because r^v 2t|/av xupol wyxvkouv, they turned round their right 
hand with a sort of dexterity and art upon which they valued themselves 
very much. Hence we find mention of xorru&ot uyxuXviro) in iEschylus. 
The vessels were named zorrxfiot, or xorrccQl^i;' and the prizes, which 
were sweatmeats, kisses, or whatever else the company agreed upon, 
xorroifiix, jtorru$i7ct., and also xbrrufioi. The play itself, to distinguish 
it from others of the same name, was termed y/orrafios xaraxro?. So 
much addicted were the Greeks to this pastime, that they had not only 
vessels made for it with the utmost art and care, but circular houses, built 
in such a manner, that the cottabus being placed exactly in the middle, 
the gamesters might stand at equal distances on all sides. 

There was another sort of cottabus, in which a vessel was placed full of 
water, with empty vials swimming upon it; into this they projected wine 
out of cups ; and he that had the fortune to drown the greatest number of 
the vials obtained the prize. 

There was also another sort of cottabus in which they projected dice. 

Lastly, another sort of cottabus is mentioned, which was a contention 
who should sit up awake the longest: the prize was commonly a cake 
made of honey and sesame, or wheat, 1 and was thence termed ryxrauov;, 
or vrugxpovs : the latter seems to have been most common, whence it is men- 
tioned alone by Artemidorus, yiv Ti o vrvoGiju.od; cra^a rols tfaXouoTg hrmxmz 
the nrugc&fiovs was anciently the prize? and hence that word became a 
general name for any other prize. 3 

It was also held necessary to entertain the guests with suitable discourses, 
as well as with sports and pastimes. In the opinion of the ancient Greeks,4 
it was more requisite and becoming to gratify the company by agreeable 
conversation than with variety of dishes.' And in the heroic ages it was 
customary at entertainments to consult about affairs of the greatest mo- 
ment: 5 hence Nestor in Homer 6 persuades Agamemnon to invite the 
Grecian commanders to an entertainment, in order to deliberate concern- 
ing the management of the war: 

Aalw b%1ra ye.povat, %ot*s toi, ovrot a«i««'y. Banquet the elders, it shall not disgrace 

* * * Thy sovereignty, but shall become thee well. 

noXX<uv &' aypofiivaiv, tZ iceiataL oj kbv aptcrijv * * 

BovXvv PovXtvoT,. Thy many guests assembled, thou shalt hear 

Our counsel, and shalt choose the best. COW PER, 

It was believed that at such times men's invention was more quick and 
fruitful, according to the saying in Aristophanes: 7 

1 Aristoph. Schol. in Equit- haud procul ab initio. Pollux, vi. 4 Athen. x. 5. 

2 Lib. i. 74. 19. Aristoph. Schol. in Pacem. 5 Pint. Sympos. vii. 9. 
:j Aristoph. Thesmophor, p. Eustathius in Iliad, p'. Jo.m- C Iliad. 70. 

770. ld.Equitibus.p. 303. ConC nes Tzetzes, Chiliad, vi. Hist. 7 Equitibus, p. 293. 
A thenaeus, x. xi. et prajcipue xv. 85, et Lexicographi Graci. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 



711 



It was also the custom in Persia to consult at entertainments, 1 concern- 
ing warlike preparations and other serious affairs, after the manner of the 
ancient Greeks; nay, if Strabo may be believed, 2 they used to consult about 
afiairs of the highest importance over their wine ; and what was there de- 
termined was held more firm and inviolable than their sober resolutions. 
.According to Herodotus, those things on which they resolved (yfyovrss) 
when theyicere sober were canvassed over again when they had drunk freely, 
and the things which they determined {jjli&v<tko^%\oi) in their drink were 
examined again in their sober hours. 3 Not unlike this is what Tacitus 
reports of the Germans, 4 that their consultations about the reconciliation of 
enemies, the contracting of affinities, the appointment of princes, and all 
other affairs, whether military or civil, were for the most part held at 
entertainments. The way of the syssitia in Crete was as follows: 5 Supper 
being ended, they first deliberated upon civil affairs; then the discourse 
was turned to war, at which time they repeat the praises of illustrious 
persons, creo-giTo pivot rovg vioug it; a,v}^wyoc^ex,v, thereby to excite the young 
men to courage and bravery \ The Lacedaemonian youth frequented the 
syssitia, a; ^itao-KccXzict (rco(p^oirvv^g, as the schools of temperance and 
prudence, in which they heard discourses of public affairs, and conversed 
with the most liberal and best accomplished masters. 6 The Cretan uvfysTa 
and the Spartan Qn^lntx,, that is, their public places of entertainment, 
(oovXivryioleov acropp'/iruv xeii <rvvit^luv ct^ttrToz^ariKcov ra^tv z7%bv, were instead 
of councils, where the chief men of the commonwealth m.et to consult about 
the most secret affairs; and the prytaneum and thesmothesium, or public 
halls in Chaeronea, seem to have been applied to the same use. The same 
custom seems to have obtained in several other cities, and particularly at 
Athens, where the supreme council supped every day together in the pry- 
taneum; and, 7 at Rhodes, where 4 the chief magistrates were obliged, by 
an express law, every day to entertain the principal men of that city at a 
public table, in order to deliberate what should be done the day following/ 
Hence, it has been supposed, 8 Bacchus had the surname of l&lfiovXhs, pru- 
dent counsellor-, and the night was called iutpgovy, as being the time of wise 
and prudent counsels. Not unlike these is that assembly of most wise 
and excellent persons in Plato, where things of the greatest concern are 
discussed. As they who were concerned in public business used to dis- 
course of public affairs, so the conversation of philosophers was commonly 
upon some philosophical subject ; grammarians disputed upon critical sub- 
jects ; and others conversed in their several ways, insomuch that every art 
and science was cultivated and improved upon these occasions; hence it 
has been justly remarked, ' that the Greeks did not drink to excess at their 
public entertainments, but only to keep up the conversation about serious 



1 Athen. v. 4. Ammian. Mar- Eustathius in Iliad. 4'. p. 631. 6 Plut. Lycurgo. Id. Sympos. 
cell, xviii. 5. &c. " vii. P. 

2 Geogranh. xv. p. 731. Conf. 3 Lib. i. 133. 7 Eustath, in Iliad. t '.p, 631, 
Phttaiclius Sympos. vii.quaest. 0. 4 De Morihus Gennanorum. 8 Plut. Loc. cit. 

5 Dosiad. Rerun) Criticarum, i v. 

3 o 2 



712 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



affairs.' Specimens of the discourse at entertainments may be found in 
Plato and Xenophon, and might have been found (had they been yet 
extant) in Aristotle, Speusippus, Epicurus, Hieronymus, and Dio the 
academic, who wrote Xoyovs irctck <zrorov yivopivcvc, Books of Table-dis- 
courses. 1 

It was however also customary by turns to unbend their minds, and 
divert them from serious affairs, by discourses upon ludicrous subjects: 
hence (ru/u,7ro<riov, the Greek name for an entertainment, is defined, 2 
xoivwviec fffovbn? xm vrcci$i2cs, Xoycov %cc) yga^uv, a mixture of seriousness 
and mirth, of discourses and actions. At the forementioned syssitia of 
the Lacedaemonians, where the most grave and important subjects were 
treated on, they also used to sport and to jest, though without any of that 
scurrility and reflection which is apt to give offence. 3 And from the 
Table-discourses of Plutarch and others, it appears to have been the 
ancient custom to contrive their discourses in such a manner as would 
both entertain and instruct the company: nevertheless, in the time of 
Plutarch, they rarely discoursed upon any serious argument at public 
entertainments ; and hence when a discourse was begun at the table of 
Nicostratus, concerning a subject which was to be discussed in the popular 
assembly at Athens, some of the company, who had never heard of the 
ancient Greek custom, affirmed that it was an imitation of the Persians. 4 
And this question, is propounded in the same author, 5 Whether it were 
allowable to discourse philosophy over their cups? Some delighted to tell 
stories, and to repeat ancient fables on these occasions ; others chose to 
read some diverting discourse Q^tnv uvrtiv), or to hear a poem recited, which 
was very common among men of letters ; but no diversion was more usual 
than that of propounding and answering difficult questions. Such of these 
as were designed merely for amusement, were termed umy/Aara, but 
those which farther contained something serious and instructive, were 
called ygltpot, which word, 6 in its primitive acceptation, signifies a fishing- 
net. Hence, to use the words of Clearchus, 7 ' the Griphi contained philo- 
sophical disquisitions, in which the ancients used to give a specimen of 
their learning, insomuch that this pastime became a proof of every person's 
proficiency in learning.' The person who solved the question propounded 
was honoured with a reward ; he who was not so fortunate underwent a 
certain punishment: the rewards were o-reQave; tcoci iv<pyp,'iK, a garland and 
the applause of the company: the punishment was, to drink, without taking 
breath, a cup of wine, mixed with salt: 8 according to some, the reward 9 
was a dish of meat ; the penalty a salt cup. Others report, that a cup of 
wine was the prize, which was adjudged to him who solved the riddle ; or 
in case no man could solve it, to the person by whom it was propounded. 10 



1 Plut. Sympos. principio. quaest. 9. 8 Athen. loc. cit. 

2 Id. Sympos. vii. quasst. vi. 5 Sympos. principio. 9 Onomast. vi. 19. 

3 Conf. Plutarch us Lycurgo, 6 Poll. vi. 19. " 10 Etymologici Auctor, etPha- 
et Sympos. ii. quaest. i. 7 Libro primo de Paicemiis vorinus, voce y/«po S . Eustath. 

4 Piutarchus Sympos, vii. apud Athenaeum, x. cap. uit. Iliad. p. 785. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 713 



Hesychius tells us that yo'><p<>s is 1 an enigmatical question at compotations, 
which, whoever fails of solving, is obliged to drink that which is set before 
him, whether it be unmixed wine or water;' and there is no doubt but 
the rewards and penalties were varied, according to the disposition of the 
company. The common name of these, and of all other questions used on 
similar occasions, was xvXtmm £ntnf*aiTa* Theodectes the sophist termed 
them f&mftona gtyrvflutren, because he had got a set of them by heart, which 
was usually done by such as frequented public entertainments. 1 That the 
custom of propounding riddles was very ancient, and introduced from the 
eastern nations into Greece, appears from the story of Samson, in the book 
of Judges, who propounded a riddle to the Philistines at his nuptial feast. 
Neither were these questions confined to entertainments, but, in the primi- 
tive times, were proposed on other occasions, by those who desired to put 
to the test each other's wisdom and learning. Hence there is mention of the 
queen of Sheba's question to king Solomon ,2 of those which passed between 
Hiram and Solomon, and of several others. 

Sometimes the entertainer made presents to all his guests. Lysimachus 
of Babylon having entertained Himerus, the tyrant of the Babylonians 
and Seleucians, with 300 other guests, gave every man a silver cup of four 
pounds weight. 3 When Alexander made his marriage-feast at Susa in 
Persia, he paid the debts of all his soldiers out of his own exchequer, and 
presented to each of his guests, who were not fewer than nine thousand, a 
golden cup. 4 From these instances, it appears that cups were commonly 
presented on these occasions. This was done because it was customary 
for the company, before they parted, to pour forth wine, as a libation to 
Mercury, who was accounted the president of the night, and believed to 
send sleep and pleasing dreams, whence he is called by Homer 5 voxros 
0sr«rsr«rjfg and hyr.rcuo fau^on. To the same god they also sacrificed the 
tongues of the animals which had been killed for the entertainment. The 
reason of this rite was by some thought to be, that Mercury being the 
president of eloquence, was chiefly delighted with that member; others 
rather think that by this sacrifice he was invoked as a witness of the dis- 
course which had passed. Some are of opinion, that by burning the 
tongues at the conclusion of the meeting, was intimated, that whatever 
had been there discoursed should be kept secret. Several other conjectures 
concerning the origin of this custom have been made by learned men. 6 
Tt was chiefly observed by the Athenians, Ionians, and Megarensians. 
And some affirm that it originated with one of the kings of Megara, who 
having the tongue of a lion, which had wasted Ins country, brought to him 
by Pelops, sacrificed it at the end of an entertainment. It was certainly 
very ancient; whence, according to Apollonius, it was observed by the 
Argonauts. 7 And it is practised by the heroes in Homer: 

1 Confer. Pollux. tern Sapientnm inter opera P!u- 5 Hymno in Mercuriuin. 

2 Center. Reg. iii. 30. Jose- taivhi. Auctor Vitae iEsopi, &c. 6 Apoll. Schol. in Argon, i. 
phus adv. Apionem, i. Hero- 3 AtlieniBUs, xi. 3. 516. Ewstath. inOdyss.y'. p. 131. 
(lotus. acriptor Convivii s"p- 4 Piutarchus Alexandre, p 7'' ; 3. 7 Argon, i. 51b, 

3o3 



714 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Ykuffa'ot,; h iv crvot fitzMov, a,vi<r?a:u,ivoi ?>' i?i?<.u£&v* 

As the ancient Greeks offered libations chiefly to Mercury, so the Greeks 
of later times made theirs to Jupiter, surnamed <r'i\uo;, perfect:} several 
other gods, however, often shared in these offerings ; it was customaiy, in 
particular, at entertainments which followed any solemn sacrifice, to 
remember the god to whom they had previously sacrificed : hence, at a 
sacrifice offered to Neptune in Homer, 2 Minerva, who was present, under 
the assumed form of Mentor, advises the company to sacrifice the tongues, 
and to pour forth libations of wine to Neptune, and the rest of the gods, 
before they departed : 

\AXX' £ys, r6.fj.vtTs fj.lv yXoij-ffay, KepaaaaQe. Se o1vov> Now immolate the tongnes. and mix the wine, 
"O^pa ncxrenSiajri, ko\ aXXoi; o.9u.vztoiv<. Sacred to Neptune and the powers divine. POPE. 

'En-eiaaiTe;, ko'itoio fitbuiusQa.' toio yap Star), 

It was held unlawful to stay too long at entertainments which followed 
sacrifices: 3 

B-fr) yap #aoy oi^ed' vvb %o<pbv, ovce Ioiks And soft approach the balmy hours of sleep : 

ArjQa Iv 6an\ 3aa<Teifj,sv, aXXa vietrdsii. Nor fits it to prolong the heavenly feast, 

Trie lamp of day is quenched beneath the deep, Timeless, indecent, but retire to rest. POPE. 

Athenreus reports, that till his time the company was obliged at some 
sacrificial entertainments to depart before sun-set ; 4 but that at the common 
entertainments, where more liberty was allowed, the company very often 
staid till the morning approached: this we find done by Socrates and his 
friends in Plato's entertainment; and before that, in the heroic times, by 
Penelope's suitors, and by the Phoenicians in Homer, as also by Dido and 
iEneas in Virgil. It was also customary to contend who should keep 
awake longest; and the prize assigned to the victor was most commonly 
a sort of cake called <xv gaped;, 5 which word hence became a general name 
for the prize of any victory. 6 



CHAP. XXI. 

OF THE MANNER OF ENTERTAINING STRANGERS. 

The keeping of public inns for the reception of strangers was assigned by 
Plato to foreigners,7 or the meanest sort of citizens, as an illiberal and 
mean employment. The ancient Greeks had no public inns, which were 
an invention of later ages. In the primitive times, men lived at home, 
neither caring to cultivate friendship with foreigners, nor to improve 
themselves and their estates by commerce with them. Nor was it safe 
to travel without a strong guard, the sea and land being both exceedingly 



1 Athen. i. principio cap. 14. 5 Artemid. i. 74. Aristoph. own home : this was termed 

2 Odyss. y'. 332. Schol. ad Equites. V veo9ai Ik ielirroo^ av«Xie<f e* 

3 Loc. cit. 6 At the conclusion of the feast avu-roatov 8ic^ 

4 Athenasus, y. 4. each of the guests retired to his 7 De Leg. si. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 715 



infested with robbers, who not only spoiled all whom they caught of their 
valuable goods, but treated their persons with the utmost cruelty, as ap- 
pears from the stories of Procrustes, Sinnes, Sciron, Periphetes, and 
others. To live on the plunder of others, was then by many thought a 
very honourable way of subsisting; and they placed a sort of glory in 
overcoming and spoiling their neighbours, believing that the rules of 
humanity and justice were observed by none but such as were destitute 
of power. 1 Hence, among the ancient Greeks, strangers and enemies 
were both designated by the same name, %Uo;, all strangers being then 
accounted enemies. And the Persians, who for several ages waged con- 
tinual wars with Greece, are particularly signified by that word. 2 The 
Lacedaemonians are said to have termed the barbarous nations, whom the 
Greeks took for their common enemies, by the name %'ivot. 3 And among 
the primitive Latins, the name hostis, which was afterwards appropriated 
to enemies, signified a stranger. 4 

The sea was freed from pirates by Minos king of Crete, who with a 
strong fleet for a long time maintained the dominion of all the seas 
around that island. The land robbers were destroyed by Hercules, The- 
seus, and other primitive heroes; from which times, Xenophon reports, 5 
that till his own age, ' no man offered violence to strangers/ And in the 
earliest ages, all who were not entirely void of humanity are said to have 
entertained strangers with respect: it was then the custom to supply 
them with victuals, and other necessaries, before they inquired their 
names, or asked them any other questions. Thus Telemachus and his 
company are treated by Menelaus, who thus bespeaks them upon their 
arrival at Sparta: 

AitTvou nrcica.u.ivso, liQrfiOfJt.zQ' olvtvts \s"tov 
5 ' A.v'b^m. i 

In the same manner Telemachus is entertained, by Nestor, 7 Ulysses by 
Eumseus, 8 and Minerva, under the form of Mentor, by Telemachus. 9 
Menelaus entertained Paris the Trojan ten days before he inquired who 
he was, or whence he came ; and it is said to have been <xg%xiov ido?, an 
ancient custom, to forbear such inquiries till the tenth day, if the stranger 
seemed willing to stay till that time: 10 

'Swrinaa ?euniri, ko.1 iwea ,Sovj ikpevaev' Nine days he feasted, and nine bulls he slew, 

'AA.V 1 Srs &h feKarij i<pdw po6o&a.itrv\o% Tjiji But when the tenth bright morning orient glo-iv'd, 

Kal t<5ts piv sphive Kal ".res o-f),aa Usodai,, The faithful youth his monarchy mandate show'd, 

"Otti pi oi ya.pf3po~L irapa UooLtolo (ploono. The fatal tablets, till that instant seal'd, 

There Lycia's monarch paid him honours due, The deatbful secret to the king reveal'd. — POPE. 

In later ages, Cretan hospitality was veiy much celebrated. In the 
ffvrtririu., or public halls of Crete, there were constantly two apartments ; 

1 Plutar. Thes. Thucy. His- Cic Offic. i. 2. Ambro. Offic. i. 7 Odyss. 69. 
toi ias Prin. 29. Conf. Comment, noster in S Ibid. 45. 

2 Hesy. voce £ivo.. Lycoph. Cassan. 464. 9 Ibid, d . 170. 

3 Herod. Gall. 10. Pollux, i. 5 \\^ou.v Vt x. ii. 10 Eustath. in Iliad, f'. 174, 
50. 6 Odyss. 6'. 61. p. 491, ed. Basil. 

4 Varro, Prin. iy. de L. L, 



716 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



one was termed xufinrnpiov, in which strangers were lodged, the other 
u\3guov, being the place of eating, in which all the Cretans supped to- 
gether: in the uppermost part of this room there was a constant table set 
apart for strangers, and called rod^ri^a, |s»/«, %ivixh, or Alo; \i>\ou' ac- 
cording to others, two tables were appointed for this use. 1 And in the 
distribution of victuals, the strangers were always served before the king, 
or any of the Cretan nation ; and some of them were permitted to bear 
very important offices in the state. 2 

The rest of the Greeks, and especially the Athenians, were generally 
courteous to strangers, except the Lacedaemonians, who are censured for 
their want of hospitality ; and hence are described as most opposite to the 
Athenians in their behaviour to strangers. 3 For the same reason they 
are called by Aristophanes ^tu^avo^ivei^ and by others gsvjjXara/, from 
their imposing upon strangers and driving them away: this is the more 
to be wondered at, because Lycurgus, in the regulations which he made 
at Sparta, chiefly followed the laws and manners of Crete. Nevertheless, 
it is very certain that very good care was taken of strangers at Sparta. 
It was one part of the royal office to make provision for them; 5 and M. 
Antoninus affirms, 6 that strangers had a convenient place assigned in the 
shade, whereas the Lacedaemonians themselves lay down without distinc- 
tion of places. But the opinion of their rough and uncivil usage of 
strangers seems to have prevailed chiefly upon these two accounts: 

1. Because foreigners, when they lived on the Spartan diet, which was 
extremely coarse, thought themselves ill entertained; 7 and, 2. because 
strangers had admittance into Sparta only on apitr/xlvoa h^ioou, certain 
days.s This last appointment was a provision against the promiscuous 
and frequent concourse of other nations, which they avoided as much as 
they possibly could, either to prevent foreigners from observing the faults 
and miscarriages of Sparta, 9 with which Pericles in Thucydides 10 seems 
also to reproach them, or rather to prevent the manners of their citizens 
from being corrupted by a too free and unlimited conversation with other 
nations: 11 for the same reason an edict was once published at Rome, by 
which strangers were forbidden the use of that city. 12 And the Lacedae- 
monians were not allowed to travel into foreign countries, lest they 
should introduce foreign customs and vices into Sparta. 13 That these and 
similar laws were not enacted without sufficient cause, appears from the 
history of Lysander and of Agesilaus, the former of whom returning 
home from Athens, and the latter from Asia, contributed very much to 
the general corruption of manners, which, soon after, destroyed the an- 
cient Lacedaemonian discipline and mode of living. 

In order to excite the people to treat strangers with kindness and 



1 Athen. iv. 9. 

2 Herac. de Keonb. 

3 Tzet. Chil. vii. Hist. 130. 

4 Puce. 

5 Herodot. 

6 Lib. xi. ad seipsum. 



7 Athen. iv. 6. 

8 Aristoph. Schol. in Pace. 
Suidas. 

1 LI ban. Declam. xxiv*. 

10 L b. ii. Orat. funebri. 

11 Xenopii. de Rcpub. Laced. 



Plut. Lycurgo, Insti. Laconi. 

12 Cic. Offic. 1 ii - 14. 

13 Plut loc. cit. et Apophth. 
Nicolaus de Moribns Gentium 
aDud Slob«nm. Val. M x. ii. 6* 
Hnrpocr. voce waSem, $e. 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 717 



respect, the ancient poets and lawgivers persuaded them that strangers 
were under the peculiar care of certain gods, who revenged all the inju- 
ries done to them. In the number of these gods were reckoned Minerva, 
Apollo, Venus, Castor and Pollux, and chiefly Jupiter, who had hence 
the surname of Sew^s, hospitable ; which was also sometimes given to 
other gods, who were believed to protect strangers: hence Ulysses in 
Homer endeavours to appease Polyphemus with the consideration, that 
Jupiter was the patron and avenger of strangers. 1 And Eumaeus is moved 
by the same reason to entertain the same hero, as himself professes: 2 

STsIv', ov fMM $ifj.ts I<rr' ov6' il «a«i'eov akOiv 2X9ot, To slight the poor, or aught humane despise : 

Eelvov a.T<.fj.r)oai' vf.0( yap Aioj elalv a'jravrej For Jove Unfolds Our hospitable doOl ", 

glW 76, rr^o; te. ! Tis Jove that sends the stranger and the poor. 

The swain replied: It never was our guise POPE. 

For the same end the gods were feigned to travel in the habit of 
Strangers: thus Jupiter speaks of himself in Ovid: 3 

Et deus humana lustro sub imagine terras. 

In another passage of that author, the same god, accompanied by Mer- 
cury, is said to have been denied reception by 1000 houses, which, for 
that offence, he turned, with the adjoining country, into a lake. 4 Lycaon 
was said to have been transformed into a wolf for his injurious treatment 
of Jupiter. And, to mention only one example more, when Anti nous 
in Homer 5 treats Ulysses, who there appears like a stranger, injuriously, 
he is reminded that the gods used to visit the cities of men in the habit 
and form of strangers: 

Kat re Bsol Zeivoioiv eoKorej oXXoia7roT<rt They (curious oft of mortal actions) deign, 
UavTolTt reXedorrss, ewtoTpcoftiai iroXrjai, In forms like these, to round the earth and main; 
'AvQpit-xaiv vpptv -e *al svvofii-nv l/popZvres. Just and unjust recording in their mind, 

And with sure eyes inspecting all mankind.— POPH. 

The rites of entertaining strangers were the same with those of re- 
ceiving guests at entertainments, with this exception, that salt was com- 
monly set before strangers, before they tasted the victuals provided for 
them ; by which it was intimated, that as salt consists of aqueous and 
terrene particles mixed and united together, or as it is a concrete of 
several aqueous parts, so the stranger and the person by whom he was 
entertained should, from the time of their tasting salt together, maintain 
a constant union of love and friendship. Others tell us, that salt being 
apt to preserve flesh from corruption, signified, that the friendship which 
was then begun should be firm and lasting. And some think that a 
regard was had to the purifying quality of salt, which was commonly used 
in lustrations, and that it intimated, that friendship ought to be free from 
all design and artifice, jealousy and suspicion. 6 It may be, the ground 
of this custom was only this, that salt was constantly used at all enter- 
tainments, both of the gods and men ; whence a particular sanctity was 
believed to be lodged in it. It is hence called $s7d£ aX$, divine salt, by 



1 Odvs. «\ 269. 

2 Ibid. 56. 

3 Bfefam. i. 213, 



4 Metam. vi. 626. 100. Lrcoph. Schol. ver. 135, 

.5 O.lvs. o\ 483. J37. ' 

6 Conf. Eustaili. Iliad, a . p. 



718 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Homer; and hgo) u\z;, holy salt, by others; and by the placing of salt 
on the tables, a sort of holiness was thought to be imparted to them. 1 
Indeed, whatever in any way conduced to promote love and concord, 
especially in those early times when men lived by spoil and rapine, was 
heid to be sacred: hence the table was thought to be endowed with an 
inherent holiness, as well as the salt. To o^otpo,<7i:zZ > o\, to have eaten at 
the same table, was esteemed an inviolable obligation to friendship; and 
ci\cc kcx.) rgccT&^otv -Trupufioi'miv, to transgress the salt and the table, that is, 
to break the laws of hospitality, and to injure one by whom any person 
had been entertained, was accounted one of the blackest crimes ; hence 
that exaggerating interrogation of Demosthenes, 2 Uov 11 clkig ; vrov rgx- 
t rtZ > u.t ; tocvtoi, yo\p roa.yw%&7 vrccpiav' Where is the salt ? where the hospi- 
table tables ? for in despite of these he has been the author of these trou- 
bles : hence, too, in Lycophron, the crime of Paris in stealing Helena is 
aggravated by Cassandra, 3 upon this consideration, that he had contemned 
the salt, and overturned the hospitable table. To oporrzyov, to converse 
under the same roof, was thought to be a sort of engagement to love and 
courtesy. 4 

The alliance which was contracted by hospitality was termed ^o^vtct; 
it was held very sacred, and was rather more inviolably observed by the 
ancients than the ties of kindred and consanguinity. Teucer in Homer 
endeavoured to deprive Priam of his kingdom, though he was the son of 
Hesione, the sister of Priam ; whereas Glaucus and Diomedes laid down 
their arms in the heat of battle, out of a pious regard to the hospitable 
alliance which had been entered into by their progenitors (Eneus and 
Bellerophon. 5 Hence it appears farther, that the alliances of hospitality 
were handed down by parents to their children ; nor were they contracted 
only by private persons and individuals, but by these with whole families 
and cities. Hence Megillus in Plato affirmed that he was ^po^vos, allied 
by hospitality to the city of Athens. 6 Nicias the Athenian is called by 
Plutarch t^zvos tuv AaKz^ai/xovtMv, allied by hospitality to the Lacedemo- 
nians. Cimon, the son of Miltiades, by means of the same alliance, was 
instrumental in establishing a peace between the cities of Athens and 
Sparta. 7 And, to mention only one instance more, Halyattes, king of 
Lydia, made a covenant with the Mysians, \<p y <£ rs uXXfiXug ihai 

by which they ivere obliged to take one another for guests and allies. 8 

Hence it was customary for men thus allied to give one another 
ffvpt,QoXu, certain tokens, the producing of which was a recognition of the 
covenant of hospitality :9 

SiiVOlg Ti x'cfATllV ffCfX^oK , ol $°6t0'CV0~i 0~ ZV. 

These were mutual presents and gifts called gswas or ^Z^a, %zvtxx, which 



3 Arnob. cont. Gentes, ii. 
2 Orat. de falsa Legat. 

H Lycophron, ver. 134. 

4 Eustath. in Liad. 9'. 63 5, p. 



691, edit. Basil. 

5 Ibid. vi. p. 496. 

6 Lib. i. de Legib. p. 780, edit. 
Frankof. 



7 Corn. Nfpos, Cimone. 

8 Herod. Clione. 

9 Euiip. Medea, ver. 613, 



OF THE MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF GREECE. 719 



were deposited by the ancient Greeks among their treasures to keep alive, 
the memory of their friendships to succeeding generations. 1 

The later Greeks used to break kffT^d.yoc'Kos, a die, into two parts, one 
of which the guests carried away, the other remained with the enter- 
tainer. 2 The same custom was used at Rome, where each part of the 
die was termed tessera hospitalism Upon these tessera, their names, or 
some other character of distinction, as also the image of Jupiter Hospi- 
talis, were commonly engraven. 4 When they renounced their hospitable 
alliance, it was customary to break in pieces the hospitable tessera; hence 
tessera m,frangere signifies to violate the laws of hospitality. 5 

They who entertained private strangers were termed idiotfgoQzvoi. They 
who received ambassadors, and other foreigners, who came on any public 
account, were called &g*%&voi. But the same name is often given to men 
who entertained their own private friends of other nations. If the person 
who received the foreigners, who came under a public character, did it 
voluntarily, he was called \6iKo<r(>o£ivo; ; in this sense Pithias is called by 
Thucydides IfaXovgoZivos 'Alsjva/ow, the voluntary entertainer of the 
Athenians? But more commonly the sr^svo* were appointed to th-t 
office, either by the suffrages of the people in popular governments, or by 
designation of the king, in monarchical countries. Thus, at Sparta, the 
kings appointed rov$ civ \QiXovo-t <ruv vo-rav, ivhomsoever of the citizens 
they pleased to be proxeni. 1 Nor did the office of proxeni consist only in 
providing lodging and entertainment for the forementioned strangers; but 
it was also their duty to conduct them to the king, or the popular assem- 
bly, to provide for them convenient places in the theatre, and to serve and 
assist them on all other occasions. Hence, xockou vivos *j xaxov ott'nos, 
whoever was the procurer of any good or evil to another person was termed 
Kfwlefivos. The author of another man's ruin and misery was called <^^zvos 
aKcoXiiu.;, or vrfofyvos (piooas; the author of his safety and felicity, yr6o%ivo$ 
(rur^oias, or rf^o^ivo; vyii'ia?^ 

The office of proxeni was by the more modern Greeks called vrago%?i, 
which word is used in that sense in one of St Basil's epistles. Yia.^o^cu 
are by Hesychius interpreted %etg'iff puree, ^^ara, presents or gifts; 
and public entertainments are called by Cicero, 9 parochice publicce; unless 
instead of these words, we read, as some learned men have done, paro- 
chus pnblicus; for the officers were called vd^i^oi and '^tvo<jr 0.^0^01. The 
ancient Romans called them copiarii, but Horace 10 uses the name of paro- 
chus, which was current in his age: 

Proximo dmpano ponti qua> villula, tectum Next night, near Campan's bridge, our stage was 
PrtEbuit: et p.irochi, quce debent, ligna, salern- good, 

que. And there we lodged, and as the custom stood, 

The villagers presentad salt and wood. CREECH. 



1 Eustath. in Iliad. 215. 4 Ibid. sc. 1. ver. 22. in Iliad. /. p. 307. Pollux, v. 4. 

2 Euripidis Scholiast, in Me- 5 Id. Cistellaria. Suidas. 

deae, ver. 613. ex Helladio, et 6 Lib. iii. 70. ubi conf. Graecus 8 Eustathius in Iliad. 6'. p. 3(>9. 

Eubu i Xutho. Scholiast. 9 Epist. ad. Att. xiii. epi'st. 2. 

3 Plaut. I'cenul. act. v. 3C 2. 7 Herodot. vi. con!'. Eustathius 10 Lib. i. sat. 5,45. 
ver, 85. 



720 



GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Where, under the names of ligna et sal, 1 wood and salt,' all necessary pro- 
visions are comprehended ; these were supplied in all the Roman towns 
to such as came thither upon any public affair by the parochi, who were 
empowered to levy taxes on the inhabitants for this purpose. 1 In another v 
place of the same poet, parochus signifies the master of a feast: 

vertere pallor A fearful pale our landlord's face o'erspread ; 

Turn Parochi faciem nil sic metusntis ut acres Great were his terrors of such drinking folk. 

Potores FRANCIS, 

■ Struck with dread, 

Whoever undertook a journey, first implored the divine protection. 
Before their departure into any foreign country, it was customary to sa- 
lute, and, as it were, take leave of the deities of their own country, by 
kissing the earth. 2 The same rite of salutation was commonly practised 
on their arrival in any country: thus Ulysses, inPhaeacia, 3 xvffi dl (ifivgov 
aeovgxv, kissed the fruitful earth; and Cadmus in Bceotia, 4 oscula terrce 
fgit, 1 imprints kisses on the soil/ In this manner they paid homage to, 
and invoked the assistance and protection of, Im^u^oi S-s*/, the gods who 
were the patrons of that country; and during their residence in that place 
they worshipped the same gods. This was done by the Samaritans, whom 
the king of Assyria planted in the country of Israel, as we learn from the 
sacred history, and by Alexander the Great, whilst he staid in Troas, as 
the writers of his life and actions report. Lastly, when they returned 
home, they saluted the gods of their own country in the same manner, 
and gave them thanks for their safe return. This was done by Ulysses 
at his return to Ithaca ; 5 by Agamemnon 6 when he returned to Mycenae ; 
and by Hercules 7 on his return from the infernal regions. 



1 Livius.xlii. Cicero, i. epist. 3 Odyss, 460. 819. 

16. ad Atticum, Acron in Horatii 4 Ovidii Metam. iii. 24. 7 Eurip. Hercul. Furent. ver. 

loc.cit. Idem in lib. ii sat. 8.35. 5 Horn. Odys. v'. 324. 523. 

2 Ovid Metam. xiii. 420. 6 iEschyl. Agamemnon, ver 



APPENDIX, 



No. I. 



HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. 1 

The Greeks in a dream of national vanity, gave out their noblest stocks 
for the offspring of their own soil. They were ashamed to deduce their 
origin from any country, whose inhabitants they justly deemed inferior to 
themselves in the arts of war and peace. This fanciful hypothesis, how- 
ever false as far as regards the people, becomes true when applied to one 
part of their intellectual history. Their literature was indeed autoch- 
thonal. The rise of mental refinement among them was independent of 
other races of men ; and its development was their own work. Their 
literary greatness, whose remains are a brighter trophy than the memory 
of their martial deeds or of their political systems, was the growth of the 
beautiful region which it adorned ; and the same hands which reaped the 
field had sown it. It is not denied that they knew of the intellectual 
progress of nations anterior to themselves, nor that materials for thought 
to fashion, or imagination to embellish, were drawn by them, to a large 
extent, from foreign sources. But as it was with the language, so was it 
with the literature of the Greeks. Just as their language, after its 
principles were once fixed, and its vocabulary was established on a broad 
basis, while it admitted contributions from other lands, caused them to pass 
through an assimilating process of naturalization ; so, to the ideas that 
poured in from various quarters, their plastic minds gave a new consis- 
tent shape and an exalted value. Thus, among the elements of their my- 
thology, originally discordant, though blended by genius into a wonderful 
semblance of uniformity, we perceive strong traces of the Oriental and 
Egyptian creeds ; but the parts taken from them have been cast in a fresh 
mould, and reproduced in more captivating lineaments. The monstrous 
i r > subdued into the vast ; the grotesque is softened into the graceful : and 
a fine spirit of humanity is diffused over the rude proportions of the 
primeval figures. Such, likewise, has been the case with the Grecian 
mental philosophy. Many of its dogmas, some of its most remarkable 

1 The text of this article is extracted from Sir D. K. Sandford's splendid Dissertation on the 
Rise and Progress of Literature, written for the Popular Encyclopedia. The notes are added by 
the Editor. 

3p 



722 



HISTORY OF 



forms, are evidently derived from Egypt or the East • but all that tends 
to beautify the mean, to harmonize the incongruous, or to enliven the 
dull ; all that converts the simple precepts of morality, or the crude mate- 
rial of metaphysics, into an elegant department of literature ; belongs to 
the Greeks themselves. From the first dawn of intellectual culture among 
them they were creators of something new, not mechanical echoers of the 
old. Upon the earliest manifestation of their genius there is no foreign 
stamp ; their literature displays at once a proper, peculiar character. Its 
aspect is not Egyptian ; for, though proficient in many branches of science : 
in medicine, astronomy, mechanics, chemistry, mathematics ; Egypt had 
no literature. Nor is it Oriental ; for, with the exception of those hints 
in religion and philosophy, to which we have already alluded, the East 
imparted none of her mental treasures to the ancient Greeks. Even the 
Phoenicians, the oriental people with whom Greece had the closest and 
most constant relations, were of no service in this respect. They, too, 
were devoid of literature beyond the mere rudiments of philosophic spe- 
culation ; too deeply engrossed with their commercial adventures to yield 
more than a passing thought to less gainful pursuits. Yet it must not be 
forgotten that to them the Greeks were indebted for those means of per- 
petuating the fruits of intellectual exertion, of which they made such 
glorious use. Whatever uncertainty may hang about some parts of the 
legend of Cadmus, there can be no doubt that Greece received the 
inestimable gift of an alphabet h orn the shores of Phoenicia. 1 



1 According to the common 
opinion, Cadmus the Phoenician 
was the first who made the 
Greeks acquainted with the art 
of writing 1550 years before our 
era. This opinion rests for sup- 
port upon a passage of Herodotus, 
(V., 28.) who, however, expresses 
himself with an air of doubt, 
adding this restriction to his 
remark, " 3f iftoi ioxesiv, as 
appears to me.'' He is contra- 
dicted by Diodorus Siculus, (V., 
57, 74.) who states that many 
generations before Cadmus the 
Greeks were in possession of 
characters, and used them for 
public monuments, but that a 
deluge destroyed these elements 
of early civilization. An old 
tradition existed among the 
Greeks respecting the good for- 
tune which the Pelasgi had of 
saving this early alphabet at the 
time of the deluge of Deucalion, 
(Eustath. ad Od. 2,358,) and it 
is probably in accordance with 
this same tradition that iEschy- 
lus makes Prometheus say, "I 
invented for them the array of 
letters, and fixed the memory, 
the mother of knowledge and the 
soul of life." {Msch, Prom. V. 
4G9, 470, ed. Bloomjield.) Pau- 
sanias (i. 43.) makes mention of 
an inscription which he had read 
at Megara on the most ancient 
Monument in all Greece. The 



date of this monument was 1678 
years before our era; the inscrip- 
tion upon it, therefore, was an- 
terior to Cadmus, and conse- 
quently Pelasgic. But a serious 
difficulty arises at this stage of 
the inquiry. How r came the 
alphabet, used in after ages by 
the Greek nation to bear so close 
a resemblance both in the names, 
the order, and the very forms of 
the letters, to the alphabets of 
the nations that belonged to the 
Shemitic race, namely, to those 
of the Phoenicians, the Samari- 
tans, and the Jews ; or, to speak 
more correctly, to that of \he 
Phoanicians, for these and the 
Jews, until the time of Cyrus, 
used the same characters? One 
of two suppositions must be the 
true answer to this question. 
Either the Phoenicians introduced 
an alphabet into Greece so far 
superior to the old Pelasgic as io 
be adopted in its stead, or the 
alphabet of Cadmus and that of 
the Pelasgi were identically the 
same. The first supposition will 
be found extremely difficult to 
support. It takes for granted, 
what few, if any, will be willing 
to allow, that there existed in 
those early ages a sufficient 
degree of mental activity and 
refinement on the part of the rude 
inhabitants of Greece, to induce 
theua to discriminate between the 



comparative advantages of two 
rival systems of alphabetical 
writing ; and that occasions 
sufficiently numerous presented 
themselves in those early days, 
for testing by actual use, the 
respective claims to pre-eminence 
of the Pelasgic and Phoenician 
diameters. The second of these 
suppositions is undoubtedly the 
true one, to establish which more 
fully we must go a little into 
detail. The Pelasgi are ac- 
knowledged by the concurrent 
voice of all antiquity to have 
brought with them into Greece a 
peculiar and distinct system of 
religion. They are acknowledged, 
moreover, to have been the 
founders of the theology of the 
Greeks. They established an 
oracle at Dodona; they insti- 
tuted the mysteries of the Cabiri ; 
and there is every reason to be- 
lieve that those of Eleusis were 
of similar origin: in a word, 
everything connected with them 
tends strongly to confirm the 
belief that they were a sacerdotal 
race, a caste of priests. To those 
who are acquainted with - the 
learned speculations of Ritter, 
(Die Vurhalle Europceiscltcr 
Volkergeschichten vcr Herodotus) 
it seems scarcely necessary to 
state how successfully he has 
established, from an examination 
of the scattered fragments of 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



723 



That the practice of writing, however, did not at once become common 
among the Grecian tribes, and that the materials of the art were scarce 
and costly, was perhaps as fortunate for their first efforts in composition, 
as it has been for posterity that the art was applied in time to snatch from 
the frail tenure of memory, and fix in an enduring shape, the finest 
monuments of their genius. The mere process of writing might have 
impaired that free, flowing, and exuberant character, which probably 
belonged to their earliest productions, since it is t so conspicuously mani- 
fested in the most ancient that still remain. Conjecture guided by 
analogy, our only light in examining those distant times, appears to indi- 
cate that from these remains we may correctly infertile nature of preced- 
ing attempts. The mainspring of intellectual exertion among the Greeks 
was the same that has acted upon all nations,- who have not derived 
their literature from imitation ; that joyous activity of mental power 
which breaks out wherever circumstances allow it to find scope, that desire 
to embody thought and feeling in a cognizable shape, and to impress upon 
the minds of others a copy of our own, of which original genius is uni- 

early history, the intimate con- Phoenicians themselves, they or there existed no communica- 

nexion which once subsisted were evidently of Arabian de- tion at that time with Egypt by 

between the east and west. The scent, and originally established which it could be procured. The 

earliest monuments which the along the shores of the Arabian only materials for writing to the 

geography, the antiquities, the gulf. They were the shepherd- time of Cadmus appear to have 

mythology, the architecture, and race who founded the dynasty been stone and plates of metal, 

the religious systems of the most of the Hycsos in Egypt, and The palm-tree prows so abun- 

remote times afford, clearly indi- from that country they ob- dantly in Phoenicia, that from it 

cate that, in a very distant rained their alphabet and the the Greeks gave a name to the 

period, co'onies of priests from germs of civilization We have whole country ^fcotviKT?, from 

northern India, with the worship now traced the Phoenician al- $otvt?). According to Pliny 

of Budda, spread themselves phabet to Egypt: was it of (H. *V. Xlii. 11.), the Egyptians 

over the countries along the Egyptian origin? No one will used the palm leaf for writing 

Phasis, on the Euxine, in Thrace, affirm this who is acquainted previous to the invention of paper 

along the Danube, over many with the early history of Egypt, or papyrus. If Cadmus, then, 

parts of western Europe, and The Egyptians received their brought into Bceotia the use of 

even through the whole of rudiments of civilization from writing on the palm- leaf, the 

Greece. The Pelasgi evidently Meroe in Ethiopia, the seat of a Greeks, accustomed previously 

were a colony or race of this sacerdotal caste or royal priest- to trace their characters with 

kind, and thsir very name, Ra- hood. Did Meroe then also great labour and difficulty on 

seni or Tyrseni, especially the civilize India, or India Meroe ? stone and metal, would readily 

two last syllables Seni, connects From various circumstances it abandon this mode of writing for 

them in a manner with the Sindi, would appear that the priority the easier and more expeditious 

or people of India. Now, on the is to be assigned unto India, one introduced by the Phoenician 

supposition that the Pelasgi were But what are we to think of the stranger. Hence Cadmus might 

a colony from India, and brought tradition respecting Cadmus ? easily be regarded as the in- 

with them into Greece the civil- That he did come to Greece the ventor of alphabetic writing, 

ization and arts of tKe former authority of almost every ancient the difficulty of procuring proper 

country, the question respecting author testifies. The most in- materials having so much ob- 

the Greek alphabet, to which we genious mode of solving the structed its use among the 

return, resolves itself into this, difficulty is that adopted by some ; Greeks previous to this period, 

whether the people of India or of the German scholars, namely, Hence, too, the letters which 

Phoenicia are to be regarded that Cadmus merely introduced they now began to trace 

as the inventors of alphabetic into Greece more convenient on the palm-leaf were termed 

writing? The Phoenicians were and suitable materials for writ- ypa^ftava (poivucriia., not meaning 

a mere nation of merchants and ing. The art of preparing skins that they were Phoenician, for 

traders. They had little, if any, to serve for the purposes of they were in reality Pelasgic, 

occasion for literary pursuits, writing was unknown to the (the letters of Cadmus and those 

and they have left but little lit- early Greeks, for the &$>0«£cu of of the Pelasgi being the same,) 

erature behind them. From a which Herodotus speaks as hav- but importing merely that they 

nation who had gone so far as to ing been in use before the in- were letters traced upon the palm 

invent an alphabet, we certainly vention of paper, seems to have leaf i and hence 'finally the 

should expect no small number been only skins rudely prepared Greeks out of gratitude would in 

of literary memorials. Again, in the manner still customary time apply the name Phoenicia to 

Hug (Erjindunv der Buchstaben* among barbarous natious in the a country whence they had ob- 

sckri/t) shows clearly that the time of the historian. Either tained so valuable a gift as the 

Phoenician letters are in fact paper, made of the papyrus of palm-tree or fyolvi.Z.—Anthon's 

only hieroglyphicg, and even of Egypt was not as yet invented, Lcmpriere, vol. 'Zd. p. 1129. 
Egyptian origin. As to the 



724 



HISTORY OF 



versally conscious. Poetry, a primitive production in every region of 
the earth, springing out of principles that are inherent in the human 
soul, was a natural vehicle for emotions too powerful to be buried in 
silence ; and one that presented itself the more readily while memoiy, 
which is so much assisted by the mechanism of versification, formed the 
chief means of perpetuating the results of mental labour. It was natural, 
too, that religious emotion, as one of the most vivid and universal feelings 
of man, should be earljj embodied in the poetry of a simple age. But 
those theories are fallacious, which assume that direct addresses to the 
gods, or lyric hymns, as parts of a public ritual, were the primary form of 
poetical composition among the Greeks. It must be remembered that 
of their poetry, previous to Homer, we have not even a fragment on 
which to treason. 1 Many names, indeed, of more ancient poets are 
recorded, and works ascribed to some of the most famous of them are 
extant at this day: but the spuriousness of these is too manifest to admit 
of controversy. From Homer alone, and from the portraiture of elder 
bards, which certain passages of the Homeric poems supply, we must 
learn the properties of the earliest Grecian minstrelsy. This evidence 
makes it plain that religious invocation was but an incidental portion of 
tbe minstrel's lay, and that the homage due to the deities was principally 
paid in a lively exhibition of their characters and adventures, a setting 
forth of mythological traditions, and a display of that faith which traced 
the interference of divine agency in every turn of human affairs. In 
short it is not more certain that poetry was the first form of Grecian lit- 
erature, than that the very rudiments of that poetry appeared in the 
guise of heroic song. For this there was found a rich profusion of ap- 
propriate and inspiring themes ; and the chivalrous propensities of a 
people, whose legends abounded in such topics, insured popularity for the 
strains in which they were recorded. Nor was there any lack of other cir- 
cumstances favourable to the rise and growth of heroic poetry. The 
pride of chiefs, the spirit of clanship, the love of ancestral distinction, 
combined to elicit and reward the skill of those who could gratify passions 
so vehement. Hence not only Ionia, that seat of the Greeks . where the 
most brilliant success in this species of composition was attained, but 
almost every part of the countries possessed by them, resounded with the 
voice of minstrels. Absurd as it is to imagine that the contributions of 
many separate bards could have been blended into poems of such marked 
unity and surpassing lustre as the Iliad and Odyssey, it is yet undoubtedly 
true that the bards were a numerous class. The "fames of the heroes " 
such as Achilles chanted to the harp, 2 the Argonautic expedition, the 
siege of Thebes, the death of Meleager, above all the "tale of Troy," 

1 Before him had flourished to Cicero, there were many ides, Aristasus, and others. — 

the theological poets, Orpheus, heroic poets before Homer; and Coleridge. 

Amphion, Linus, and Musaeus, Knsebius names Philammon, 2 II. 5' 189. See the Museum 

10 whom some chronologers Thamyris, Demodocus, Epimeu- Criticum vol. II. p. 244. 
acid Hesiod. Nay, according 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



wore the most prominent subjects of their lays. By the constant cele- 
bration of these favourite themes the powers of the Grecian mind were 
called out and cherished, the language was improved in copiousness and 
harmony, and the versification was moulded into an exquisite structure, 
which no subsequent endeavours were able to excel. Brighter, from 
time to time, shone the gleams of creative fancy ; sweeter, and more 
sweet arose the sounds that were heard in every quarter, until at last 
came that burst of amazing sweetness, strength, and majesty, which was 
designed to overpower all previous strains, and to fill the ears of posterity 
with its own music. 

That great authors represent the times in which they flourish is an 
opinion commonly advanced and admitted. The proposition is true in 
relation to those who have taken their subjects from their own times, and 
so have been induced and enabled to draw from the life a picture of 
contemporary manners, feelings and events. But it is more generally 
true to say that a great author represents the mind of his age ; partly as by 
his influence on others he moulds their tastes and understandings to his 
personal bent, and still more as his genius empowers him to seize in its 
real essence the spirit of the time, to raise it to the highest pitch, to 
embody it in the most striking forms, and to bequeath for the instruction 
of future generations an unerring index to the intellectual condition of 
his own. Thus, in the poetry of Homer, 1 while we can perceive that he 
lived on the margin, as it were, of the heroic age, 2 and that the state of 
things and manners around him was in some respects altered from that 
which he describes, we recognise withal a sincere though splendid image 
of the mental attainments, tastes, and tendencies of his Grecian contem- 

1 B. C. 900. form in its stead. Now this sidered a single and determinate 

2 There has been as much national revolution was coinci- act of colonization, and Homer 
douot and controversy about the dent with, or immediately con- be assumed to be an Asiatic 
age of Homer, as about himself sequent on, the Doric invasion, Ionian, it may very fairly be 
and his poems. According to or, as it is commonly called, the urged, that as he never alludes 
the argument of Wood, Haller, return of the descendants of to this migration, though it was 
and Mitford, he lived about the Hercules. It is said also, that certainly a very remarkable 
middle of the ninth century the poet mentions the grand- event, and one which he must 
B.C.; which date agrees exactly children of ^Eneas as reigning have known, he may just as 
with the conjecture of Herodotus, in Troy, in the prophecy of welJ, for other or the same 
who wrote B. c. 444, and is Neptune in Iliad 308, and reasons, have been silent on the 
founded on the assumption that that in another speech of subject of a revolution by which 
Homer must have lived before Juno's he seems to intimate the that migration was caused. The 
the return of the Heraclidas or insecure state of the chief ex- Arundel Marble places Homer 
Dorians into Peloponnesus; an isting dynasties of the race of B. C. 907, the Ionian Migration 
event which took place within Pelops ; audit is inferred from B. C. 1044, the Return of the 
eighty years after the Trojan this, that he nourished during HeracLdai, B. C. 1104, and Ihe 
war. The Newtonian calcula- the third generation, or upwards Capture of Troy, B. C. 1104. 
tion is also adopted, which fixfs of sixty years after the destruc- Heyne approves this calculation, 
the capture of Troy as low as tion of Troy. Upon this argu- as, upon the whole, the most 
B. C. 904. The argument is, ment Heyne remarks, that in consistent with all the author- 
that it is extremely improbable trie first place a poet, who was ities: but it is at variance with 
that Homer, so minute as he is celebrating heioss of the Pelopid Newton's calculation; and in- 
in his descriptions of Greece, race, had no proper occasion to deed the whole chronology of 
and so full of the histories of the take notice of a revolution by Greece, anterior to the Olympic 
reigning dynasties in its various which their families were ex- reckoning, is so exceedingly 
districts, should never take patriated aiU their kingdoms obscure, that it is quite 
notice of so very remarkable an abolished; and next, that the preposterous to contend for 
occurrence as the almost total Ionic migration took place sixty anything beyond the relative 
abolition of the kingly govern- years later than the return of antiquities of things. — Cclr- 
rnent throughout Greece, and the the Heraclidas; and certainly, if ridge's Introduction to (V rf- 

f ubstitution of the republican the Ionic migration is to be con- t'lmsic Foe!*, pp. \?,-Z— 1J4, 

3p3 



726 



HISTORY OF 



poraries. What the Greeks knew, thought, felt, loved, admired, despised, 
hated, twenty-seven centuries ago, may be gathered from his strains as 
fully and freshly as if there had been no interval between them and our- 
selves. Whatever improvements, and doubtless they were many, he 
might make on the language of his countrymen ; or oil the compass and 
variety of that metre, to whose first principles the genius of the tongue 
itself must have led in the veiy dawn of their poetry : such as we find is 
in his poems we may-infer to have been the prevailing style of.composition 
in his day. Such in kind, however inferior in excellence, was the character 
of all that Greece could yet show of a literary nature, and had later efforts 
redeemed from oral recitation a mass of contemporary verse, the sole 
change required in alluding to it would have been one of epithet, from 
the Homeric to the Heroic literature. Nevertheless, in the case of 
Homer, as in that of all transcendant genius, the powers and properties 
of an hidividual mind are deeply impressed upon his works. There is 
much in them which could not, we may be well assured, have emanated 
from any other mind. He had all that the minstrels of his age possessed: 
he had a great deal, to the measure and stature of which they never at- 
tained. 

To analyse the qualities of Homer's genius would happily be a super- 
fluous task. No student of general literature is ignorant of these — of his 
sublimity and pathos, his tenderness and simplicity, his inexhaustible 
vigour, that seems to revel in the endless display of prodigious energies. 
The universality of his powers is their most astonishing attribute. He is 
not great in any one thing ; he is greatest in all tilings. He imagines 
with equal ease the terrible, the beautiful, the mean, the loathsome ; he 
paints them with equal force. In his descriptions of external nature, in 
his exhibitions of human character and passion, no matter what the 
subject, he exhausts its capabilities. His pictures are true to the minutest 
touch ; his men and women are made of flesh and blood. They lose not 
a jot of their humanity for being cast in a heroic mould. He transfers 
himself into the bosoms of those whom he brings into action ; masters 
the interior springs of their spiritual mechanism ; and makes them move, 
look, speak, and do, exactly as they would in real circumstances. If 
Shakspeare appears to surpass him in this particular, it is only because 
the shades of character have been multiplied, and the expressions of 
passion varied, since the time of Homer, by a widened range of circum- 
stances, and an increased diversity of manners and conditions. But how 
ridiculous to suppose that such an attribute could be the joint property of 
several contemporary poets ! When it lias been proved that the characters 
of Lear and Othello were made up of patch- work, it may be believed that 
those of Helen and Achilles were eked out by the contributions of different 
minds. 

Scarcely does it seem necessary to take further notice of that strange 
theory which denies the individuality of the author of the Iliad, and 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



727 



asserts that, in the age of Solon and Pisistratus, the poem was not merely 
reduced to writing, but was then for the first time compiled out of separate 
lays into an epic whole. As if a series of national songs could have been 
brought to cohere with so much smoothness ; or would have evinced such 
unity of plot and purpose ; or have been confined to so small a segment 
of the Trojan story ; or have given such prominence to a single Thes- 
salian hero ; or have displayed throughout the characteristics of an 
identical and inimitable genius ! Under all the shapes, with which 
French ignorance and German erudition, have clothed it, this hypothesis 
is equally untenable ; and those who, while the genuine impulses of 
feeling and judgment prompt them to reject it, have not sufficient leisure 
or learning to examine the matter critically, may rest satisfied that there 
is no difficulty in the belief of a single author, comparable to the difficulties 
of the opposite opinion. There may be difficulties upon the one side, but 
there are impossibilities upon the other. Intent, like all poets of the 
school of nature, not upon himself but his subject, Homer has told us 
nothing of his personal history. All biography that relates to him is of a 
fabulous character ; but, holding a steady course between credulity and 
scepticism, we may be assured of a few points of primary importance ; to 
wit, that his name, whatever its etymology, has been rightly transmitted 
to us ; that his principal residence was in the delicious climate of Ionia ; 
and that though he belonged, as a poet, to a class, of which he is the 
glorious representative, yet that he excelled, in a high degree, all his 
brethren, and was as much the light of his own age, as he has been the 
wonder of those which have succeeded it. 1 



1 It is said by Tatian that 
Theagenes of Rhegium, in the 
time of Cambyses, Stesimb otus 
the Thasian, Herodotus of Hali- 
carnassus, Antimachus the 
Golophonian, Dionysius the 
Olynthian, Ephoras of Cuma;, 
Phiiochorus the Athenian, Meta- 
clides and Chamseleon the 
Peripatetics, and Zenodotus, 
Aristophanes, Calliinachus, 
A ri starch us. Crate?, Eratos- 
thenes, and Apollodoras, the 
Grammarians, all wrote con- 
cerning the poetry, the birth, 
juid the age of Homer. Of the 
biographical part of the Avorks 
of these authors nothing now 
remains, with the nominal ex- 
ception of a Life of Homer, 
attributed to Herodotus ; but 
which, as well on account of its 
minute and fabulous details and 
its counterfeit Ionic,- as of the 
inconsistency of a statement in 
it with the undoubted language 
of Herodotus in his History, is 
now almost universally con- 
sidered as spurious. Such as it 
is, however, it is a very ancient 
compilation, and the text from 
which all subsequent stories 
have been taken or altered. 
There is a short life of Homer, 



also, bearing the name of 
Plutarch ; but which is, like the 
former, generally condemned as 
spurious, although there is 
reason to believe it more ancient 
than its supposed author. It 
may well seem preposterous to 
write the life of a man, whose 
very individual existence some 
of the greatest scholars of modern 
days have denied, and concern- 
ing whom it is clear that even 
Herodotus, the most ancient of 
the Greek historians, could only 
conjecture that he lived 400 
years before his own time. In- 
deed I believe there is but one 
historical fact in either of these 
two Lives, and that is, that 
Homer or whoever was the 
author, or were the authors, of 
the Iliad, was, or were, born 
and bred in Asiatic, or at least 
Eastern, Greece. Of this there 
appears to me probable evidence 
in the Iliad itself, and beyond 
this, everything seems as merely 
fabulous as the popular stories of 
King Arthur. However, some 
account of the common traditions 
about Homer will probably be 
expected here-, and the story 
will explain the origin of several 
epithets which are frequently 



applied to him, and the meaning 
of many allusions to be found in 
the Greek and Latin writers. 
There is, then, a general agree- 
ment that the name of Homer's 
mother .was Gritheis *, but the 
accounts differ a good deal as to 
his father. Ephonis said, that 
there were three brothers, 
natives of Cumae. Atelles, Maeoti, 
and Dius ; that Dius, being in 
debt, migrated to Ascra in 
Bceotia, and there became the 
lather of Hesiod by his wife 
Pycimede ; that AtelJes died in 
Cumae, having appointed his 
brother Mseon guardian of his 
daughter Critheis; that Gritheis 
becoming with child by her 
nncle, was given in marriage to 
Phemius. a native of Smyrna, 
and a schoolmaster in that city ; 
and that in due time afterwards, 
whilst she was in or near the 
baths on the river Meles, she 
gave birth to a child, who was 
called Melesigenes from this 
circumstance. Aristotle relates 
that a young woman of the 
island of Ios, being with child 
by a Daemon or Genius — .i 
familiar of the Muses - fh-d to 
the coast, where she whs seized 
by pirates, who presents d her as 



723 



HISTORY OF 



A more rational question than that above alluded to, was raised even 
by some of the ancient critics, as to the other great poem ascribed to 
Homer. There are certainly some traces in the vocabulary, syntax, 
mythology, and manners of the Odyssey, which, compared with those of 
the Iliad, appear to indicate a later period and a different author. On 
the other hand, it is hard to believe that Greece produced two minds, 
so kindred in strength and spirit ; not only similar in kind, but equal in 



a gift to Mason, king of the Ly- 
dians, at that time resident in, 
and ruler over, Smyrna. Maenn 
married her ; she, Critheis, gave 
birth to Melesigenes, as before 
mentioned, and upon her death, 
soon after, Mason brought up her 
child as his own. Here we 
have the popular origin of the 
two epithets or appellatives, 
Melesigenes and Maeonides. 
According to the same Ephorus, 
he was called Homer (*0/»j?pot) 
when he became blind — the 
lonians so styling blind men 
because they were the followers 
of a guide {o/ivptiovrts). Aris- 
totle's account is, that the In- 
dians, being pressed by the 
iEolians, and having resolved to 
abandon Smyrna, made a pro- 
clamation, that whoever wished 
to follow them should go out of 
the city, and that thereupon 
Melesigenes said he would /o£- 
low or accompany them (o^pelv) ; 
upon which he acquired the 
name of Homer. Another deri- 
vation of the name is from 
c fly ipu>v, one not seeing ; as to 
which r.oiion of his blindness, 
Paterculus says that whoever 
thinks Homer was born blind, 
must needs be blind himself in 
all his senses. It was said also 
that he was so called from 
o nrjpos, the thigh, because he 
had some mark on his thigh to 
denote his illegitimacy. In the 
Life of Homer attributed to 
Proclus, the story is that the 
poet was delivered up by the 
people of Smyrna to Chios as a 
pledge or hottage [o/*Tjpos) on the 
conclusion of a truce. The pro- 
bable derivation that favours the 
theory of Vico and Wolf is from 
Spov e'lptiv, concinere* or to sing 
in concert or with the assistance 
of others, as the word is used in 
the " Theogonia ;" or perhaps 
from on-nptiv, to assemble together. 
But every one of these are mere 
conjectures, and all of them, 
except that which denotes the 
rhapsode, very unhappy ones. 
The stories proceed in general to 
state that Homer himself be- 
came a schoolmaster and poet of 
great celebrity at Smyrna, and 
remained there till Mentes, a 
foreign merchant, induced him 
to travel. That the author or 
authors of the Iliad and Odyssey 
must have travelled pretty 
extensively for those times 
is unquestionable \ for, besides 



the accurate knowledge of con- 
tinental Greece Proper, display- 
ed in the Catalogue, it is clear 
that the poet was acquainted 
with the islands both in the 
iEgean and the Ionian seas. 
Crete, Cyprus, and the coasts of 
Asia Minor from the Hellespont 
indefinitely southward, Phrygia, 
Caria, Pisidia, and Phoenicia ; 
and possessed also considerable 
information with respect to 
Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia. 
Amongst the Trojan allies, the 
Paphlagonians from the river 
Parthenius (the modern Bartan) 
and Cytorum are mentioned. 
The river Thermodon (the 
Termeh) is also named. If 
the Chalybes are meant in the 
expression Tq\69ev «? 'AXt£f»f, 
this would be the farthest point 
eastward mentioned in the 
Homeric poems : the Chalybes 
being in the longitude of Aleppo. 
In his travels Homer visited 
Ithaca, and there became sub- 
ject to a disease in his eyes, 
which afterwards terminated in 
total blindness. This blindness, 
however, was by some attributed 
toa more dignified cause. Homer, 
it seems, having resolved in his 
mind to compose a poem of 
which Achilles should be the 
hero, and being desirous of ob- 
taining an adequate conception 
of the warrior, made a pilgrim- 
age to the Sigean promontory, 
visited the tomb, and besought 
the mighty shade to appear for 
one moment in all its former 
glory. Achilles rose into sight, 
but arrayed in armour of such 
intense brightness that the as- 
tonished bard became blind in 
the act of devout contempla- 
tion :— 

" He saw ; but. blasted with excess of 
light, 

Closed his eyes in endless uight." 
From Ithaca, Homer is said to 
have gone to Italy, and even to 
Spain; but there is no sign in 
either of the two poems of any 
distinct knowledge of countries 
westward of the Ionian Sea ; 
although Sicily is twice men- 
tioned in the Odyssey under the 
name of Thrinakia (a. ia'. 106. 
M. i/S ; . 127.), and the Siculi are 
once named in the same poem 
T 383.) as barbarians, to 
Those brutality the Suitors 
ihreaten to commit Telemachus. 
Wherever he went, Homer re- 



cited his verses, which were 
universally admired, except at 
Smyrna, where he was a prophet 
in his own country. At Phocaea, 
a schoolmaster of the name 
of Thestorides obtained from 
Homer a copy of his poetry, and 
then sailed to Chios and recited 
the Homeric verses as his own. 
Homer followed; was rescued 
by Glaucus, a goatherd, from 
the attack of his dogs, and 
brought by him to Bolissus, a 
town in Cnios, where he resided 
a long time, in the possession of 
weaith and a splendid reputation. 
Thestorides left the island upon 
Homer's arrival. According to 
Herodotus, he died at los, on 
his way to Athens, and was 
buried near the sea-shore. 
Proclus says, he died in conse- 
quence of falling over a stone. 
Plutarch tells a very different 
story. He preserves two re- 
sponses of an oracle to Homer ; 
in both of which he was caution- 
ed to beware of the young men's 
riddle, and relates that the poet, 
being cn his voyage to Thebes, 
to attend a musical or poetical 
contest at the feast of Saturn in 
that city, landed in the island of 
los, and, whilst sitting on a rock 
by the sea-shore, observed some 
young fishermen in a boat; that 
Homer asked them if they had 
caught anything (ei Sfcotef), 
and that the young wags, who, 
having had no sport, had been 
diligently killing as many as 
they could catch of certain per- 
sonal companions of a race not 
even yet extinct, answered— 
«* as many as we caught, we left ; 
as many as we could not catch, 
we carry with us." 

"Oca" eXofiev, \iir6p.to8a' Za ov£ 

rXopev, tpepe/j.Ba9a. 
The catastrophe is, that Homer, 
being utterly unable to guess the 
meaning of this riddle, broke his 
heart out of pure vexation, and 
that the inhabitants of the island 
buried him with great magnifi- 
cence, and put the following 
inscription on his tomb : — 

sr6a&e TV* Upyv >ce(pa\T]v Kara 
ivvpSiV r< e u)a>v Koer^ropa, Stlov 

"o^-npov. 

Here Homer the divine, hi earthy 
bed, 

Poet of heroes, res's bis sacred head, 
—Coleridge on the Classic Foei». 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



729 



degree ; and perhaps this last consideration should be suffered to outweigh 
all arguments, however plausible, in favour of a divided authorship. 
Moreover, the Return of Ulysses, while it was a natural theme for a bard 
who had sung the Wrath and Glory of the son of Peleus, necessarily led to 
scenes and subjects which may account for the larger portion of the dis- 
crepancies between the poems. At least the interval between them could 
not have been wide. They are compositions of the same class. In both 
there is the same general cast of thought, language, and versification ; 
the same attachment to heroic life in all its adventurous varieties ; the 
same views of the external world ; the same mellifluous but masculine 
forms of speech ; the same flexible harmony and rich cadences of metre. 1 
The beauties of the Homeric poems were so striking in themselves, and 
so well calculated to rivet the national affections of the Greeks, that we 
can discover nothing surprising in the great and permanent influence 
which they exerted over all subsequent branches of Grecian literature. 
The marvel is, that tins influence should be least perceptible upon the im- 
mediate successor of Homer. The tone and temper of Hesiod's 2 poetry 



1 In modern times, a grest 
number of editions of the -wo: ks 
of Homer have been published. 
The first printed edit-on was at 
Florence, in ]4SS, in two vol- 
umes, folio, at the cost of two 
brothers, named Nerlius and 
John Acciaioii; and under the 
superintendence of Demetrius 
Chalcondylus, an Athenian, and 
Demetrius the Cretan. The 
second, was that of Aldus, in the 
year 1504, in octavo ; but it is a 
mere copy of the Florentine 
edition. The same editor pub- 
lished two other editions, one in 
1517, and the other in 1524. In 
1519, Franciscus superintended 
the first, and in 1537, the second 
Justine edition, of which the 
latter is in the greatest repute. 
Cephalaeus published four edi- 
tions at Stratsburg, between the 
years 1525 and 1550; and a 
fifth was added by his family, in 
1563, after his decease; they 
contain the various readings of 
Homer from the earliest copies. 
In 1542 a splendid edition was 
published at Rome, containing 
all the commentaries of Eus- 
tathius. Various editions have 
been published at Paris ; the 
first of which was that of Tur- 
betns, in 1554, diligently col- 
lated with the preceding copies, 
especially that of Rome. The 
magnificent work of H. Stephens, 
entitled "Poets Graeci Principes 
Heroici Carminis." containing 
the works of Homer, appeared 
in 1566, and is framed from the 
collation of a great number of 
manuscripts. Barnes, in 1711, 
published his edition at Cam- 
bridge, which has been the 
subject of very severe animad- 
version by Dr Kentley, but is 
invaluable for its extensive col- 



lation of manuscripts and 
preceding editions. Clarke's 
splendid edition of the Iliad, in 
two volumes, qnarto, appeared 
in 1729; and contains; in the 
notes, clear il lustrations of the 
principles of grammar and pro- 
sody. The Odyssey. Batracho- 
myamachia, &c„ Ln 1740. The 
Glasgow- edition appeared in 
1756, in four volumes, folio; it 
was superintended by Moor and 
Muhhead, and underwent a 
singuk;riy careful revision. The 
edition of Ernesti, in 1759, takes 
Clarke's for its basis, but em- 
braces many important additions 
by the editor. Villoison's ex- 
cellent edition, appeared in 1788, 
accompanied by the Venetian 
Scholia. Three editions of 
Homer have been given to the 
world by the celebrated Wolf; 
the second of which, in 1794, 
contains the Prolegomena, 
which has excited so much at- 
tention among the learned. A 
magnificent edition of all the 
works of Homer issued from 
the Clarendon press, in 1808, 
under the patronage of the 
Grenviile family; the Odyssey 
was collated bv Porson, with the 
Karleian MS. ' In 1S02,_ Heyne's 
great edition of the Iliad made 
its appearance, enriched Avith an 
immense fund of critical obser- 
vation on the works of Homer; 
but countenancing ail the scep- 
tical opinions respecting the 
unity and authenticity of the 
whole. It should not be omitted 
that an excellent introduction to 
the study of Homer was pub- 
lished b) Dr Burgess, the pre- 
sent bishop of St David's, at 
Oxford, in 17b8, entitled "Initio, 
Uomericn ; siw erccrpta ex 
liiaue Homcri ; cum locoruin 



omnium Gr recti metaphrasi, ex 
Codd. Bodleanis et novi coll. 
MSS. &c. Clarke's Homer is 
commonly printed as a school 
book without the nntes. — JEncyc. 
Metrop. part 2. p. 147. 

2 Happily f >r the biographers 
of Hesiod, that poet has not, like 
Homer, omitted to give in his 
works any traces of his personal 
history. From his Works and 
Days we learn, that he was the 
son of a man who had been an 
inhabitant of Cumae, in one of the 
iSohan isles. Suidas, Fabri- 
cius, and others, hence represent 
the poet as a native of that place; 
hut the contrary will appear from 
his own poems. He represents 
his father as having removed 
to Ascra, a village in Bceotia, at 
the foot of Mount Helicon, and 
in the same book asserts, that 
he never crossed the seas, ex- 
cept in a voyage from Aulis, in 
Bceotia, to Eubcea. Hence it 
follows, that he never sailed 
with his father to Ascra, and 
consequently that he was born 
after the settlement of his family 
in that village. From this place, 
he derived the narr.e of Ascraeus, 
by which he is often called in 
the classical writers. It appears 
from his own statement, that 
misfortunes, and chiefly poverty, 
occasioned the removal of his 
father. Proclus, however, on 
the authority of Ephorus, tells 
us that a murder was the cause 
of his exile. It appears from 
another part of the Works 
and Days, that the poet tended 
sheep on Mount Helicon. We 
so gather, that his father left 
some property, which his brother 
Perses obtained from him by 
means of fraud, and bribing the 
judges ; but that, instead of 



730 



HISTORY OF 



are marked by a greater difference from his, than even many of the prose 
compositions which afterwards appeared. The juniority of this poet to 
Homer is proved not more by those verbal and metrical peculiarities, 
which speak so plainly to the ears of a critical scholar, than by something 
in the turn of thought and choice of subjects that evinces a further removal 
from the fountain-heads of natural feeling. We are forced to suppose the 
lapse of not less than a century, 1 from the age of the Iliad and Odyssey to 
that of the Theogony and the Works and Days. What a change from the 
deeds of soldiers to domestic arrangements and the cultivation of the soil! 
from " moving accidents by flood or field" to moral precepts and the de- 
tails of celestial genealogy! It seems as if either the era of adventures 
were gone for ever, or the poet wished it to be so. He would call roving 
clans and fierce marauders to agriculture, to commerce, to all the 
beneficent arts of peace! We see that the didactic strains of the Works 
and Days were meant to unteach the spirit of the heroic times, and to 
heal the womids which they had left behind them. Nor is it less evident 
that the Theogony, a poem whose authenticity has been rather unreason- 
ably questioned, must have been posterior to the Homeric pictures of the 
gods. It was in regular sequence that after the bard should come the 
system-maker, with an attempt to reduce to order the desultory sallies of 
an imagination, which had given its own colouring to every thing that fell 
within its range. Perhaps, too, since Hesiod belonged, by residence at 
least, to a part of European Greece, his breast was imbued with the spirit 
of that Orphic poetry, of which we have no genuine remains, but which 
was certainly didactic in its tone, and devoted to the inculcation of ethics 
and theology. Now the Orphic poetry, together with the rites of the 
Bacchanalian worship, first introduced into Thrace, seem to have taken 



resenting this injustice, be was 
able to look with compassion on 
its author, and to assist him, 
when he had fallen into poverty, 
out of his own substance. He 
also informs us, that he was the 
conqueror in a poetical contest at 
the games which Amphidames, 
king of Eubcea, had instituted in 
honour of his own memory, and 
which his sons accordingly so- 
lemnized. By his success on 
this occasion, he obtained a tripod 
as the prize, which he consecra- 
ted to the Muses. These are all 
the incidents in the life of Hesiod 
which he has enabled us to col- 
lect from his works which still 
survive. But other writers have 
professed to fill up the chasm, 
and have detailed circumstances 
respecting him which are not 
much deserving of credit. Of 
these the most remarkable is his 
contest with Homer, which has 
been probably invented from his 
own statement above-mentioned, 
that he had been the victor in 
some rivalship of song. Hesiod 
it generally thought to have lived 



to a good old age, but to have 
ended his days by a violent death . 
The chief editions of Hesiod are, 
The Works and Days, together 
with eighteen orations of It- 
erates and the Idyls of Theocri- 
tus, published at Milan, in folio, 
in 1493 ; the Theogony, the 
Shield of Hercules, and the 
Georgics, in a collection of 
Greek Poems, in folio, by Aldus, 
at Venice, in 1495. The edition of 
the works of Hesiod, by Trinca- 
vellus, with Scholia, at Venice, 
in 1537, in quarto ; the edition of 
Heinsius, in quarto, with Scholia, 
in 1603, which was long a work 
of great celebrity, and is, in some 
degree, the basis of subsequent 
editions ; the edition of Graevius, 
printed at Amsterdam, in 8vo, in 
1667, with commentaries and 
notes; that of Le Clerc, in 1701, 
at Amsterdam, in 8vo, containing 
the notes of Scaliger, the com- 
mentaries of Graevius, and anno- 
tations by the editor ; which last 
have been the subject of much 
severe animadversion, especially 
fromHerae; Robinson'* spleii- 



did edition, published at Oxford, 
in 1737, with the commentaries 
of Graevius, and notes of the edi- 
tor and others, which contain the 
contest of Homer and Hesiod ; 
that of Loesner, at Leipsic. in 
1779, in Svo, which is a rernbii- 
cation of Robinsons with im- 
provements; and an edition wf 
the Theogonia, by the celebrated 
Wolf, at HalJe, in Saxony, in 
1783. Beside these editions, the 
works of Hesiod are comprised 
in the collection of Greek poets, 
by H. Stephens, in 1566; and 
in that of the Minor Greek poets, 
published at Cambridge, by Win- 
terton, in 1635; from which last 
text they have been frequently 
reprinted. The best copy of these 
reprints is that published at Lon- 
don, 1739. Professor Gaisford 
has supplied us, however, with a 
most respectable modern edition 
of the " Poetae Graeci Minores,'' 
including the works of Hesiod, 
printed at the Clarendon press, 
in 1815-— Ency.Mett op. part 2d, 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



T31 



hold of the Grecian mind subsequently to the epoch of Homer. A con- 
templative cast of disposition, clearly discernible in his strains, Avill like- 
wise serve to explain why Hesiod should have inclined to the mysteries 
of a symbolical religion, rather than to the more popular and romantic 
representations of the Homeric muse. The genius of the elder and far 
grea f er poet asserted, however, in this, as in all other points, a decided 
ascendency. We recognize it already in those Hymns in honour of the 
deities, commonly called Homeric, which came not, indeed, from Homer 
himself, but some of which are probably little later than the age of Hesiod, 
about eight centuries before the Christian era. 

These hymns 1 form the connecting link between the Epic poetry, winch, 
after being carried to perfection by Homer, ceased for a long period to be 
successfully cultivated by the Greeks, and those Lyric effusions, under 
whose shape their inspiration was next bodied forth. The steps of the 
transition can be distinctly traced. Even the recitations of Heroic verse 
had been sustained by a simple musical accompaniment ; but the music, 
to which the Hymns were sung, was apparently of a more prominent 
character, and thus led on to that decided influence of the lyre and pipe, 
which had so strong an effect upon the metre, style, and whole construc- 
tion of the later poetry. Again, in the Epic narrative, the person of the 
minstrel was almost entirely concealed ; but in the Hymns, as in the strains 
of Hesiod, it became more visible, and so prepared the minds of Grecian 
audiences for those explicit revelations of individual feeling, in which 
Lyric poetry, the poetry of emotion, largely indulges. Through all the 
Greek Lyric compositions, whether appearing in odes, in songs, or in the 
choruses of Tragedy and Comedy, this is the predominant tone. We 
find it 2 in the enthusiasm and bitter fierceness of Archilochus ; 3 in the 



1 B.C. 750. 

2 B. C. 700. 

3 The exact age of this author 
is not very certain. By Hero- 
dotus ( I. 120 he is placed under 
the reign of Gyees, which corre- 
sponds to the XV. Olympiad, or 
7 IS B.C. By Cicero (Tusc. 
Disp. I.) he is supposed to have 
been coeval with Romulus ; hy 
Cornelius Nepos, to have flour- 
ished during the reign of Tulius 
Hostilius. Modern chronologers 
place him between the 15th and 
23d Olympiads. He may, there- 
fore, be placed seven hundred 
years before the christian era, or 
two hnndred after the time of 
Homer and Hesiod. Archilochus 
was a native of Paros. His fa- 
ther's name was Telesicles : lhat 
of his mother, who was a slave, 
Enipo. At some period of his 
life, and probably in his youth, 
he joined a colony of Parians, 
who settled at Thasos, an island 
on the Thraci; n coast. He de- 
scribes himself as devoted at 
once to the service of Mars and 
the Muses. In the former of 
Uirse characters, however, he 



appears to have acquired much 
less fame than in the latter. His 
fellow-colonists of Thasos were 
engaged in a war with some 
neighbouring tribes upon the con- 
tinent. Archilochus joined his 
countrymen, but flying from the 
field of battle, threw away his 
shield. The stern Spartans 
showed their disapprobation of 
this inglorious conduct by in- 
stantly expplling the recreant 
poet from their city, when he 
happened to visit it (Plut. Inst. 
Lac. xxiv.) Valerius Maximus 
speaks of this mark of disgrace 
as imposed upon his writings, on 
account of their immodesty and 
licentious tendency. The affec- 
tions of Archilochus were en- 
gaged at Paros by the charms of 
Neobule, daughter of Lvcambes. 
He wrote verses in her praise, of 
which a fragment remains : 

'E* yao i 5 yivoiro *t7 P a Neo- 

But h's affection was soon 
changed info deadly hatred. The 
damsel, swayed by interested mo- 



tives, and probably under the 
influence of her parent, broke the 
faith which she had plighted to 
the poet, and thenceforth became 
the object of his bitterest resent- 
ment. He loaded her with 
charges the most opprobrious to 
her 9ex, and pursued both her 
and her parent with such merci- 
less invective, that, if Ave may 
credit ancient report, they were 
happy to find a refuge in suicide 
from the scorn and infamy to 
which they were exposed by the 
vengeance of their unrelenting 
persecutor. Lycambes, however, 
and his family, were not the only 
objects against whom the shafts 
of this formidable satirist were 
directed, though probably their 
venom was not in other instances 
attended with the same fatal ef- 
fects. We have a fragment of an 
elegy remaining, addressed to 
one Pericles, at the time of that 
composition, a friend, as it ap- 
pears, of the poet, but who had 
afterwards, as we learn fioni 
Athenseus, the misfortune to in- 
cur his resentment, and feel the 
malignity of his attacks. One of 



732 



HISTORY OF 



thrilling burning, heart-searching energies of love-tortured 1 Sappho ; - 
in the regal spirit and lofty pride that mixes itself up with all the fire of 



the. grammarians has likewise byPindar,01ymp.IX. A fragment contemporaries carried it to the, 

preserved some satirical lines of aDithyrambic is likewise cited, highest pitch of enthusiasm, anil 

against Charilaus. Notwithstand- which is in the true style of that saw in her a superior being, the 

ing this severity to the living, wild enthusiastic kind of poetry. Lesbians placed her image ou 

the poet, if we may credit his The trochaic measure appears to their coins, as that of a divinity, 

own assurance, had too much have been much employed by Sappho hadassembled r.round her 

generosity to insult the memory Archilochus, if we may jud»e a number of young females, na- 

of the dead. from the frequency with which tives of Lesbos, whom she in- 

it occurs among his remaining structed in music and poetry. 

Ou ydp ZerSXa icar5 avoveri xs/jro/ielv fragments. Some remnants of They revered her as their best 

err' &.vipa<ru>. his lyric compositions axe pre- benefactress, and her attachment 

served, with two imperfect spe- to them was of the most aftecrion- 

He was likewise sufficiently ready cimens of fable. The personal fate description. This intimacy 

to expose and proclaim his own character of this poet seems to was made a pretext by the licen- 

demerits. He seems to have met have been odious; his poetical tious spirit of later ages for the 

with the just reward of Ms rna- merit is probably well estimated most dishonourable calumnies, 

lignantand virulent temper in the by Longinus, when he asks whe- An expression in Horace (" mas- 

hatred of mankind. For their ther Eratosthenes, author of the cula Sappho," F.p. 1, 19, 28.), 

contempt he was unfortunately Erigone, a poem without faults, has been thought to countenance 

too formidable. Being expelled is to be preferred to Archilochus, this charge, but its meaning has 

from Paros, he fled for refuge to who often scatters his thoughts been grossly misunderstood, and 

Thasus, but soon rendered him- without regard to order, by the what is still more to the purpose, 

self equally odious to the inhabi- impulse of that divineinspiration, it would appear that tae illustri- 

tants or that island. In revenge which is not easily made subject ous poetess has been ignorant!/ 

he satirized the people and abused to laws. — Athetlcrum v. 2, p.476 contounded with a dissolute fe- 

the country. Thasus, as is well -4S0. — The fragments of Archi- male of the same name, a native 

known from other authorities, lochus were published by H. Sie- of Lesbos, though not of Alytilene. 

was a rich and fertile island-, but phens, and Froben, in their re- Indeed, as the Abba Barthelamy 

Archilochus could find no other spective collections, and by has remarked, the accounts that 

object of comparison by which to Brunck in his Analecta. An have reach-.- d us respecting the 

characterize it than the rough edition of them by Liebel, with licentious character of Sappho, 

back of an ass. The restless a critical commentary, appeared have come only from writers long 

poet seems to have returned to from the Leipsic press in 1812, suosequent to the age in which 

Paros, and there to have regained and also in an enlarged form, in she lived. Sappho, the favoured 

his popularity. At least Aris- 1819, 8vo. cf the muses, was never ena- 

totle (Rhet. II.) says, that the 1 B. C. 600. moured of Phaon, nor did she 

Parians paid honour to him, 2 Of all the females that ever ever make the lean of Leueadia. 

though a slanderer, and he seems cultivated the pontic art, Sappho Her misfortunes had a political 

from the connexion to sppak of was certainly the most cm'.n nt, origin, and terminated in exile, 

honours rendered during his life, and ancient Greece fully testified It is probable, that, being drawn 

He was at length slain in combat its high sens3 of her powers by into a conspiracy against Pitta- 

by Calondas, of Naxus. Archi- bestowing on her the appellation cus, tyrant of Mytileue, by the 

lochus is sometimes said to have of the " Tenth Muse.'' Thisde- persuasions of Alcseus, she was 

been the inventor of the Iambic cision has been confirmed bypos- banished from Lesbos along with 

verse. But it is scarcely probable terity, though we have only a few that poet and his partisans, 

that one of the simplest and most verses remaining of her poetic {Alarm. Oxr.n. ep. 37 ) She re* 

natural constructions of verse efiiisions; for tnese are of an tired lo Sicily. We know nothing 

should have been unknown two high character, and stamped with farther of the life of Sappho, 

centuries after the poetry of the true impress of genius. The Her productions, which gained 

Homer. The expression of history of Sappho is involved in for her so exalted a reputation, 

Horace great uncertainty. It is known are almost equally unknown. All 

that she was born at Mytilene, in that has reached us, consists of, 

Archilochum proprio rabies armavit the island of Lesbos ; but if we 1, a beautiful ode to Venus, 

lambo, subject to a rigorous criticism preserved by Dionysius ofHali- 
the opinion so generally received carnassus; 2, a second ode, still 
by no means necessarily implies in relation to her amorous pro- more beautiful, descriptive of the 
that he was considered by that per.sities, and the misfortunes tumultuous emotions of love, and 
poet as the discoverer of Iambic attendant upon these, we will preserved in part by Longinus. 
verse; but that he was the most come to the conclusion that the 3, Various fragments, all unfor- 
eminent of the writers who had story of her passion for Phaon, tunately very short, found in 
applied it to the purposes of sa- and its tragical consequences, is Aristotle, Plutarch, Athenasus, 
tire. Though a distinguished a mere fiction. Sappho became StobasiiS,Hephaistioi<,Macrobius, 
writer of Iambics, he did not con- united in marriage to an indivi- Eustathius, and others. 4. Three 
fine himself to that mode of ver- dual named Cercolas, and the epigrams. — The most esteemed 
sification. We have several spe- fruit of this union was a daugh- text of Sappho is that given by 
cimens of his elegiac composition, ter, named Cleis (KXeIj), and who Dr Bloomfield. in the Museum 
Terentianus Maurus speaks of is mentioned by the poetess in Ciiticum, vol. 1, ; p. 3, segq. The 
him as the inventor of the dac- one of her fragments. Having two odes are written in what is 
tyiic epode. He likewise men- lost her husband, she turned her called the Sapphic measure, for 
lions his satirical employment attention to literary pursuits, and the poetess enriched the melody 
of the Iambic epode. Archilochus inspired many of the Lesbian fe- of the language uy a lyric mea- 
wrote a hymn in praise of Her- males with a taste for similar sure of the most harmonious 
cules, infilled KaXAivt*ij, adapt- occupations. She composed lyric character, a measure whjch Cri- 
ed to the Olympic games, and pieces, of which she left nine tullus and Horace introduced 
which appears to have been so- books, elegies, hymns, §c. The with so much success .into the 
lemnly recited at every eel ebra- admiration which these produc- Latin tongue.— Anthon's L&np. 
tion of them in honour of the vie- tions excited was universal ; her vol. 2, pp. 1332, 1333. 
Curious champion. It ie mentioned 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



733 



Pindar ; 1 three illustrious names that mark the close of each successive 
century from the date of Hesiod, down to that of the Persian war, one of 
the most distinguished epochs in the literary history of Greece. 

During this long interval of three hundred years, of which the remains 
ire miserably scanty in comparison with its extent and importance, there 
occurred many events of vast moment to the progress of Grecian literature. 
It includes the age of Solon, 2 and the reduction of the old heroic min- 
strelsy to writing, of which the practice had then become current, and the 
materials abundant. It includes the rise of prose composition in the works 
of the early historians, 3 whose chronicles, though but a few fragments 
of them survive, appear evidently to have set the example, and paved the 
way, for the immortal muses of Herodotus. It embraces, also, the separa- 
tion of the Greek tongue into dialects, a thing observable in every 
language, but rendered most conspicuous in this instance, by the rank of 
and value of the several bodies of literature, thus distinguished from each 
other. It is true that, from the mode in which the ravages of time have 
operated, the relics of Ionic and Attic literature are by so much the most 
considerable, as to throw the rest into the shade ; yet the iEolic and 
Dorian branches, to judge even from the fragments we possess, maintained 
an equal elevation, at least during the period now marked out, and until 
the culminating star of Athenian genius usurped the sky. While the 
heroic times, and those immediately succeeding them, still endured, and 
the forms of manners and policy among the Grecian tribes were nearly 
uniform, there was one general language of composition, somewhat modi- 
fied by circumstances, chiefly of a local nature. Homer on the coasts of 
Asia Minor, Hesiod in Bceotia, and other poets in different quarters, em- 
ployed the same form of their native tongue, diversified in none of its 
essential characteristics ; and that form was undoubtedly the cm-rent speech 
of their countrymen, so far adapted to the exigencies of versification, and 
subjected to such occasional process of extension or elision, as was possible 
in the day of no grammars and glossaries, without risk of baulking the 
comprehension of their hearers. But with the various forms of life and 
government that followed the decline of the heroic age, there arose simul- 
taneous variations in the language and complexion of Greek poetry, as 
well as in its concomitant music and dancing. In accordance with the 
simple but flowing rhythm of the Ionians, their compositions were com- 
monly either of a soft, or of a buoyant and brilliant character ; while the 
i^Eolic and Dorian harp resounded in unison with more deep and thril- 
ling strains, as it was swept by the movements of more impetuous passion. 
And thus, too, the gradations were fine and gentle by which the heroic 
verse and diction passed into the chief varieties of Ionian metre, and the 
peculiarities of the Ionian dialect, finally subsiding into the kindred Attic : 
but the changes made by the Doric and iEolian lyrists on the old metrical 



1 B. C. 500. 



2 B. C. 600. 



3 Cadmus of Miletus, B, C, 600, Hecatseas, B. C. 500, Sic. 

3q 



734 



HISTORY OF 



canon were abrupt and violent, and their dialects, retaining all the 
roughest collocations and inflections of the antique language, sought to re- 
vive or create a diction of the utmost strength and sternness. The 
opposite attributes of the two principal races, are strikingly display ed in 
these differences ; the Ionic elegance and airiness, contrasted with the 
lofty aspirations and the solemn and earnest disposition of the Dorian 
tribes. 

Little later in its origin than the Lyric poetry of the Greeks, their 
Elegiac poetry flowed from the same source, though not by the same 
channel. Of the metre and language of this style of composition moulded 
by an easy process out of the Homeric, Tyrtaeus 1 gave 2 the first example. 
The stirring war-songs of this poet are conceived in the true spirit of 
Homer. They are even marked by a similar prominence of the subject 
over the person and individual feelings of the author; and thus differ 
widely from the martial lays of the troubadours, Bertrand de Bom, Ram- 
baud de Vaqueiras, and other heroes of the Provencal literature, who have 
sometimes been compared with him. Allied in tone and temper to the 
Tyrtaean elegy were the patriotic strains of Callinus : 3 but the instinctive 
taste of the Greeks soon confined the elegiac distich to subjects for which 
it was better suited ; themes of a plaintive, ethical, or domestic character. 
With Mimnermus 4 of Colophon, the elegy 3 assumed a tone of amatory 
softness, blended with gentle melancholy ; and 6 by Simonides 7 of Coos, 

1 B. C. 690. poets in no esteem, they pay such TeSvaZvv or' eptoi fuj/ttrl r«vra 

2 The history of Tyrtaeus is regard to him, that they have es- ftsXol. 
well known. In the second Mes- tablished a law, ordaining that 

senian war, when the Spartans when they are in arms on an ex- Si Mimnermns mi censet,sine amore 

were defeated by the valour and pedition, the troops shall be sum- j<»cisque 

activity of Aristomenos, in obe- moned to the royal tent, to hear Nil est jucundum, vivas in amore 

dience to the oracle of Delphi, the poems of Tyrtaeus, thinking jocisque. 

they made application to Athena that thus they will most readily 

lor a general, to direct the opera- be animated to lay down their This poet was a contemporary of 

tions of the war. The Athenians, lives for their country." Two Iolus. His works are said to 

it is said, in derision, sent them other extracts of considerable have been destroyed along with. 

Tyrtaeus, a schoolmaster, lame, length are preserved by Stobaeus, those of Sappho by the priests of 

and disordered in his intellects, which answer to their ancient Constantinople. A few frag* 

This part of the story is however reputation, being bold and ani- ments are extant, which are 

rendered somewhat doubtful by mated, and well calculated to in- printed by Brunck in his Analec- 

the manner in which Plato and spire military ardour. The frag- ta, and. his " Gnomici Poetae." 

Lycurgus speak of the. poet. On merits of Tyrtaeus have been fre- Nannowas the mistress of Mim- 

his arrival he animated the ma- quently published in different nermus, to whose praises he de- 

gistrates and people by the recital collections, and separately by voted his muse. He is said by 

of warlike elegies. Not trusting Klotz (Altenb. 1767, 8vo.) with various authors, and especially 

solely to the impulses of enthu- dissertations and an ample com- by Hermesianax, his country - 

siasni, he mingled prudent coun- mentary. — Alhenceum, vol, 2, pp. man (in the fragment of his elegy 

sel with generous exhortation, 481, 482. preserved by Athenaeus) to have 

till the firmness and intrepidity 3 B.C. 630. been the inventor of the Penta- 

of Sparta at length prevailed. The 4 The birth-place of Mimner- meter. This is impossible, as va- 

circumstances of the war are re- mus was disputed ■, Colophon and rious specimens of that verse of 

lated minutely by Pausanias. The Smyrna contending for the hon- older date are still extant. — 

Athenian orator Lycurgus has our. The claim of the former is Athenceum, vol. 2, p. 482. 

preserved a fragment of Tyrtaeus, the more probable. Love and 5 B.C. 600. 

making it a subject of congtatu- mirth were the chief subjects of 6 B. C. 550. 

lation to his countrymen that the his muse, and life itself seems to 7 Simonides, who was born in 

god had preferred an Athenian have been valued by him only as the island of Cos, a little before 

general even to the Spartan de- it could afford the means of plea- the time of Pindar, enjoyed the 

scendants of Hercules, whose sure. Old age was therefore singular felicity of acquiring, 

services they experienced, he naturally the object of that-ter- while living, a large portion of 

adds, not only in repelling the ror and aversion which he ex- honourable renown. His fame 

temporary danger, but through presses in several of his frag- was not confined to the narrow 

every subsequent age. *' For he ments. precincts of Cos, but extended, 

left them his elegies, by listening long before his death, through 

to which they are trained to va- Ti? ii S^j, n 6i Tipsvov, iviv \P V ' Greece and Sicily. The estiroa- 

lour ; and while they hold other a r ,) s 'Affot'it^i \ ' tion in which his genius was held 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



735 



it was established in its funereal functions. Yet in the monumental in- 
scriptions of Simonides and his brethren, there still beat some pulses of the 
old heroic vein : it is in a different department of elegiac verse that we 
patch mingling traces of the Hesiodic poetry. In that poetry may be 
detected the rudiments of Greek philosophy, and the poetical dress was 
preferred, long after the time of Hesiod, for those speculations upon nature, 
morality, and politics, in which his spirit was partly revived by Solon 
and his sage contemporaries. From what we know of the seven wise men, 
that celebrated band winch included the Athenian legislator, it is plain 
that they were the founders of the school of gnomic poets, for whose sen- 
tentious maxims the elegiac couplet was so well calculated, as to be at 
once adopted by them. How far the verses of this complexion, still ex- 
tant under the names of Solon, Theognis, 1 and Phocylides, are authentic, 
is very questionable ; but there can be no hesitation in admitting them 
as specimens of the kind of composition, in which these writers exercised 
their poetical talents. 

A single glance at the exquisite remains of Sappho and Simonides is 
enough to awaken the wish, keen in proportion to its hopelessness, that 
time and barbarism had spared a larger share of the Greek lyric and 
elegiac literature. Fortunate, however, it is, that in the former province 
we can still point to the strains of at least one immortal poet. The great 
name of Pindar 2 stands alone, like some solitary mass of ancient architec- 



by the polite and learned of those at an entertainment when the a native of Thebes, the metro- 
ages, may be inferred from the roof of the house fell down upon polis of Bceotsa, which country 
terms of familiarity with which all those who were present at the his name alone might well re- 
he lived at Athens with the ty- binquer. The life of Simonides deem from the stigma of dulness. 
rant Hipparchus ; the honours was protracted tn the advanced His birth seems to have taken 
with which he was welcomed to period of ninety years; he died place about B. C. 520. Accord- 
Sparta by Pausanias, the Lace- in the capital of his royal friend ing to some writers, the name of 
daemonian general, and finally, and patron; and the inhabitants his father was Daiphantus, ac- 
the attentions which he received of Syracuse, who had high yhon- cording to others, Scopilenus, 
at the elegant court of Hiero. oured and esteemed him when and that of his mother Myrto, 
The Sicilian monarch particularly living, erected a magnificent or Myrtis. It is related of hi ni, 
valued his compositions for their monument to his memory. Ac- that when he was an infant, a 
pathos, eleuance, and sweetness; cording to some writers, the lyric swarm of bees settled on his lips, 
ani he is said to have preferred and elegiac poet of Cos left behind and left their honey there; — an 
the effusions of his muse to the him a grandson, whose name also omen of his future excellence in 
subimer strains of Pindar or the was Simonides; it is likewise the arts of poetry and music, 
moral dignity of Bacchylides. It said that he was the author of The history of Pindar's early 
appears that the name of the fa- some books of inventions and ge- days seems to refute, in some 
ther of Simonides was Leoprepis nealogies, and flourished a few degree, the opinions of those 
or Theoprepis, but nothing is years before the breaking out of who think education has a ten- 
known of his circumstances or the Peloponnesian war. The dency to repress originality of 
history. Simonides. according poetical writings of Simonides, genius, and to tame it down into 
to Cicero and Quintilian, added composed in the Doric dialect, dexterous imitation or humble 
the two long vowels rj. a>, and the consisted of lyrics, elegies, epi- correctness. No poet, perhaps, 
two double consonants f, \fr, to grams, and dramatical pieces, and ever dared so much as Pindar, 
the Greek alphabet ; and is siid we are told that he composed an and yet none was ever instruct- 
to have first introduced the arti- epic poem on Cambyses. king of ed in the finest arts with 
ficial improvement of the mem- Persia; but Pindar more than greater care. It is singular, that 
ory: he is also reported by Horace once insinuates that his muw for much of his instruction he 
to have been the inventor of was prostituted for the love of was indebted to the female sex, 
elegiac writing. He carried off gain. There are known at pre- at a time when they were 
the prize for poetry when he was sent only a few fragments and themselves in general excluded 
eighty years of age, but this was epigrams of, perhaps, the most from the higher departments of 
not the only instance which is pathetic poet which antiquity can knowledge, and regarded as 
recorded by the ancient writers boast. — Ency. Metrop., part 3, scarcely endowed with intel- 
ofhis good fortune; for Phaedrus, p 260. lectual faculties. According to 
in one of his fables, informs us, 1 Theognis, B. C. 550. Pho- Suidas, he was first taught to 
that he was so great a favourite cylides, B. C. 540. combine simplicity with ele- 
with the gods, that the life of the 2 Pindar, the most celebrated gance in the composition of his 
poet was miraculously preserved of the lyric poets of Greece, was verses by Myrtis — probably lua 

3Q2 



HISTORY OF 



ture, as if to reveal the beauty and majesty of the whole system to which it 
appertained. It is true that even of this poet the entire works have not 
survived : for Pindar, as we might learn from Horace, were there no 
other authority for the fact, displayed his powers in various styles of lyric 
poetiy ; in the "wild dithyramb, the devout psean, the gay and graceful 
glee ; and still more pleasingly, perhaps, in odes of an elegiac character, 
in which he seems to have consoled the sorrows of the mourner by cheer- 
ful views of immortality and gorgeous visions of Elysium ; while, amid 



mother, who was herself the Athens as the chief support of Heyne says of this edition, that 
author of poerns adapted to Greece, they laid on him a it is the foundation of all the 
the lyre. At a subsequent per- heavy fine, on which the Athen- subsequent ones. — Pindari Gr. 
iod the beautiful and accom- ians presented him with a sum et Lat. Henricus Stephanus, 
plished Corinna became his of double the amount. Authors Parisiis, 1560.— Pindari Opera, 
instructor. Some assert that he are divided respecting the time Erastni Schmidii, Graec. Vite- 
enjoyed also the singular advan- in which he died, some asserting berg. 1616. Professor Heyne 
tage of having been the pupil of that he only reached the a^e of says of the editor that he is 
Simonides, though no styles of fifty-six, while others maintain "Editorum Pindari facile prin- 
poetry can be more dissimilar that he was eighty-six at tiie cipem." — Pindari Jo. Benedic- 
than the ardent, impetuous, and time of his decease. His depar- tus, M. D. Salmurii, 1620, 4to. 
daring spirit of Pindar, and the ture from life was gentle, for This is an excellent edition, 
soft, pensive, and mellow ten- it took ph<ce while he was sitting and is accompanied with a Latin 
derness of his reputed master, in a public assembly, and, till translation, and a paraphrasis. 
Not only poetry, but also the the spectators retired, he was Mr Huntingford has made an 
sister art of music, was carefully thought to be slumbering. As aDundant use of it in his re- 
studied by the embryo bard, a prodigy is related of his birth, spectable and useful edition of 
Athenaeus informs us, that Lasus so attempts were made by the Pindar. — Pindari per Nicolaum 
of Hermione, an excellent mu- Greeks to surround his death by Sudoriuni (Le Suer), Oxon. 
sician, and dithyrambic poet, mystery. It is ssid, that having 16.97, fol. This splendid Oxford 
imparted to him his skill in in one of his poems represented edition was edited by Richard 
playing on the lyre. Certain it Agamedes and Trophonius as West and Robert Welsted. 
is, that he was prepared by no rewarded by sudden death, for According to Professor Heyne, 
common attention tor that high having built the temple of it is not celebrated for its critical 
and glorious career in which he Apollo, he was referred by the research and acumen. — Pindari 
was about to leave every com- priestess, on his inquiring what a Christian. Gottl. Heyne, 
petitor behind him. Pindar was best for mankind, to his Gottingae, 1773, 8vo et 4to. 
seems to have been early re- own verses. This reply he un- Interpretatio Latina Koppii. 
ceived with great honour by derstood as an intimation of This is by far the most complete 
Alexander, son of Amyntas, at approaching and sudden disso- edition which hus ever been 
the court of Macedon. He lution, which scon after took presented to the learned world, 
overcame his teacher Myrtis in place. Extraordinary honours Professor Heyne attached to it 
a contest of musical skill-, but were paid to Pindar, both during his " A dditamenta " in 1791. 
was no less than five times de- his life and after his decease. This edition was reprinted wiih 
feated by Corinna in striving for His odes and religious hymns the valuable Scholia, at Oxford, 
the reward of poetry. It is inti- were chaunted in the temples of 1807, by Nathaniel Bliss, with 
mated, indeed, by some, that the Greece before the most crowded great and laudable accuracy.— 
judges were inclined to favour assemblies and on the most Pindari Selecta. Cum Scholiis 
the female candidate rather by solemn occasions- The priestess selectis suisque notis, edidit 
the admiration of her personal of Apollo, at Delphi, declared Fiedericus Gedike. Berolini, 
charms, than of her poetical that it was the will of that divin- 1736. A very useful edition, 
genius. Our bard must, how- ity that he should receive half and the notes are elegant and 
ever, have been very young at of the first fruits annually offered learned. — Pindari iterum cura- 
this time, as Diodorus Siculus at his shrine. The Athenians vit Chr. Gottl. Heyne, 3 vols, 
asserts that he had only attained erected a statue of brass in hon- Gottingen. 1798, 8vo. To this 
the age of forty at the time of our of him, representing him edition is added a dissertation 
the battle of Salamis. In the with a diadem and a lyre, and a upon the metres of Pindar, by 
public assemblies of Greece, book folded on his knees, which Godfrey Hermann, a celebrated 
Pindar no sooner appeared than was remaining in the time of German critical scholar, and 
he attained a height of popular Pausanias; and a portion of the well known as the opponent of 
favour, which seems never to sacrifices at the great festivals Professor Porson. Mr Hunting- 
have left him; nor was his fame of Greece was, for a long time, ford also published, in 1816, a 
confined to the people. As he set apart for his descendants, new edition of Pindar, with 
sung the praises of the con- When the Lacedaemonians took notes, taking for his text that of 
querors in those games at which Thebes, they spared the house Heyne, and subjoining the ex- 
kines and princes strove for the and family of Pindar ; and, when cellent paraphrase of Eenedict. 
prize, he naturally acquired the afterwards, the city was taken This is a very good edition, es- 
favour and patronage of the by Alexander, the s ime mark of pecially for young students •, and, 
great He particularly enjoyed veneration was shown to his upon the whole, may be consiu- 
the favour of Hiero, king of memory. The chief editions of ered as the most useful which 
Syracuse, whose munificence he Pindar are as follow ;— Pindari has yet appeared; tor it was 
delighted to repay by his songs. Carmina. Graece. Venetiis in the object of the editor to com - 
His partiality to the Athenians, Miib. Aldi, 1513, fol. This is bine in one publication the van- 
however, drew on him the re- the Princeps and Aldine edition, ous excellencies of his ptttical 
sentment of his countrymen. —Pindari Opera Zachar. C&I- predecessors. — Eacyc. Mettop. 
Because he had celebrated liergi Cretensis, Romae, 1514. part 3, pp. 261, 2G4. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



737 



the wreck of all these compositions, nothing has been left unmutilated 
except forty-five triumphal lays in honour of victors in the public games. 
Yet it may be believed that time in this respect has not been cruel to the 
fame of Pindar. Considering the importance attached, in the eyes of 
Greece, to everything connected with her great celebrations, the high 
rank of the chief Pindaric heroes, and the passion for power and splendour 
that was manifestly inherent in the poet's mind, it is almost certain that he 
bestowed his utmost efforts upon that class of his productions to which the 
extant odes belong. Pindar himself, whose notions of poetical dignity, re- 
spect for his own art, and confidence in his own genius, are eminently 
conspicuous, nowhere implies, even by a distant hint, that he would strike 
the lyre to other themes with livelier pride or more intense exertion. 

The most careless reader of these odes must be struck by the excessive 
admiration of wealth, magnificence, and every species of greatness, to 
which we have alluded as a characteristic of Pindar's mind. Splendour 
was the passion of his soul: splendour of achievement, splendour of re- 
nown, splendour of station and outward circumstances. His very pride 
seems to have suggested to him that nothing but splendour was worthy of 
his muse. His genius, to use a figure of his own, was the eagle of Jove, 
that would not be severed from the sceptre and the god. These aristo- 
cratic predilections, this enthusiastic attachment to munificent monarchs 
and chiefs of ancient fame, were in perfect unison with the whole tenor 
of his destiny; born, as he was, in the midst of the Pythian festival, 
living surrounded by shows of solemn pomp, and dying, as he had lived, 
in the full blaze of public ceremony, in the centre of a theatre, and while 
rapt in those emotions of rejoicing sympathy, which such scenes were 
sure to awaken in his bosom. To those, however, who may deem apology 
requisite for the indulgence of so stately a temper, it may be urged in 
behalf of Pindar, that, as in the case of many remarkable poets, the ab- 
stract feeling of veneration was predominant in his mental constitution, 
and that it was called forth not merely by rank and opulence among 
mankind, but even more powerfully by the contemplation of the divine 
attributes. Hence that glow of piety which shines so brightly in his odes, 
sometimes breaking out in expressions of the deepest awe, or in sublime 
pictures of deity, and sometimes assuming an aspect of moral beauty, 
adding force and lustre to the lessons of wisdom. The latter modifica- 
tion of religious feeling has given birth to some of the noblest passages 
in the poetry of Pindar. He was well aware that emotion does not 
exclude sentiment ; that the ethics of the heart are not less sound than 
those of the brain ; and that nature is often hurried, in moments of 
excitement, into the innermost shrines of truth. But he knew, likewise, 
that the philosophy of such moments is prompt and peremptory ; oracular 
not syllogistic ; and this knowledge has secured him from frequently 
friending against the general character of lyric song by lengthened trains 
of moral reflection. His example, indeed strongly supports a doctrine 
So 3 



738 



HISTORY OF 



primarily suggested by the study of the heart itself, that the lyric trans- 
port should not be abated by many thoughts of a meditative cast ; and that 
the middle region, which certain critics have discovered : that mild and 
temperate clime in which they place the ethical and philosophic ode ; is 
properly the province not of lyric but of didactic poetry. No opposition 
to this doctrine can fairly be grounded upon the strains of moral senti- 
ment, so frequently found in the choral parts of ancient tragedy. For it 
may be argued that these are the offspring of peculiar circumstances, 
allowable, on a principle of contrast, as points of repose amid the passions 
of the drama ; that they are, at whatever length delivered, still the dic- 
tates of a moral sense, brought into sudden energy by the excitement of 
the moment ; and that, upon the whole, the greater portion of the choric 
odes rather abound in glowing portraitures of the objects of sense, in rapid 
narration, in brief allusions to heroic or divine l% hievements, in short in 
all those brilliant qualities that adorn the verse of Pindar. A rapid 
movement, though perfectly consistent with the utmost grace in the 
transitions, is impressed upon the whole style of this genuine lyrist ; dis- 
tinguishing on the one hand Ins bursts of moral feeling from the formality 
of didactic poetry, and on the other his sketches of incident or action 
from the copiousness of epic narrative. The latter distinction should be 
especially noted by those, who would understand wherein consists both 
the resemblance and the difference of heroic and lyric song. Narrative 
is a prominent feature of both ; but the narrative of the Epos abounds in 
full details, and dwells with lingering fondness upon the minutest parti- 
culars of an action ; whereas the narrative of the Ode is of a summary and 
impetuous character, bounding from part to part of a history with unflag- 
ging vigour, and touching only upon the most salient and striking points. 
This is the true source of nearly all the obscurity which modem readers, 
not so well versed as the ancients were in the ground-work of their own 
heroic legends and family traditions, have to complain of in the writings 
of Pindar ; for nothing can be less like Ins style than the laboured inco- 
herence and affected wildness of many of Ins imitators, whose faults, 
though belonging entirely to themselves, have been unjustly visited upon 
the name of their master. 

The diction of Pindar, being founded upon a Homeric basis, and spar- 
ingly mixed up with Doric and iEolic peculiarities, has no philological 
value as a specimen of dialect. But his works have a double value as 
pertaining to the Doric school, and thus affording something, out of a mass 
of lost poetry and philosophy, to set off against the vast preponderance of 
Ionian and Attic literature. His lofty temper, and undisguised antipathy 
to the democratic principle, are strongly expressive of that school, and in 
complete harmony with the oligarchical constitution of the Dorian states. 
To the same cause, heightened by the political position of the Thebans 
throughout the struggle between Greece and her Persian invaders, must 
be imputed the coldness of his homage to liberty, the lack of frequency 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



739 



and fervour in his allusions to the efforts of contemporary patriotism. 
And hence it is, that, though the date of Pindar corresponds with that of 
the Persian war, we must look to other writers for proofs of the animating 
influence which that event exerted upon the feelings, the intellects, and 
the literature of the Greeks. 

^schylus, 2 born seven years earlier than Pindar, appears, by a strange 



3 B. C. 500. 

2 -Eschylus, son of Euphorion, 
was born of a noble family at 
Eleusis in Attica, Olymp. LXIII, 
4, B. c. 525. Pausanias records 
a story of his boyhood, profes- 
sedly on the authority of the 
poet himself, which, if true, 
shows that his mind at a very 
ear y period had been enthusias- 
tically struck with the exhibitions 
of the infant drama. An im- 
pression like this, acting upon 
his fervid imagination, would 
naturally produce such a dream 
as is described. At the age of 
twenty-five he made his first 
public attempt as a tragic au- 
thor, Olymp. lxx, b. c. 499. 
The next notice which we have 
of him is at Olymp. LXXii, 3, 
B. C. 490; when, along with his 
two celebrated brothers, Cynae- 
geirus and Ameinias, he was 
graced at Marathon with the 
prize of pre-eminent bravery, 
being then in his thirty-fifth year. 
How dearly he valued the dis- 
tinction there acquired by his 
valour, we learn from Pausanias 
(Attic, chap. i. 4.); where, ap- 
parently alluding to the epitaph 
which the exiled dramatist com- 
posed for himself, the topogra- 
pher tells us, that jEschylus, 
out of all the topics of his glory 
as a poet and a warrior, selected 
his exploits at Marathon as his 
highest honour. Six years after 
that memorable battle, -SSschy lus 
gained his first tragic victory, 
Olymp. lxxiv, B. C. 434. Four 
years after this was fought the 
battle of Salamis, in which 
/Eschylus took part along with 
his brother Ameinias*, to whose 
extraordinary valour the ipi^rela 
were decreed. In the following 
year he served in the Athenian 
troops at Plataea. Eight years 
afterwards he gained the prize 
with a tetralogy, composed of 
the Pence, the Phineus, the 
Glaums Potrtiensis, and the 
Prometheus Jenifer, a satyric 
drama. The latter part of the 
poet s life is involved in much 
obscurity. That he quitted 
Athens and died in Sicily is 
agreed on all hands; but the 
time and the cause of his depar- 
ture are points of doubt and 
conjecture. It seems that 
.Eschylus Sad laid himself open 
to a charge of profanation, by 
too boldly introducing on the 
stage something connected with 
the Mysteries. He was tried 
and acquitted ; but the peril 
viii< h he had run, the dread of a 
multitude ever meitiless in their 



superstitions, indignation at the 
treatment which he had received, 
joined, in all likelihood, to feel- 
ings of vexation and jealousy at 
witnessing the preference oc- 
casionally given to young and 
aspiring rivals, were motives 
sufficiently powerful to induce 
his proud spirit to leave his 
native city and seek a retreat in 
the court of the munificent and 
literary Hiero, prince of Syra- 
cuse. This must have been 
before Olymp. lxxviii, 2, 
B. c. 467, lor in that year Hiero 
died. In Sicily he composed a 
drama, intitled JRtna, to gra- 
tify his royal host, who had re- 
cently founded a city of that, 
name. During the remainder of 
his life, it is doubtful whether he 
ever returned to Athens. If he 
did not, those pieces of his, 
which were composed in the 
interval, might be exhibited on 
the Athenian stage under the 
care of some friend or relation, 
as was not unfrequently the 
case. Among these dramas 
was the Orestean tetralogy, 
which won the prize, Olymp. 
Lxxx, 2, B. C. 458, two years 
before his death. At any rate, 
his residence in Sicily must have 
been of considerable length, as it 
was sufficient io affect the pur- 
ity of his language. We are 
toid by Athenaeus that many 
Sicilian words are to be found in 
his later plays. iEschylus died 
at Gela in the sixty-ninth year 
of his age, Olymp. LXXxr, 
B. C. 456. His death, if the 
common account be true, was of 
a most singular nature. Sitting 
motionless, iu silence and medi- 
tation, in the fields, his head, 
now bald, was mistaken for a 
stone by an eagle, which hap- 
pened to be flying over him with 
a tortoise in her bill. The bird 
dropped the tortoise to break the 
shell-, and the poet was killed 
by the blow. The Geloans, to 
show their respect for so illus- 
trious a sojourner, interred him 
with much pomp in the public 
cemetery, and engraved on his 
tomb the following epitaph, 
which had been composed by 
himself: 

Ala-yuXov Eu^opuoi/oj ' Kdrivalov 
Krd-56 KivBet 

M^ii Kara<p9ifjLgvofrrvpv(pSpoio 
'AXkvv <5' ehSoKi^ov Napaditviov 
al (9a9-, A a t T^ t j Ufa, enc- 

iEschylus is said to have com- 



posed seventy dramas, of which 
five were satyric, and to have 
been thirteen times victor. This 
great dramatist was the author 
of the fifth form of tragedy. 
He added a second actor to the 
locutor of Thespis and Phry- 
nichus, and thus introduced the 
dialogue. He abridged the im- 
moderate length of the choral 
odes, making them subservient 
to the m^in interest of the plot, 
and expanded the short episodes 
into scenes of competent extent. 
To these improvements in the 
economy of the drama, he 
added the decorations of art 
in its exhibition. A regular 
stage, with appropriate scenery, 
was erected ; the performers 
were furnished with becoming 
dresses, and raised to the stature 
of the heroes represented by the 
thick-soled cothurnus ; whilst 
the face was brought to the 
heroic cast by a mask of propor- 
tionate size and strongly marked 
character, which was also so 
contrived as to give power and 
distinctness to the voice. He 
paid greai. attention to the chor.il 
dances, and invented several 
figure dances himself. Among 
his other improvements is men- 
tioned the introduction of a 
practice, which subsequently 
became established as a fixed 
and essential rule, the removal 
of all deeds of bloodshed and 
murder from public view. In 
short, so many and so important 
were the alterations and addi- 
tions of .ZEschylus, that he was 
considered by the Athenians as 
the Father of Tragedy; and, as 
a mark of distinguished honour 
paid to his merits, they passed a 
decree after his death, that a 
chorus should be allowed to any 
poet who chose to re-exhibit the 
dramas of ^Eschylus.— Greek 
Theatre, pp. 114— 120. —Among 
the general editions of iEschy- 
lus, the most deserving of notice 
are the following: tliat of 
Schutz, Halae, 1608—21, 5 vols. 
8vo: that containing the readings 
of Porson, Glass?. "1806. 12mo : 
tli at of Butler, Cantab. 1809. 4 
vols. 4to. or 8 vols. 8vo : that of 
Wellaner, Lips. 1S26. 8vo, and 
that of Shoiefield, Cantab. 1828, 
8vo. Of the separate tragedies the 
editions of Dr Bloomfield, as f«r 
as they extend, are decidedly the 
best, and have been several times 
reprinted ; the ldtest edition of 
of the Promeliieus Vinctus wa* 
in 1S25, and of the Septem con- 
tra Thebas, I82£ both from the 
London press, though they ap- 



740 



HISTORY OF 



coincidence, to have made his first public exhibition a few months before 
the Theban lyrist produced the first of his extant odes, of which the date 
can be ascertained. The name of this great poet marks an era of twofold 
interest and importance ; the rise of the Athenian dialect and literature, 
and the commencement cf the regular drama. A tendency towards this 
most prominent and palpable species of imitative composition is so strik- 
ingly displayed in every development of Grecian intellect, that we are not 
surprised to find Aristotle identifying imitation with the very essence of 
poetry. Nowhere is it shown more evidently than in the most ancient 
works. Plato does not hesitate to call Homer, in express terms, the 
father of Tragedy. But, however strongly the imitative principle might 
manifest itself in heroic song, or in other kinds of composition, it was 
hardly possible, in rude and boisterous times, for the stately fabric of the 
theatre to arise. Progressive approximations to this conclusion were 
made, however, in various parts of Greece, as the habitations of men 
became more settled, and greater attention was bestowed upon the culture 
of peaceful arts and enjoyments. Mimetic performances were gradually 
blended with Bacchanalian hymns and other rites of a serious or mirthful 
character. On the soil of Attica the first 1 decided step to dramatic exhi- 
bitions was taken by Thespis ; 2 many improvements were made by his 



peared originally at Cambridge. 
Hermann also published, in 
1779, an edition of the Eumen- 
ides. It contains the text alone, 
but corrected in many places, 
and particularly in the metre. 
Dr Burney's work on the choral 
measures of iEschylus ( Tentamen 
de Metris, &c, Lend. 1812, 8vo) 
is deservedly held in the highest 
estimation. — Anth. Lemp. vol. 1, 
fj. 83. 

1 B. C. 535. 

2 Thespis, a native of Icaria, 
an Athenian village, was the 
author of the third stage in the 
progress of the drama, by adding 
an actor distinct from the chorus. 
When the performers, after sing- 
ing the Bacchic hymn, were 
beginning to flag in the extem- 
poial bursts of satyric jest and 
gambol which succeeded, Thes- 
pis himself used tocome forward, 
and from an elevated stand ex- 
hibit, in gesticulated narration, 
some mythological story. When 
this was ended, the chorus again 
commenced their performance. 
These dramatic recitations gra- 
dually encroached upon the ex- 
temporal exhibitions of the 
chorus, and finally occupied 
their place. The drama of 
Thespis was, therefore, compos- 
ed of two or more Bacchic hymns 
sung by the satyric chorus, with 
one or more mythological mono- 
logues interspersed, of which 
the number varied according to 
that of the choral songs. The 
metre, even of the recitative, 
was apparently trochaic*, and 
this seems to have been the ori- 
ginal measure in which the 



satyric avroaxflti-afiara. were 
uttered amidst dance and frolic. 
Indeed, from its nature, the 
trochee is peculiarly adapted to 
lively and sportive movements. 
Besides the addition of an actor, 
Thespis first gave the character 
of a distinct profession to this 
species of entertainment. He 
organized a regular chorus, 
which he assiduously trained in 
all the niceties of the art, but 
especially in dancing. With 
this band of performers he is 
said to have strolled about from 
village to village, directing his 
route by the succession of the 
several local festivals, and ex- 
hibiting his novel invention 
upon the wagon which conveyed 
the members and apparatus of 
his corps dramatique. The 
introduction of an actor was so 
important a step, as leading im- 
mediately to the formation of a 
regular play, and the other im- 
provements which gave charac- 
ter and consistency to the ait, 
were of so influential a nature, 
that Thespis is generally consi- 
dered to have been the inventor 
of the drama. Of tragedy, pro- 
perly so called, he does not 
appear to have had any idea. 
His Eir*ia66ia, though regularly 
composed, were probably con- 
fined to Bacchus and his adven- 
tures; and the whole perform- 
ance little elevated above the 
levity of the satyric extern poralia, 
which these monologues had 
cuperseded. The sixty-first 
Olympiad, B. c. 536, is fixed by 
Bent ley, from the Arundel 
Marble, as the time when Thes- 



pis first exhibited; a date which 
will make him contemporary 
with the latter years of Pis is- 
tratus. Up to this period the 
performance called rpaycp&la had 
more the semblance of comedy 
than of its own subsequent and 
perfect form. The honour of 
introducing tragedy, in its later 
acceptation, was reserved for a 
scholar of Thespis, Phrynichus 
the son of Polyphradmon ; who 
began to exhibit Olytnp. lxvii, 
2, B. C. 511 — the year before 
the expulsion of the Pisistratidae. 
Phrynichus dropped the light 
and ludicrous cast of theoriginal 
drama, and,, dismissing Bacchus 
and the satyrs, formed his plays 
from the more grave and ele- 
vated events recorded in the 
mythology and history of his 
country. The change thus pro- 
duced in the tone of the drama 
was undoubtedly a mighty step 
in the advance of tragedy to 
its proper form : yet much re- 
mained to be done. The choral 
odes, with the accompanying 
dances, still composed the prin- 
cipal part of the performance; 
and the loose, disjointed mono- 
logues of the sing e actor were 
far removed from that unity of 
plot and connexion of dialogue, 
which subsequent improvements 
produced. But since for nearly 
forty years Phrynichus contin- 
ued to exhibit, during which 
long period he had not only the 
benefit of his own experience, 
but also the inventions of 
^Eschylus (for upwards of 
twenty years his contempora y 
and rival) to assist him in tm- 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



741 



successor and scholar Phrynicus j 1 and at last, under the impulse given 
by the genius of iEschylus, the migratory wagon and temporary 
scaffold were exchanged for a stage ; dialogue was introduced, and by 
degrees established in due pre-eminence over the lyric effusions of the 
chorus ; theatrical dress and decoration became sumptuous and effective ; 
and tragedy assumed, in shape and in substance, its noblest attributes. 
Hitherto the art had been in embryo, a mere larva struggling into form ; 
now it started up as the finished specimen, perfect in all its members, 
although hues of beauty and powers of flight were afterwards added or 
increased. 

iEschylus is a glorious example of the Athenian character in its highest 
perfection ; genius, patriotism, and valour. The virtues of the soldier- 
citizen, called forth by the shock of foreign arms, and inflamed by the 
remembrance of hard-earned triumphs, have given peculiar force to the 
poetry of one who had personally shared the dangers of the conflict. It 
is everywhere the language of a hero, and seems to resound with the 
noise of battle. At the same time, the innate propensities of the mind 
of iEschylus, as well as the emotions naturally excited by the Persian 
invasion, and by the great part which Athens had sustained in the con- 
test, are to be traced in the daring flights and lofty conceptions of his 
muse. There was something gigantic in his mental character, that found 
congenial elements in the antique mythology and legends of Greece ; in 
the Titans who combated with Jove, the founders of extinct dynasties, 
and those deeds and crimes of the olden time, which were magnified by 
the mist of intervening ages into features of transcendent greatness or 
atrocity. That ideal standard, which all poetry erects for itself, since all 
poetry has more or less of an ideal tincture in its composition, was clothed 
in his imagination, with an aspect of supernatural strength, wisdom, or 
Dower. Hence it is, that beings and faculties of more than mortal 
mould are so often conjured within the circle of this potent enchanter. 
Hence, too, the extravagance and eccentricity of thought and diction, 
which have always been pointed out as the chief faults of iEschylus. His 
metaphors, like the masks of his invention, are exaggerated images ; his 
genius, like his actors, bellows through a trumpet. Yet, though fonder 
of commanding our wonder than our sympathy, he was not without an 

proving his dramas, it is certain was the production of a still pliment to the rowers of Phry- 
that his later ^plays were very more advanced period, and, pro- nicus. Still Ave must remember, 
different fiom his first attempts, bably, _ was little inferior in in tracing the inventive improv- 
The MtX)?rou a-Xuiois, to judge dramatic arrangement and ex- ers of tragedy, that the real 
from its effects, must have been cellence to the Persae, which, claims of Phrynicus are almost 
a piece, lor that age, of extraor- lour years afterwards, iEschylus entirely restricted to turning 
dinary merit. Now Miletus composed on the same subject, the drama from the lightness of 
was taken, Olymp. I,xxi, 3, Indeed the poet, who so long satiric gaiety to the solemnity 
B. C. 494, five years after the and sometimes so successfully and pathos of what was hence- 
first victory of iEschylus, and competed with an iEschylus, forth peculiarly styled tragedy, 
seventeen yearsa fter Phrynicus must himself have been no mean In all succeeding alterations 
began to exhibit. This play, dramatist; and the charge of and additions he appears to have 
therefore, was the work of his plagiarism, which that great hcen simply the follower of 
maturer proficiency. The Phce- tragedian is represented by iEschy' us.— Greek Tlieaire. 
nissae again, which won the Aristophanes as go studiously IB. C. 511. 
prize Olymp. lxxvi, b. C. 4,d, rebutting, is another high com- 



742 



HISTORY OF 



intimate knowledge of the human heart, and sometimes penetrates the 
soul of his readers by touches of exquisite feeling. Occasionally, like- 
wise, there is a simplicity of language, continued through long passages, 
that is the more astonishing in his plays, when we recollect how close 
they lie to the confines of lyric song, and what a perpetual struggle 
yEschylus must have maintained against the inflation of ideas and ex- 
pression, which is incidental to that species of poetry. But simplicity, 
as a general characteristic, is to be sought, not in the style but in the plan 
of his tragedies. The primitive artlessness, and direct movement of his 
plots cannot be exceeded. In comparing them with the dramatic produc- 
tions of later times, it is necessary to keep constantly in remembrance 
that the ancient and modern drama are constructed upon different prin- 
ciples. In the ancient drama the plot arises out of the expansion of a 
single incident: no wonder that it is simple! In the modern drama the 
plot arises out of the compression of a whole narrative: no wonder that it 
is intricate! 

Even upon the plays of 1 Sophocles, who 2 is universally acknowledged 



1 B. C. 495— 405. good-will and favour of the gods: cess, till he had passed his 

2 The birth-year of Sophocles these are the uniform features of ninetieth year-, perhaps, indeed, 
is nearly the middle point be- the history of this virtuous and some of his greatest works be- 
tween that of his predecessor holy poet. It might be supposed long to this late period. It is 
and that of Euripides, so that that the gods (among whom he reported, that, on account of his 
he was about half a generation particularly dedicated himself affection for a grandchild by a 
distant from each ; but testi- early in life to Bacchus, as the second wife, he was accused by 
monies do not entirely agree giver of all joy, and the civilizer an elder son or sons of baviig 
on this point. He was, how- of the human race in its ancient reached his second childhood, 
ever, for the greater part of roughness, by the means of and of being no longer able to 
his life, a contemporary of both, tragic performances at his fes- manage his own property. It is 
He frequently contended with tivals,) had wished to make him said that the poet, instead of any 
iEschylus for the tragic wreath immortal, so long did they put defence, read to the judges his 
of ivy, and he outlived Euripides, off his death: and, as this was Oedipus at Colonus, which he 
who, however, attained a great nut possible, they released him had just finished composing ; or, 
age. It appears, (to speak in from life as gently as they could, according to others, that exqui- 
the spirit of the religion of the that he might imperceptibly ex- site chorus in it in honour of 
ancients) that a benevolent Pro- change one kind of immortality Colonos, his native place; and 
vidence wished, by means of for another— the long duration that upon this the astonished 
this single man, to display to the of his earthly being, for a perpe- judges without farther delay 
human race the dignity and hap- tuity of fame. When a youth dissolved the court, and conduct- 
piness of their lot; as it bestow- of sixteen, he was chosen, on ed him to his house in triumph, 
ed on him every imaginable account of Jiis beauty, to dance, If it is a well-founded fact that 
blessing of life, in addition to and, according to the Greek cus- ne wrote the second Oedipus so 
everything divine that can adorn torn, to play on the lyre at the late in life, of which the play 
and elevate the disposition and same time, before the chorus of itself bears the traces, in its 
the soul. To be born of weal thy youths who, after the battle of matured gentleness, and its 
and respectable parents, and to Salamis, (in which iEschylus freedom from the harsh impetu- 
be a free citizen of the most cul- fought, and which he has painted osity of youth, it affords us a 
tivated state of Greece, were in so masterly a manner) per- picture at once of the most 
merely the foretaste of his felici- formed a Paean round the trophy amiable and the most honourable 
ty. Beauty of body as well as which was erected; so that the old age. Although the different 
of soul, and the uninterrupted most beautiful display of his reports of the manner of his 
enjoyment of the powers of both youthful bloom coincided with death appear to be fabulous, yet 
in perfect health, to the utmost the very moment of the most they agree in this, and have this 
limit of human life; an education glorious epoch of the Athenian true meaning, that he expired, 
the most select, yet most exten- people. He held the office of without illness, while engaged 
sive, in gymnastics and music; general at the same time with in his art, or something connect- 
of which the former was so Pericles and Thucydides, when ed with it, and that he therefore 
powerful in imparting energy, he was near his grey hairs; and, breathed out his life in song, like 
and the latter harmony, to good when still older, was made priest some aged swan of Apollo. — • 
natural abilities; the sweet in honour of a heroof his country, Schlegel's Dramatic Literature, 
blonm of youth, and the ripe In his twenty-fifth year he began pp. 168, &c — The character of 
fruit of old age; the possession to bring tragedies on the stage. Sophocles must not, from this 
and uninterrupted enjoyment of He obtained the victory twenty glowing description of the en- 
poetry and art, and the exercise times, the second place still thusiastic Schlegel, be supposed 
of cheerful wisdom; love and oftener, and never was in the to have been entirely free from 
respect among his fellow-citi- third. He continued in tdis fault or shade. In his younger 
xens ; fame abroad ; and the occupation with increasing sue- days he seems to have been /*4-» 



GREEK LITERATURE. 743 

to have carried Greek tragedy to the highest pitch of perfection, this 
original principle of structure had a prodigious effect. But he was more 
of an artist than ^Esehylus : he was more happy in the selection and ar- 
rangement of his fables ; and abounds more in the well-wrought interest 
and striking reverses, which Aristotle instructs us to esteem as the 
triumphs of dramatic skill. That these are compatible with a rigid unity 
of action is sufficiently proved by the manner in which Sophocles has 
treated the legend of (Edipus, in the best of all his productions ; while 
the failure of Corneille and of Voltaire, in their several attempts to extend 
the combinations and improve the conduct of the plot, is perhaps the most 
decisive tribute to the ability of the Greek poet in the management of 
that, difficult subject. His general desire to heighten the interest of his 
fables is shown by the addition he made to the number of actors, who 
might be simultaneously brought upon the stage ; an improvement cer- 
tainly copied by iEschylus in the latter part of his career. But, besides 
this technical addition to the facilities of the dramatic art, Sophocles was 
in other respects an improver on the iEschylean model. The ideal 
region, in which his imagination loved to expatiate, was different from 
that of the elder bard ; peopled not with supernatural terrors and shapes 
of colossal magnitude, but with images of perfect majesty, serenity, and 
beauty. The impress of such lofty and noble contemplations is seen in 
the almost faultless excellence of his style. It is not wild, unequal, and 
irregularly grand ; but stately, sober, and elaborate. The few sallies 
which he makes in the manner of iEschylus, fail, as imitations often do, 
by putting on the external shape without the vivifying spirit of the ori- 
ginal. But in these passages the poetry of Sophocles is wandering from 
its native channel, along which it usually flows, a mild majestic stream, 
seldom ruffled by the tempest, seldom breaking in upon its limits, but 
bearing on its aspect the unquestionable symbols of dignity and power. 

With the third 1 of the great tragic writers of Athens the decline of the 
art at once commenced and was consummated. Active and fertile as 
the genius of EuripidesS was, it would perhaps have been vain for him 



dieted to intemperance in love 
and wine. Athenaeus. (xiii. 
603, &c). Cicero (De Off. i. 
40). A saying of his mentioned 
by Plato (Repub. i. 3), Cicero 
(De Senect. xiv.), Athenaaus 
(xii. 510, &c ,) whilst it confirms 
the charge just made, would also 
imply that years had cooled the 
turbulent passions of his youth: 
— " I thank old age," said the 
poet, "for delivering me from 
the tyranny of my appetites." 
Yet, even in his old age, the 
charms of Theoris and Archippe 
are reported to have been too 
powerful for the still susceptible 
dramatist (A then. xiii. 592). 
Aristophanes, who in the Ranae 
exhibits so much respect to 
,No;ihocles, then just dead, four- 



teen years before had accused 
him ot having become avaricious: 

— Pax, 695, &c. But this last 
imputation is irreconcilable with 
all that is known or can be 
inferred respecting the character 
of Sophocles. The old man, who 
was so absorbed in his art as to 
incur a charge of lunacy from 
the utter neglect of his affairs, 
could hardly have been a miser. 
A kindly and contented disposi- 
tion, however blemished with 
intemperance in pleasures, was 
the characteristic of Sophocles. 

— Theatre of the Greeks, p. 129. 
— The best editions of Sophocles 
are that of Brunck, Argent. 
1786, 4to, 2 vol., and 1786 -9, 
8vo. 3 vol., that of Erfurdt, 
Lips. 1802-11,7 vol. 8vo, and 



the smaller edition of Erfurdt, 
superintended by Hermann, 
Lips. 1823 — 5, which is not yet 
completed. The separate edi- 
tions of the plays are numerous, 
and some of them valuable. — 
Anth. Lemp., vol. 2, p. 1404. 

1 B. C. 479— 404. 

2 Euripides was the son of 
Mnesarchus and Clito, of the 
borough Phlya, and theCecropid 
tribe. He was born, Olyinp. 
r,xxv, 1 B. C. 480, in Salami;* 
(whither his parents had retired 
during the occupation of Att.ca 
by Xerxes), on the very day of 
the Grecian victory near that 
island. Aristophanes repeated- 
ly imputes meanness of extrac- 
tion, by the mother's side, to 
Euripides. He asserts that she 



744 



HISTORY OF 



to contend with either of his predecessors on ground already occupied by 

them ; with yEschylus in force and grandeur, or with Sophocles in purity 
of style, in symmetry of plot, and in the beauty and impressiveness of 
moral lessons. But Euripides made no such effort. He struck into a 
new path more in consonance with the depraved taste and degenerate 
manners of the generation by which he was surrounded. To say that 
the ideal was totally banished from his works would be false ; but the 

ideal world of his fancy was not one of sublime elevation nor of stately 

repose ; it was full of sickly sentiment and disorderly passion. Tiie 

was an herb-seller; and, accor- pides began his public career, and in his second, Chaerila, he 
ding, to Aulus Gellius, Theo- as a dramatic writer, Olymp. was not more fortunate on the 
pompus confirms the comedian's LXXXI, 2, B. C. 455, in the same score. Envy and enmity 
sarcastic insinuations. Philo- twenty-fifth year of his age. On among his fellow-citizens, infi- 
chorus, on the contrary, in a this occasion he was the third delity and domestic vexations at 
work no longer extant, endeav- with a piay entitled Pleiades, home, would prove no small 
cured to prove that the mother In Olymp. LXXXI V, 4. B.C. 441, inducements for the poet to ac- 
of our poet was a lady of noble he won the pme. In O ymp. cept the invitations of Archelaus. 
ancestry. Whatever one or both LXXXVII, 2. B. C. 431, he was In Macedonia he is said to have 
his parents might originally have third with the Medea, the Phi- written a play in honour of that 
been, the costly education'which loctetes, the J>ictys, and the Thnr- monarch, and to have inscribed 
the young Euripides received istee, a satyric drama. His it with his patron's name, who 
intimates a certain degree of competitors were Euphorion and was so pleased with the manners 
wealth and consequence, as then Sophocles. He was first with and abilities of his guest as to 
at least possessed by his family, the Rippolytus, in the Olymp. appoint him one of his ministers, 
The pupil of Anaxagoras, Prota- LXXXVI1I, 1. B. C. 428, the year No further particulars are re- 
goras,andProdicus (an instructer of his master Anaxagoras's corded of Euripides, except a 
so notorious for the extravagant death : second, Olymp. XCT, 2. few apocrypha! anecdotes and 
terms which he demanded for B. C. 415, with the Alexander (or apophthegms. His death, which 
his lessons), could not have been Paris), the Palamedes, the took place Olymp. XC1II, 2. 
the son of persons at that time Tmades, and the Sisyphus, a B. C. 406, was, like that of 
very mean or very poor. In satyric drama. It was in this iEschylus, in its nature extra- 
early life, we are told that his c-ntest that Xenocles was first, ordinary. Either from chance or 
father made him direct his at- Two years after this the Athen- malice, the aged dramatist was 
tcntion chiefly to gymnastic ians sustained the total loss of exposed to the attack of some 
exercises, and that in his seven- their armament before Syracuse, ferocious hounds, and by them 
teenth year he was crowned in In his narration of this disaster so dreadfully mangled as to ex. 
the Eleusinian and Thesean Plutarch gives an anecdote, pire soon afterwards in his sev- 
contests. It does not appear, which, if true, bears a splendid enty-fifth year. The Athenians 
however, that Euripides was testimony to the high estimation entreated Archelaus to send the 
ever actually a candidate in the in which Euripides was then body to the poet's native city tor 
Olympian games. The genius held. Those amongst the cap- interment. The request was 
of the young poet was not dor- tives, he tells us, who could refused ; and, with every de- 
mant whilst he was occupied in repeat any portion of that poet's monstration of grief and respect, 
these mere bodily accomplish' works, were treated with kind- Euripides was buried at Pelia. 
znents ; and even at this early ness, and even set at liberty. A cenotaph, however, was erec- 
age he is said to have attempted The same author also informs ted to his memory at Athens, 
dramatic composition. He us that Euripides honoured the — Greek Theatre, pp. 133, 139. 
seems to have also cultivated a soldiers who had fallen in that — Among the numerous editions 
natural taste for painting. Some siege with a funereal poem, two of Euripides which have issued 
of his pictures were long after- Hues of which he has preserved, from the press, the following are 
wards preserved at Megara. At The Andromeda was exhibited particularly worthy of notice : 
length, quitting the gymnasium, Olymp. XCii. 1, B.C. 412, the that of Beck, commenced by 
he applied himself to philosophy Orestes, Oiymp. XCIII, 1, B. C. Morus, Lips. 1778—88, 3 vols, 
and literature. _ Under the cele- 408. Soon after this time, the 4to:— that of Musgrave, Oxon. 
brated rhetorician P. odious, poet retired into Magnesia, and 1778, 4 vols. 4to : — that of 
one of the instructors of Pericles, from thence into Macedonia, to Matthiae, Lips. 1813— 18, 5 vols, 
he acquired that oratorical skill the court of Archelaus. As in 8vo: and that of Glasgow, 1820, 
for which his dramas are so re- the case of iEschylus, the mo- 9 vols. 8vo, — Of the separate 
markably distinguished; and from tives for this self-sxile are plays, the best editions are, 
Anaxa»oras he imbibed those obscurs and uncertain. We those of Porson, Brunck, Vaick- 
philosophical notions which are know, indeed, that Athens was enaer, Monk, &c. The D.atribe 
occasionally brought forward in by no means the most favourable of Valckenaer {Diatribe in Eur- 
his works. Here too Pericles residence for distinguished liter- ipidis perditorum dramatum re- 
was his fellow-disciple. With ary merit. The virulence of liquias, Lugd. Bat. 1767, 4to) is 
Socrates, who had studied under rivalry reigned unchecked in a a choice piece of criticism, and 
the same master, Euripides was licentious democracy, and the contains some happy corrections 
oa terms of the closest intimacy ; caprice of a petulaut multitude of the text of the fragments. It 
and from him he derived those would not afford the most satis- is an excellent work for those 
moral gnomae so frequently in- factory patronage to a high- who wish to be acquainted with 
terwoven into his speeches and minded and talented roan, the philosophical opinions of 
narrations. Indeed Socrates Report, too, insinuates that Euripides, and with the peculiar 
was even suspected of largely Euripides was unhappy in his character of his style, as distin- 
assisting the tragedian in the own family. His first wife, guished from that of Sophocles, 
composition of his plays. Euri- Melito, lie divorced for adultery; — Anth, Lemp. vol. 1. p. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



745 



standard above humanity was discarded ; but a standard beyond human- 
ity was substituted in its room. In seeking to keep up a tempest of 
perpetual agitation, to harrow the weaker feelings of our nature, 
Euripides showed men as they never show themselves ; he enhanced 
voluptuousness and aggravated error. In character, language, costume, 
and attitude, that Homeric tone of masculine greatness, which had hither- 
to ennobled the stage, disappeared. With this departed likewise the 
solemn march and simple evolution of the tragic fable. Their place was 
supplied by plots perplexed without interest, and fantastic without inge- 
nuity. Nor were these the only faults of the new school. The choric odes 
though adorned with poetical graces, were but loosely connected with the 
business of the scene: the dialogue was disfigured by the quirks of 
sophistry, and the pomp of rhetorical declamation ; qualities which pro- 
bably contributed to make Euripides so marked an idol of Parisian taste. 
Hence, notwithstanding the many merits of this writer as a poet ; his 
pathos, his tenderness, his love of nature, his insight into the heart of 
man ; to him must mainly be imputed the ruin of the tragic drama 
among the Greeks. His very beauties made him a fatal example. He 
thought too much of himself, and too little of his subject ; the play was 
bad when the poetry was exquisite ; his aim was occasional effect, rather 
than steady and consistent excellence. If his perceptions were keen, his 
discrimination was not equally acute ; he mistook the coarse, or the 
ludicrous, for the simple : and if he sometimes made little things great, 
he more frequently made great things little. Tn the pathetic, his most 
successful branch of writing, he is often a plagiarist on his own concep- 
tions ; in ethics he is rarely free from subtlety or petulance : and in 
philosophy, content to be always a disciple, and devoid of original power, 
he has repeatedly been made the organ of doctrines, whose folly or mis- 
chief he did not understand. 

Longinus, who has drawn from the sun a simile to illustrate the differ- 
ences between the Iliad and the Odyssey, might have discovered a like 
illustration of the rise and fall of Grecian tragedy. With iEschylus, it is 
the dawn of a glorious day, rich in gorgeous colouring and bright promise, 
but still battling against the clouds, and thwarted by the morning haze ; 
with Sophocles, of a mature and steadfast radiance, it glows in the meri- 
dian ; and with Euripides, its aptest emblem is the setting luminary, 
beautiful even in decline, and flooding the skies with a softened lustre, 
but shorn of power and splendour, and soon to be swallowed up in the 
darkness of night. Into those shades of obscurity it is not necessary to 
to follow the expiring art. Even while the works of their contemporaries 
or successors still survived, the ancients themselves acknowledged the 
pre-eminence of the three great poets whose characteristics have been 
pointed out. It would neither instruct nor amuse the reader to lead him 
through a diy catalogue of more than a hundred names, here and there 
associated with a single piece, or a few fragments, which extend beyond 



746 



HISTORY OF 



the classical era as low as the fourth century after Christ. All the lustre 
of Greek tragedy vanished with Euripides, and in the latest productions 
that assumed the title, its very form disappeared. 

If it is expedient, when considering the ancient tragedy, to dismiss 
modern notions of plan and excellence ; it is yet more proper to do so 
when engaged with the subject of the Greek comic drama. The form of 
that species of poetry, especially in its more early and interesting shape, 
was very different from the comedy of intrigue which has gained posses- 
sion of most modern stages. Like tragedy, it arose out of the ebullitions 
of Bacchanalian festivity. It is probable that Susarion 1 of Megara first 
improved the Phallic hymn, a principal portion of the Bacchic ritual, 
into a farce performed by a chorus, and accompanied by extemporaneous 
effusions of raillery and sarcasm. But the Syracusan 2 Epicharmus, 3 
the contemporary of iEschylus, did for Grecian comedy that which 
iEschylus effected in the other department of the drama. He changed 
the loose interlocutions of the Megarian comedy into regular dialogue ; 
gave to each exhibition an unbroken fable ; and softened into ridicule the 
coarseness of a personal invective. His plots were chiefly of a mythologi- 
cal cast, and the elegance of his style was the more remarkable, when 
contrasted with the rough buffoonery to which it succeeded. Mitigated, 

1 B. C. 560. while it ascribes to bim, in com- the concluding part of the epi- 

2 B. C. 500. mon with all antiquity, the in- gram of Theocritus, to which 

3 Aristotle, in his poetics, as- vention of written comedy : it is we hare before alluded. Diocenes 
crib's the first written comedy a fragment of ten lines in the Laertius further states, that he 
to Epicharmus. Both the Sta- Doric" dialect to composed several treatises upon 
gyrite and Horace call him a medicine and philosophy ; but 

Sicilian, but the exact place of X S> ivijo <5 rav Kat^hav of these scientific works, as well 

his birth is disputed ; some Kvpuy Ewj^ap^oj. as of his comic productions, 

writers contend that he was a nothing h*s Come down entire to 

Syracusan, some that he was a T ™= maa who comedy, modern times According to 

native of Crastum, others of P 11 armns t} i6 testimony of Horace, how- 

Megara, in Sicily : Diomedes . . . ever, we may catch the likeness 

the grammarian states that he A & ai " of the Sicilian poet from the 

was born in the island of C js, imitative sketches of Piautus. 
and, in fact, derives the word 2qpa«««wj anflpiwTa* 

comedy from the name of that °' ay£pl p; an tos ad exemplar Sicnli properare 

island, a circumstance which in Which statue they have erected at Epicharmi. 

no way strengthens his authority. Syracuse in honour of tneir fellow- Planms look the Sicilian Epicbarmn* 

The father of Epicharmus, ac- ciuzeu. tor hi* model, 

cording to Stobaeus, was named Har.1. Ep. i. L 8. 

Chimarus, or, according to It celebrates him, in conclusion, 

others, Tityrus: his mother's for the many useful maxims He is said, by Aristotle and 

name was Sicida. Cicero, in his which he gave for the instruc- Pliny, to have added two letters 

Tuscnlan Disputations, calls tion of youth. Of the life of to the Greek alphabet (r and 9) ; 

Epicharmus, acutem nec insul- this early comic poet little is and, according to Diogenes 

sum hominem, " an acute and known, and of his writings still Laertius, and Stobaeus, he at- 

clever man and Demetrius less. Diogenes Laertius, in tained to the advanced age of 

Phalereus commends him for the his Lives of the ancient Greek ninety years. Epicharmus ap- 

elegant and apposite choice of philosophers, represents him to pears to have been a l.beral 

his epithets, on account of which have been a Pythagorean in his contributor to that branch of 

the Greeks gave the name of philosophical tenets; and states literature in which he led the 

*' Epicharmion " to his style, that he first introduced comedy way. Porphyry says, that Apo - 

making it proverbial for its at Syracuse during the reign of lodorus the grammarian made a 

beauty and purity. Among the Hiero; of whom Piutarch says, collection of his works in ten 

epigrams of Theocritus, publish- that he severely fined the poet, volumes ; Suidas reckons fiftg- 

ed by Henry Stephens in 1579, and doomed him to heavy manual two plays; Lycon oniy thi.ty- 

there are some verses that ap- labour, for certain obscene jests five; but Herteiius, and other 

pear to have been inscribed to which he introduced in the hear- critics, have given the names of 

Epicharmus upon the pedestal ing of his queen. Some writers forty, with the authorities by 

of a brazen statue, which the assert, that Epicharmus was a which they are ascertained. It 

Syracusans had erected to his schoolmaster, and that he in- were useless to load our pages 

honour. As far as this testimony structed pupils about four yeats with these titles of tales no more; 

goes it would settle the point of before the Persian invasion, a the most accurate list of them 

his birth, by expressly stating circumstance that has been will be found in Stobaeus — 

that be was a nativeof Sy -ucuse, thought to be corroborated by Eiicyc. Met? op. part 4, p.'&Z. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



747 



however, as the scurrility of his predecessors was in the plays of Epi- 
charmus, accurate criticism will detect, in what tradition has recorded 
of them, some distinct elements of the Aristophanic comedy. The habit 
of burlesquing the tragic style and subjects, to which jealousy of their 
rising fame probably inclined him, was revived in the incessant parodies 
in which the Athenian comic writers indulged their humour or their 
spleen , those political strokes that seasoned the wit of Epicharmus, were 
a type, though a faint one, of the perpetual battery which the poet of 
Athens was expected to play upon public affairs and public men ; and 
the invented characters, the fanciful stories, the mixture of seriousness 
with jocularity, Which marked the Sicilian style, are all features to be 
recognised anew in such productions as the Wasps, the Birds, and the 
Clouds of Aristophanes. 

The chief alteration made by tins great writer and his Athenian pre- 
decessors on the Syracusan model, was the bringing back, with a loftier 
aim, but equal or augmented bitterness, the personal satire of the prim- 
itive Phallic songs. They thus stamped upon the Old Comedy a deep 
indelible impression. It was essentially satirical, and sank at once 
when its essence was withdrawn. Not that its authors were so simple 
as to baulk their countrymen of that variety, which in the theatre, as 
everywhere else, was dear to the inhabitants of Attica. Many other 
ingredients were blended with the predominant one of personal invective. 
On the slender thread of an inartificial plot were strung together sar- 
casm, ridicule, poetry, wit, humour, politics, parody, and puns. The 
old Comedy may want symmetry and order; it may be deficient as a 
work of art ; yet as a rich and ready vehicle for the nights of genius, it 
was congenial to the taste of Athens, and worthy of the illustrious poet, 
from whose remains we now learn to understand its nature. 

1 Aristophanes ~ had so high an idea of his function as a dramatist, and 



1 B. C. 456.-3S6. 

2 Aristophanes presents us, in 
his own works, with the few 
fragments of his personal history 
upon which any reliance can be 
placed. He was a Rhodian by 
birth, the son of Philip of Rhodes, 
according to some writers, and 
was born about E C. 460. Others 
state that he was a native of 
.^Egina, a small island opposite 
1o Athens; and all asiree that 
he was not born an Athenian, 
though domiciliated there in early 
life. The poet calls himself of 
Cydathene, a borough of Attica, 
the son of Philip, but states, that 
he possessed some patrimony at 
./Egina; while Plutarch informs 
us, that his rights as an Athe- 
nian citizen being called in ques- 
tion by Gleon, a commission was 
appointed to try the question, and 
gave a solemn judgment in his 
favour. Plutarch, however, does 
not state the grounds of this de- 
rision ; and it is more th;.<n pro- 
bab!e,from the well-known vanity 



of the Athenians, that they were 
proud to enroll this celebrated 
poet amongst their citizens, re- 
gardless altogether of the origin 
of his ciaims. Father Brumoy, 
in his Theatre des Grecs, relates, 
from Plutarch, a characteristic 
anecdote of Aristophanes on this 
occasion, which attributes his 
success to a bnn-mot. Parodying 
two simple lines of H "mer, he 
addressed the judges with great 
gravity — 

Je suis fils de Philippe, a ce que dit 

Ponr moi je" n"en scai rien. Qui s 9 ait 
quel est son pere? 

I am the son of Philip ; at least so 

says my good mother. 
Who in the name of heaven everknew 

his father? 

a witticism, says Brumoy, worth 
as much to Aristophanes, as the 
eloquent harangue of Cicoro in 
favour of the poet Archias upon 
a similar occasion. Aristophanes 
O R 2 



is represented as having been 
very tall in his person, of a mus- 
cular robust make, and, we have 
his own authority, in one of his 
comedies, the Peace, for his bald- 
ness. There cannot exist a doubt, 
but that our author was a man of 
considerable influence and po.iti- 
cal consequence amongst his 
countrymen; and the peculiarly 
factious and fickle temperament 
of the republic under which he 
lived, afforded him but too many 
opportunities of indulging the 
malevolence of his muse. He is 
said, however, to have been of a 
frank, free, and convivial temper 
in private life; and his company 
was sought after by Plato and 
the mostnllustrious characters of 
the age- His popularity was so 
considerable amongst the Athe- 
nians, according to Plutarch, that 
he not only was publicly crowned 
with olive as a testimony to his 
intellectual greatness, but they 
decreed him pecuniary confisca- 
tions and fines from those who 



748 



HISTORY OF 



of his own mental powers, that, had regularity of plot, or an ingenious 
combination of incidents, been required in the structure of the old 
comedy, he would certainly have attempted it, and if we may judge even 
from some scenes of his existing plays, with eminent success. But in 
reviewing his productions as a whole, and as specimens of the system to 
which they belonged, not only the ancient conception of the comic art, 
but likewise the character of the Bacchanalian festival must be taken into 
the account. To the more solemn and exalted species of mental inspira- 
tion, tragedy was consecrated ; but of that airy and extravagant spirit, 
that intoxication of the soul, of which Bacchus was equally the patron, 
the Attic comedy, in its first estate, was at once the triumph and the 
type. Hence every appearance of forethought and laborious preparation 
was avoided, and the reins were freely given to the utmost license of 
fable, sentiment, and expression, which an exuberant fancy could supply. 



attacked him with suits and pro- defending the poet from the at- version of Fr.ischlinus. This is 

secutions. Nor was his fame tacks of his adversaries, in iusti- by far the most important, and, 

confined within the precincts of fying his general political" con- on the who'e, the most complete 

Athens, but even in the poet's life- duct, and in retorting and heaping edition. In 1760 Stephen Bergler 

time, spread throughout Greece up fresh invective upon those published an edition of Aristo- 

atid Sicily, and to the Persian who differed from him in opinion, phanes, at Leyden, in two 4to 

court : We refer our learned readers par- volumes ; to which a Latin trans- 

ticularly to the speech of the lation is appended. His faults 

Outw 6' airov Kepi t^j To\/ir)s ijir} chorus in the Acharnaa of our have been ably pointed out, and 

TToppw «-Xso? rjxet.. author, verse 625, Brunch's edi- deservedly castigated, byBrunck, 

ARISTOPH. Achar. 1. 646. tion. Aristophanes does not seem who published, at Strasburg, in 

to have been personally addicted the year 1783, an edition of the 

The fame and report of his to the gross immoralities and un- whole eleven plays of Aristo- 
boldness has extended far and natural passions he so forcibly phanes, with the fragments col- 
wide; so that the Persian raon- describes, but, in common with Jected by Canter, but omitted in 
arch, when questioning the La- Cratinus, he was a decided vo- Kuster's edition; together with 
cedasmonian ambassadors, first tary of Bacchus. Athenseus, in an entire new Latin version, 
asked them, whether they were the Deipnosophistas, indeed, as- composed by himself. In one 
masters of the sea; and then im- serts. that as Sophocles insinuates sense, this is the best edition of 
mediately interrogated them re- of iEschyius, he was always in a Aristophanes, inasmuch as the 
specting this our poet. "Which state of intoxication when he text is most pure ; but the notes 
of the two powers does he cen- composed. He seema to have are entirely critical, and not ex- 
sure?" said the king; "for, the been unhappy in his family cir- planatory,and it is unaccompanied 
cause of the party he espouses cumstances, torinone of his come- with the Greek Scholia. This 
will certainly come oft' victorious dies he declares, Ttjv ywalKa <5' omission greatly derogates from 
in the present war, inasmuch as aloxxivopai. "I am ashamed of my the usefulness of the whole edi- 
they have him for their coadju- wife ;" and his two sons, Philip- tion, and prevents us from point- 
tor." — Dionysius, the tyrant of pus and Ararotes, were notcri- ing out to the reader any separate 
Syracuse, made the most flatter- ously undutiful and profligate edition of the poet, in which lie 
ing overtures to Aristophanes to characters. Our poet himself may be studied to the greatest 
reside in Sicily, but in vain, and lived to the advanced period of possible advantage. As the case 
at the very time, too, when the seventy years of age ; eleven of now stands, Kuster and Brunck 
Socratic philosophers, iEschines, his comedies, written in the must be read together, for it is 
Aristippus, and even Plato, Avere Attic dialect, still remain in a impossible to understand Aristo- 
the inmates of his court. But perfect state, and we have the phanes without continually refer- 
the poet, though almost an object titles of no fewer than fifty, of ring to the excellent Scholia upon 
of adoration at home, and enjoy- which some fragments only have his works. This edition was in- 
ing a brilliant reputation abroad, survived the general wreck. The accurately reprinted at Oxford, 
was not exempt either from the Princeps edition of Aristophanes 1810, by Nathaniel Bliss. Edi- 
shafts of envy, or of just retalia- was published at Venice, in folio, tions of separate plays of Aristo- 
tion; the man whose biting satire 1498, by Manutius Aldus. It phanes have been very numerous 
and cruel invective were levelled contained only nine plays, as the among continental scholars ; but 
against such virtuous and power- Lysistrata and the Thesmopho- in this country we have only the 
ful citizens as Socrates, Euripi- riazusae were not at that time dis- well-known edition of the Plutus 
des, and Cieon (the latter of whom covered. The second edition was and Clouds, published in London ; 
the political influence of Aristo- published at Florence, in 8vo, in the Oxfordedition of theKnights; 
phanes ultimately brought to de- 1515, byBernard Junta, contain- and one of the Acharneans, by 
served disgrace and punishment), ing eleven plays. The third was Mr Eimsley, the learned editor 
was not likely to remain free a reprint of the Aldine edition, of the ffidipus Tyrannus of So- 
from the most hostile and vigilant with the Greek Scholia, at Flo- phocles> and the Heraclidae of 
attacks of his opponents. His rence, 1525, in 4to, by Antonius Euripides. It is enriched with 
works exhibit sufficient proofs of Franciscus. Ludolph Kuster several notes by the celebrated 
their industry ; for we there find, published an edition at Amster- Dr Bentley, and is considered by 
that the chorus, so far from as- dam, in 1710, in a folio form. It scholars as a very complete one. 
e'l -ting the general action of the was accompanied by the invalu- - Ency. Metrop. part 4, pp. 3i5, 
play, ic principally occupied in able Greek Scholia and the Latin 32b, 332. 



GREEK LITERATURE 



749 



On this principle we easily find a reason for the wildest sallies of buffoon- 
ery, and a reason too, if not an excuse, for that grossness of language and 
allusion, which harmonized with the obscene ensign of the original Phallic 
ceremonies. But, above all, this principle explains to us the general 
meagreness or irregularity of the Aristophanic plots. It was impossible 
often to contend against the humours of the feast. While "laughter 
holding both his sides" was lord of the ascendant, the poet was ashamed 
to show himself in earnest. To take anything in earnest was alike foreign 
to the disposition of his audience. Thus they tolerated the most vehement 
attacks upon their own faults and follies in a collective capacity; and per- 
mitted the comic author to treat their deities, and the religion of the state, 
with a degree of irreverence, the slightest approach to which, in a writer 
of tragedy, was visited with severe animadversion. Aristophanes was not 
behind his brethren in availing himself of some of these professional im- 
munities ; yet, wherever, amid the coarseness, the grotesqueness, and 
the mockery of the old comic vein, the personal character of the man 
breaks out, we see that it was not merely his boast, but his real wish and 
aim, to elevate the tone of his art. The graces of his diction no one will 
seek to gainsay. He wields the idiomatic powers of the Attic form of 
speech with a skill unrivaled, except, perhaps, in the dialogues of his 
admirer Plato. Nor should it be forgotten, that he is at least as much a 
poet, as a satirist or a buffoon. Snatches of exquisite poetry are perpetu- 
ally intermingled with the passages of a more robust or vulgar quality, 
like glimpses of an Elysian distance descried from some rugged or re- 
volting foreground. When we add to this, that the patriotism of Aristo- 
phanes was of that sterling ore which shines from its own brightness, 
without the adventitious gilding of popular professions, we claim for him 
the crowning merit of a great mind. The last mentioned excellence ne- 
cessarily involves another that may justly be ascribed to him — a sound 
consistent view of the philosophy of morals. Even his memorable assault 
upon Socrates, however erroneous in the choice of an object, or unwar- 
ranted in the extent to which it was carried, must be imputed to no other 
motive. It was wrong to confound Socrates with the sophists of his day ; 
but it was right that the practices and doctrines of the sophists should be 
exposed and reprobated with exemplary rigour. Yet the precipitance 
with which the poet identified a wise and virtuous humourist with the 
intellectual empirics around him, has caused his satire, in this instance 
alone, to recoil upon himself. In all other instances the attacks of Aris- 
tophanes were as just as they were tremendous; a fact greatly to the 
honour of one whose shafts flew so thick on every side, that he might well 
have exclaimed, with a celebrated writer of modern times, " What public 
question have I declined? what villain have I spared?" 

Such severe, though wholesome discipline, as that which was exercised 
by the authors of the old comedy, could coexist with nothing but a state 
of absolute liberty. When the free spirit of Athens was extinguished, 
3 k 3 



750 



HISTORY OF 



the license of the comic theatre, after languishing through various stages 
of decline, finally expired. The gradations of the middle comedy, to 
which some even of the later plays of Aristophanes perhaps belonged, are 
ill defined ; but simultaneously with the overthrow of Athenian inde- 
pendence, 1 appeared the first distinct specimen of a new species of 
dramatic poetry, in which the pungent sarcasm, the political heat, and 
the rampant humour of the Aristophanic muse, were exchanged for 
graceful lessons of morality, accurate delineation of character, and the 
interest of regular plots. This new kind of comedy was brought to per- 
fection by 2 Menander, 8 the loss of whose works is imbittered to us by the 
loud applauses of the ancient critics, and only half compensated, if Ave 
believe Julius Cassar, by the imitations of Terence. Through all the 
changes and additions, however, of the Latin imitator, we can perceive 
the nature of the fables adopted by the new comedy, and that it was, as 
either Greek modes of life or the rigidness of the dramatic canons 
forced it to be, rather the comedy of manners than of intrigue. The 
chief charm of Menander seems to have lain in his delicate portraitures of 
character ; in the consummate propriety of his style, still visible in the 
remaining fragments of his plays ; and in a profusion of that Attic salt, 
which, to use an elegant expression of Plutarch's, appeared to have been 
taken from the very wave out of which the goddess of love and beauty rose. 

Thus the poetical glory of Athens, spread over a space of two centuries, 
and sustained by different forms of the tragic and comic drama, vanishes 
at last in a few fragments and a name. After Menander there is nothing 
worthy of commemoration. 4 But dining the same period, the other 



1 B. C. 335. 

2 B. C. 342—292. 

3 Menander the chief of the new 
comedy, was born B. C. 342. Kis 
father, Diopithes, was at this 
t ; me commander of the forces 
stationed by the Athenians at the 
Hellespont, and must therefore 
have been a man of some conse- 
quence. Alexis, the comic poet, 
was his uncle and instructor in 
the drama. Theophrastus was 
his tutor in philosophy and liter- 
ature. In his twenty-iirst year, 
B. C. 321, he brought out the 
'Opyr;, his first drama. He lived 
twenty-nine more years, dying 
B.C. 292, after having composed 
one hundred and five plays — 
Greek Theatre, page 187. He 
was the cotemporary of Deme- 
trius Phalereus, and had been 
instructed by Theophrastus in 
philosophy; but in his maimer of 
thinking he approached nearer 
to the Epicureans. There is an 
episrram of his, in which he savs, 
"That as Themistocles had pre- 
served the political liberty of his 
country, 60 had Epicurus pre- 
served its freedom of reason.'' 
He was, in his private habits, a 
refined voluptuary. The pu Hue 
which Phaedrus gives of his exte- 
rior, is sufficiently characteristic. 



Ungnento delibutus, vestitn adfla- 

The intimacy of his connexion 
with the courtezan Glycera, has 
been often recorded ; and furnish- 
ed Alciphron, the letter- writer, 
with some of his most elegant, and 
amusing epistles. — Ency.Metrop. 
part 7, page 702. Of the adven- 
tures of his life we know nothing. 
He appears, however, to have 
been patronised and courted by 
Ptolemy, the son of Lagus : a 
fact, we believe, proved only on 
the authority of the epistles to 
which we have already referred. 
The fragments of Menander were 
published aiong with those of 
Philemon, by Clericus (Le Cierc) 
in 1709, 8vo. This edition, exe- 
cuted with very little care, gave 
occasion to a very disgraceful 
literary warfare, in which Bent- 
ley, Burmann, Gronovius, Ee 
Pauw, and B Orville. took an 
active part. (Vide Fair. Bibl. 
Gr. ed. Harles. vol. 2,457.) The 
best edition is that of Meineke, 
Berolini, 1823 , 8vo.— Anthons 
Lemp. vol. 2d, p. 933. 

I Diphilus, the contemporary 
of Menander, was bom at Sinope 
in Pontus, and died at Smyrna in 
Ionia. His comedies were cele- 



brated for their wit, sense, and 
pleasantness ; though some ac- 
cused them of occasional dulness 
and insip ; dity. Phutus look his 
Casino- from the KAt/pot-^evot of 
Diphilus. Aioilndorus was a 
writer cf much repute amongst 
the poets of the new come y. 
Terence copied his Hccyra and 
Phonnio from two of his dramas ; 
all of which, though very numer- 
ous, are now lost, save the titles 
of eight, with a few fragments. 
Posidippus, the last poet of the 
new comedy, was a Macedonian, 
and born at Cassandria. He did 
not begin to exhibit till three 
vears after Menander's death, 
B. C. 2S9. He attained great 
fame by the excellence of his 
dramatic compositions, of which 
he puhlished upwards of fifty. 
With Posidij pus ends the history 
of the Grecian comic drama. 
"•'Below this period it is in vain 
to search for genius worth re- 
cording. Grecian literature and 
Grecian liberty expired together. 
A succession of sophists, paeda- 
gogues, and grammarians, fiiled 
the pf sts of those illustrious wits, 
whose spirit, fostered by freedom, 
soared to such heights as left the 
Roman poets little else except 
the secondary fame of imitation,'" 



GREEK LITERATURE 



great branch of literature had been cultivated by some of the most power- 
ful minds that adorn the Grecian annals, and that have raised prase com- 
position, in its chief varieties, to a level with the noblest achievements 
of poetry. 

To the earliest Greek chronicles, which prepared the way for regular 

history, we have already had occasion to allude. Succeeding, as records 
of past transactions, to the songs of the mythic age, they had about them 
much of the spirit of poetry, which still lingers in the epic plan, the 
picturesque descriptions, and the untiring flow and fulness of 1 Herodo- 
tus. 2 These, together with the highest degree of clearness, simplicity, 

— (Cumberland, Observer, No, the last country of the east visit- their feelings to mere words; 

152.) — Greek Theatre., p. 1S8. ed by him. Having now arrived they presented Herodotus with 

1 B. C- 484—407. at the regions bordering upon the sum of ten talents, for the 

2 Herodotus, a celebrated Greek Scylhia, he resolved to penetrate manner in which he had spoken 
historian, bom at Halicarnassus, into a country so little known to of the deeds of their nation, and 
B.C. 484. (Larcher. Vie d' Herod, the Greeks of his time, and ap- this event was regarded as of 
p. I. Clinton's Fasti Hellenici. pears to have accomplished this sufficient importance to he in- 
p. 29, 2d ed.) He was of Dorian object by pursuing the line of serted in the Chronicle of Eu- 
extraction, and of a distinguished communication which the Greek sebius. Soon after this, at- 
family. {Suidas, s. v. ! Hooo.) colonies of the Euxine had recent- tracted by a desire of again be- 
Panyasis, an eminent poet, whom ly opened with these lonely and holding foreign parts, he joined 
some ranked next to Homer (Sui- inhospitable regions. From Scy- an Athenian colony sent out to 
das, s. v. Uawdtr.), while others thia he passeof into the country found a city on the ruins of Syba- 
place him after Hesiod and Anti- of the Getae, or, more properly ris. The place thus founded was 
machus, was his uncle either by speaking, the lands lying along Thurium, and here the historian 
the mother's or father's side, the mouths of the Ister and Bo- spent the remainder of his days. 
Herodotus is regarded by many rysthenes. Thrace next received At Thurium, too, he put the 
as the father of profane history, him, and, after Thrace, MaceJo- finishing hand to his history, 
and Cicero {Leg. 1. 1.) calls him nia, Epirus, and Greece. Oi which is the only meaning that 
"■historic patrem :'* by this, his return to Samos, he began to can be attached to the words of 
however, nothing more must be arrange the materials for a. his- Pliny respecting him, "Historian 
meant, than that he is the first tory of the war between the condidit Thuriis in Italia." (H. 
profane historian whose work Greeks and the Persians, and, in A T . 12- 4.) Herodotus lived at 
was distinguished for its finished the composition of this work, Thurium even to the time of the 
form, and has come down to us skilfully brought in, as so many Peloponnesian war. The year of 
entire. Thus Cicero himself, on episodes to the main action, a his death is unknown, though it 
another occasion, speaks of him most attractive and beautiful s ?- is commonly fixed at about B. C. 
as the first " qui prince ps genus ries of historical and geographical 413. He was still living, how - 
hoc (scribendi) ornavit," (De sketches. The wrongs of his ever, B.C. 409; at the age of 
Oral. 2. 13.); while Dionysius of cooctry now urged him on. with seventy -five, and employed upon 
Halicarnassus has given us a list a number of his exiied fellow- his history, since he mentions 
of many historical writers who citizens,to overthrow the tyranny (1. 130) a fact which happened 
preceded him. (Consult Creuser, under which his native city had this year. {Clinton's Fasti Hel- 
Fragm. Hist. Antiq.Heidelb. 1826, for so long a time been labouring, lenici, p. 79, 2d ed. — Larcher, 
8vo.) Heradotus. at an early age, The enterprise succeeded; but Hist, d' Herod, vol. 1. p. 411.) 
quitted his native city, which Halicarnassus was delivered He also notices (3. 15.) the death 
had lost its liberty to the tyrant from the pressure of tyranny only of Amyrtaeus, and the succession 
Lygdamis, and retired to the to be subjugated in turn by an of Pausiris. Now Amyrtasus 
island of Samos, where he is sup- odious aristocracy. Herodotus, died B.C. 408, which bringsdown 
posed to have acquired the Ionic disliked by the people at large, the narrative of Herodotus cim 
dialect, in the place of the Doric who viewed him as the chief year lower than the incident 
spoken at Halicarnassus. At cause of their misfortunes; and pointed on; by Larcher and Clin- 
the age of twenty-five, after hav- becoming suspected by the no- ton. Herodotus, therefore, ap- 
ing perused the works of previous biiity, with whom he wculd not pears to have been engaged upou 
historians and travellers, a desire join in their schemes of opprcs- his work from forty-four to forty- 
seized him to visit foreign parts, sion, bade farewell to his native eight years after that recitation 
and which the state of his private land, and embarked for Greece, at whichThucytiides was present, 
fortune enabled him to indulge. The SlstOlympiad was then be- E.C, 452 or 456. The history of 
Egypt, so renowned for the wis- ing celebrated, and, before the Herodotus is contained in nine 
dom and peculiar nature of its immense assemblage thus called books,distmguished by the names 
institutions, appears to have been together,HerofiotL:s read detached of the nine Muses, which were 
one of the first countries that at- portions of his history, which said to have been given them by 
tracted his attention. From were received with universal ap- his admiring tudience at Olympuu 
Egypt he passed into the neigh- plause. It was on this occasion The two best editions of Hero- 
bouring reg.on of Libya, and has that the youni? Thucydides, who dctns are. that of V.'esseling, 
left us a variety of interesting was one of the spectators, was Amst. 1763, fol. and lhat of 
remarks on the condition of the affected to tears. Encouraged Schweighaeuser,Arge:;t etParis. 
Mediterranean coast of the conti- by ihe favourable reception given 1816 6 vols. 8vo. Tho French 
nent of Africa. He next visited to his work, Herodotus employed translation by Larcher (Paris, 
the shores of Palestine: and from the twelve years immediately fol- 1 602, 9 vols. 8vo.) is also deserv- 
Palestine passed over into Assy- lowing in continuing and perfect- ing of high commendation for its 
na, and proceeded to Babylon, ing his work. The Athenians valuable commentary. Veryim- 
Coichis would se?m to have been did not limit the expression of portant aid may likewise be ob- 



752 



HISTORY OF 



and natural pathos, are the qualities that render the style of this author 
so perfect a model of historical composition in the eyes of all who are 
not blinded by false taste, or by attachment to a particular theory. 
Something, perhaps, of the inexpressible pleasure, with which we dwell 
upon his pages, is due to the musical forms and idiomatic graces of the 
Ionic dialect ; employed by him though he was himself a Dorian, either 
in deference to the preceding annalists, whose desultory sketches he im- 
proved into an art, or from a deliberate choice, grounded upon its exquisite 
fitness for the purpose of narration. Even if, in respect of dialect, he 
was indebted to the example of his predecessors, he left them far behind 
him both in excellence of method, and in extent and dignity of subject. 
His was one of those fertile minds whose energies were summoned forth 
by the prodigious crisis of the Persian war ; an event which, though 
ushered in by a copious introduction, and surrounded by beautiful epi- 
sodes, yet constitutes the main plot and business of his history. Herodotus 
has been called the Homer of historical composition; and he deserves to 
be so named, not only from a certain affinity with the style and language 
of the great poet, but from the unity of his design, and its subservience 
to the renown of his country. Like Homer, too, though well versed 
in the knowledge of human nature and the foundations of ethical science, 
he makes no parade of his own sagacity. He suffers persons and events, 
delineated with graphic minuteness, to speak for themselves. In this, 
as in other particulars, he displays a true conception of the historian's 
office. History is never so enchanting, never so useful, as when it keeps 
to its native domain. 

Every one will wish to believe, though the tradition rests on no very 
ancient authority, that the public recital by Herodotus of that great work, 
in its first condition, which for fifty years he continued to enlarge and 
improve, drew tears of youthful emulation from the eyes of 1 Thucydides.* 

tained by the student from Ren- boyhood and education of the his- recitation was fifteen. Marcelli- 
nell's and Niebuhr's respective torian we have little information, nus informs us, that the precep- 
dissertations on the geography of The first remarkable circum- tor of Thucydides in oratory and 
Herodotus. A reprint of the stance of his early youth is one rhetoric in general was Antiph", 
former appeared from the Lon- which the biographers of Thucy- on whom the historian has passed 
don press in 1830, 2 vols. 8vo.; dides never fail to relate. It is a short but significant encomium 
and a translation of the latter stated, on the authority of Lucian in a part of his work. (.8- 68.) 
from the German was published [de conscrib. Hist. c. 16.) Suidas, In philosophy, and the art of 
at Oxford, 1830, 8vo. Avaluable and Photius, that Thucydides, thinking and reasoning, he was 
edition of Herodotus is in a when a youth of fifteen, stood instructed by Anaxagoras. Of 
course of publication in Germany with his father near Herodotus, the manner in which he spent his 
by Bahr, the recent editor of when the latter was reciting his early manhood we have no cer- 
Ctesias, of which the first volume history at the Olympic festival ^ lain information. Thatheserved 
has already appeared. It will and was so much interested with the usual time in the 7repi7roX<H, 
contain extracts from the Com- the work, and affected at. the or militia, we cannot doubt. How 
mentationesHerodoteae of Creuz- applause with which it was re- he spent the period from his mill- 
er. — Anthon's Lemp. vol. 1, pp. ceived, that he shed tears. On tia-service to that of his appoinf- 
674—676. observing which, Herodotus ex- ment to command the fleet in 

1 B. C. 471 — 403. claimed to his father, 'Ogya ^<pvais Thrace, we have no way ofascer- 

2 Thucydides, a celebrated rov vlov aov vpbf to. ^aO^^ara. taining. An ancient anonymous 
Greek historian, born in Attica, " Your son burns with ardour for biographer of the historian says; 
in the village of Halinusia, and science." This recitation is that he had participated in the 
in the tribe of Leontium, B. C. proved by Dod well to have taken Athenian colony sent toThurium: 
471. His father's name was place at the 81st Olympiad, B.C. But if he had by inheritance any 
OLorus, or, as some write the 456. Now, if what is said by considerable property in Thrace, 
name,Orolus,and on the mother's Pamphila, a female author of the which is highly probable, norea- 
side he was descended Irom Ci- age of Nero, be true, the age of son can be imagined why lie 
won, son of Miltiades. Of the Thucydides at the period of this should have taken part in this 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



753 



Yetj if the spirit of rivalry were thus roused within him, he at least 
took care to strike out a new path, as remote as possible from the track 
already opened up. In many things his manner of viewing and of treat- 
ing history was perfectly original. Together with the Attic dialect, 
which had been only recently adapted to prose composition, but which 
was suited, by its compact strength and manly tone, to the grave tenor 
of his subject, he introduced other deviations from the Ionian standard. 
While in Herodotus we find the simple majesty, the flexibility, the stately 
evolution and warm colouring of the heroic epos, Thucydides has all the 
concentrated interest, the depth, and the gloom of tragedy. Greece, no 
longer buoyant on the tides of patriotism and national triumph, but torn 
by intestine animosities, the sport of profligate counsels, and about to 
sink into the gulf of ruin ; a great people, in their corruption and decline ; 
and the fall of that Athens, which, in spite of its vices and follies, had 
been the boast of the best days of freedom ; such was the melancholy 
theme with which he chose to moralize his pages. It was a sombre, but 
a pregnant subject ; full of striking lessons ; rich in materials for eloquent 



colony. If, however, that state- 
ment be correct, Dodwell seems 
to have proved the circumstance 
must have taken place in his 
twenty-seventh year. Why he 
went, or how long he stayed, we 
are not informed. If he went at 
all, he probably did not remain 
very long; and there is no doubt 
that he had returned to his coun- 
try long before the commence- 
ment of the Peloponnesian war, 
otherwise it would make his mar- 
riage with the Thracian lady of 
Scaptesyle (by which he obtained 
rich property in mines, &c.) an 
improbably late one. Whether 
he was employed in military ser- 
vice in the first seven years of 
the war is uncertain ; it is pro- 
bable, however, that he was. In 
the eighth year of the war, and 
the forty-seventh of his age, B.C. 
434, he was appointed to the 
cmmand of the Athenian fleet 
off the coast of Thrace, which in- 
cluded the direction of affairs in 
the various Athenian colonies 
there. He occupied with his fleet 
a station at Thasus, and being 
suddenly summoned to the de- 
fence of Amphipoiis, he hastened 
thither; but, owing to unavoid- 
ab e circumstances, was too late 
by only half a day. He, however, 
succeeded in saving Eion, though, 
had lie not arrived at the time he 
did, the place would have been 
occupied by Brasidas the very 
next morning. It is plain, that 
to save Amphipoiis was a physi- 
cal impossibility, and great acti- 
vity was used in saving Eion. He 
therefore merited praise rather 
than censure. And yet the Athe- 
nian people, out of humour v. ith 
the turn which things were taking 
in Thrace, condemned him to 
b-uiishnient. Discharged from 
nil duties, and freed from all pub- 



lic avocations, he was left with 
out any attachments but to simple 
truth, and proceeded to qualify 
himself for commemorating ex- 
ploits in which he could have no 
share. On his banishment he re- 
tired to Scaptesyle, the property 
of his wife, and thus dedicated 
his leisure to the formation of his 
great work, and (as Marcellinus 
the ancient biographer says) em- 
ployed his wealth liberally in 
procuring the best information of 
the events of the war, both from 
Athens and Lacedsemon. How 
he passed the period of his exile, 
may, then, be very well imagined, 
ncr is it necessary to fill up that 
space, as Dodwell does, with suc.1 
events as " the death of Perdic- 
cas, king of Macedon; the ac- 
cession of Archelaus, his succes- 
sor; the end of the ^Xt«i'a arpa- 
revot/jLos of Thucydides ;" for his 
military life had virtually been 
defunct eighteen years before. 
As to the period of his exile, it 
was, as he himself tells us, (5.26.) 
twenty years; and his return is, 
by some", fixed at 403 B. C.,at the 
time when an amnesty was pass- 
ed for all offences against the 
state ; by olhers, to the year be- 
fore, when Athens was taken by 
Lysander, and the exiles mostly 
returned. The former opinion 
has been shown by Krueger to 
be alone the correct one, '* for," 
argues he, t; since Thucydides 
says that he was banished for 
twenty years in the eighth year 
of the war, which also, he affirms, 
lasted twenty-one years, it fol- 
lows that his recall must have 
been in the year after Athens was 
taken." Perhaps, however, the 
real truth of the matter is what 
Pausanias relates, who mentions 
among the antiquities a statue to 
the memory of one ffinobius, for 



being the mover of a separate de- 
cree of the assembly for the recall 
of Thucydides. (1. 23.) It is 
probable, that, besides the gener- 
al amnesty by which the former 
exiles were permitted to return a 
particular decree was made for 
Thucydides ; and, considering 
the gross injustice of his banish- 
ment, this was no more than he 
had a right to expect It seems 
to be uncertain how many years 
he lived after his recall "from 
banishment. The manner in 
which he speaks of the conclu- 
sion of the war, and his having 
lived throughout the whole of it in 
the full enjoyment of his facul- 
ties, strongly confirms the state- 
ment of Pamphila, from which it 
follows that he was sixty seven 
years old at its conclusion. And 
as it seems probable that he would 
not arrange the work before the 
conclusion of the war, so the 
moulding of the whole into its 
present form mig'ht consume some 
years of the life of an aged man. 
Yet its being at last left incom- 
plete, is unfavourable to the opi- 
nion of Dodwell, thatThucydides 
lived beyond his eightieth year. 
— Bloomfteld's Thucydides, vol. 1, 
p. xvi. seqq. The best editions 
of Thu-ydides, are that of Hud- 
son, Oxon. 1696, fol. that of 
Duker, Amst. 1731, 2 vols, fol., 
that of Gotleber and Bauer. Lips. 
1790— 1804, 2 vols. 4to, that of 
Haack, Stend. 1819, 2 vols. 8vo, 
reprinted by Valpy, Loud. 1823, 
3 vols. 8vo, and that of Bekker, 
Oxon. 1821, 4 vols. 8vo.— Dr 
Bloornfield, Vicar of Bisbrooke, 
Rutland, has published a small 
edition with English notes, in 
3 vols. 12mo, and also a new 
English version of the historian, 
with copious and valuable notes, 
in 3 vols. 8vo, Loud. 1H9. 



754 



HISTORY OF 



description ; and worthy of the highest elaboration which art could be- 
stow. Of these capabilities it would be vain to deny that the historian 
lias made admirable use. But in no instance are the defects, that often 
accompany genius of the first rank, more conspicuous. With all his 
dramatic power, and vivid represention of separate scenes, Thucydides is 
not happy in the general arrangement of his topics. His style is dark- 
ened by a studied obscurity, that too frequently converts eloquence into 
the appearance of conceit. Above all, the spirit of philosophizing has 
infected too large a portion of his work. In the harangues, which he 
puts into the mouths of his personages, and the reflexions which he 
makes upon events, we often detect a metaphysical subtlety, diving too 
deep for the truth. The example thus set has been eminently unfortu- 
nate: it has operated more or less upon all subsequent historians, opening 
a wide door for partiality and prejudice, and changing, in many cases, 
the art of animated and impressive narrative into that of mere specula- 
tion. 

In purity of style, and in lightness and clearness of description, Thu- 
cydides is surpassed by 1 Xenophon. 2 One is tempted, therefore, to ask 

1 B. C 443 - 353. to trust to their own bravery than The integrity, the piety, the mo- 

2 Xenophon, an Athenian, surrender themselves to the vie- deration of Xenophon, rendered 
born in the third year of the tor, and to attempt a retreat into him an ornament to the Socratic 
eighty-second Olympiad, was their own country. Theylisten- school, and proved how much he 
unquestionably one of the most ed to his advice ; and, having had had profited by the precepts of his 
respectable characters among the many proofs of his wisdom as master. His whole military con- 
disciples of Socrates. He strictly well as courage, they gave him duct discovered an admirable 
adhered to the principles of his the command of the army, in the union of wisdom and valour, 
master in action as well as opin- room of Proxenus, who had fallen And his writings, at the same 
ion, and employed philosophy, in battle. In this command he time that they have afforded, to all 
not to furnish him with the means acquired great glory by the pru- succeeding ages, one of the most 
of ostentation, but to qualify him dence and firmness with which perfect models of purity, simpli- 
for the offices of public and pri- he conducted them back, through city, and harmony of language, 
vatelife. Whilst he was a youth, the midst of innumerable dangers, abound with sentiments truly 
Socrates, struck with his exter- into their own country. The Socratic. By his wife Phitesia 
nal appearance, (for he regarded particulars of this memorable ad- Xenophon had two sons, Gryllus 
a fair form as a probable indica- venture are related by Xenophon and Diodorus; the former of 
tion of a well-proportioned mind) himself, in his Retreat of the Avhom fell With glory in the battle 
determined to admit him into the TenThousand. After his return of Mantinea. The news of his 
number of his pupils. Meeting into Greece, he joined Agesilaus, death arriving whilst his father 
him by accident in a narrow pas- king of Sparta, and fought with was offering sacrifice, he took oft* 
sage, the philosopher put forth him against the Thebans, in the the crown from his head, saying, 
his staff across the path, and, celebrated battle of Chajronea. with a sigh, "I knew that my 
stopping him, asked, where those The Athenians, displeased at this son was mortal:' but when he 
things were to be purchased, which alliance, brought a public accu- was told that he had fought 
are necessary to human life ? Xe- sation against him, for his former bravely, and died Avith honour, he 
nophon appearing at a loss for a conduct in engaging in the ser- again put on the crown, and 
reply to this unexpected saluta- vice of Cyrus, and condemned finished the sacrifice. His works 
tion, Socrates proceeded to ask him to exile. The Spartans, are, Memoirs of Socrates ; Apo* 
him, where honest and good men upon this, took Xenophon, as an logy for Socrates; Of the Affairs 
were to be found? Xenophon injured man, under their protec- of Greece; The Expedition of 
still hesitating, Socrates said to tion, and provided him a comfort- Cyrus; The Institution of Cyrus; 
him, "Follow me, and learn." able retreat at Scilluntes in Elea. The Banquet; Of Oeconomics; 
From that time Xenophon be- Here, with his wife and two chil- Of Tyranny; Praise of Agesilaus ; 
came a disciple of Socrates, and dren, he remained several years, Of the Republic of Athens; Of 
made a rapid progress in that and passed his time in the society the Republic and Laws of Spart*; 
moral wisdom for which his mas- of his friends, and in writing Of Taxes; Of the Office ot Mas- 
ter was so eminent. Xenophon those historical works which ter of Horse ; Of Hunting. Th^ 
accompanied Socrates in the Pe- have rendered his name immor- best editions of the works of Xe- 
loponesian war, and fought cou- taL A war at length arose be- nophon are, that of ■ Schneider, 
rageously in defence of his coun- tween the Spartans and Eleans, Lips. 1800, reprinted at Oxford, 
try. He afterwards entered into and Xenophon was obliged to re- 1812, 6 vols. 8vo, and that of 
the army of Cyrus, as a private tire to Lepreus, where his eldest Weiske, Lips. 1798—1802. 5 vols, 
volunteer, in his expedition son had settled. He afterwards 8vo, There are numerous edi- 
against his brother. This enter- removed. Avith his whole family, tions also of the separate Avorks, 
prize proving unfortunate, Xeno- to Corinth, where, in the first some verv useful. —Enfie'd. vol. 
phon, after the death of Cyrus, year of the hundred and fifth 1, pp. 186—188. 

advised his fellow soldiers, rather Olympiad, he finished his days. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



755 



why, in general estimation, Xenophon should be ranked below Thucy- 
dides, as well as below the historian of Halicarnassus? It seems that 
for this inferiority his subjects must be chiefly accountable. They are 
deficient either in unity and grandeur, or in compass and importance. 
The conclusion and results of the Peloponnesian war, detailed in his 
Hellenic Annals, present not so fine a field as the causes and course of 
that great moral and political revolution which Thucydides traced out 
in its operation upon all parts of Greece: and the brilliant adventures, 
portrayed in the Anabasis, though they blend the dignity of truth with 
the interest of fiction, and may even be connected, by some visible rela- 
tions, with subsequent events of the highest moment, have of themselves 
the air of a mere episode in history. But, in addition to this, it cannot 
be disguised that the masculine energy and weight of Thucydides, as a 
political reasoner, by no means revive in the parallel passages of Xenophon. 
Notwithstanding his grace, his perspicuity, and his tenderness, the intel- 
lectual achievements of the latter furnish a proof that he who passes, in 
too ambitious a career, from province to province of literature, must not 
hope to erect in any the trophies of supreme dominion. 

For it is in many different capacities that Xenophon must be viewed, 
in order to comprehend his whole character ; and in all he has associated 
his name with the art of composition. Not to mention his writings as 
a statist, an economist, and a sportsman, the works next in value to 
his historical productions, are those in which he skims the surface of the 
Socratic philosophy, and draws a picture of its founder. Thus he forms, 
in his own person, a link between the literature of Greek history, and 
the literature of Greek philosophy ; a subject far better treated by him, 
where he makes Socrates directly his hero, than where, in the province 
of historical romance, to which the Cyropsedia belongs, he mixes up 
Grecian tenets as well as Grecian manners, with elements of a heteroge- 
neous description. 

With the peculiar systems of the various schools, into which the phi- 
losophers of Greece were divided, we have here no concern. This sketch 
can embrace only the prominent characteristics of the few great men, 
whose genius has given to the speculations of science a place in the most 
beautiful of all bodies of literature. It has been previously remarked, 
that the first regular seeds of Grecian philosophy lie scattered amid the 
poetry of Hesiod: and that the poetical medium long continued to be 
that through which its maxims were conveyed. But many of the most 
celebrated among the elder sages declined the honours of authorship ; a 
fact, perhaps, not much to be regretted, at least if we are to suppose that 
their style would not have excelled their doctrines. Look to whatever 
side we please, if we except a few gleams of truth, and a few gnomic 
precepts of moral or political sagacity, there is little in what we know of 
the ancient schools, Ionian, Pythagorean, or Eleatic, to impress us with 
a high degree of veneration. Everywhere we see them lost in physical 



756 



HISTORY OF 



theories, that run into materialism, or in visionary metaphysics, that 
cannot be said " to call for aid on sense." To the instability of their 
principles, the uncertainty of their deductions, and a sort of mental re- 
finement, perfectly compatible with gross corruption of manners, which 
grew out of their speculative exercises, and gradually cast its sickly hues 
over the manly lineaments of the old Greek character, must be traced 
the rise of the Sophists, that dangerous tribe, who flocked from many 
quarters to Athens, about the period of the Peloponnesian war, and whose 
history powerfully demonstrates, that errors of opinion must end at last 
in practical mischief. A show of universal knowledge, a dextrous per- 
version of the dialectical art, and a jingle of antitheses, that sounded like 
oratory to undiscriminating ears, were the chief weapons of this pestilen- 
tial race, who were unhappily allowed to poison the sacred sources of edu- 
cation, and whose influence on the acute but fickle minds of the Athenian 
youth threatened the utter subversion of truth. But the excess of the 
evil wrought its own cure. The activity, the success, and the ostenta- 
tion of the Sophists, stung into vigorous antagonism an intellect as subtle 
as their own, capable of wielding the same arms, but with a more potent 
energy, and a better aim. 1 Socrates 2 entered the controversial arena, 



1 B. C. 468—389. 

2 Socrates, the most celebrated 
philosopher of all antiquity-j was a 
native of Athens. His father 
Sophroniscus was a statu.iry, and 
his mother Phenarete was by pro- 
fession a midwife. Upon the 
death of his father he was left 
with no other inheritance than 
the small sum of eighty minae, 
which, through the dishonesty of 
a relation to whom Sophroniscus 
left the charge of his affairs, he 
soon lost. This laid him under 
the necessity of supporting him- 
self by labour ; and he continued 
to practise for some time the pvo- 
fession of his father in Athens 
at the same time, however, de- 
voting all the leisure he could 
command to the study of Philoso- 
phy, to which he soon became de- 
voted ; and, under Archelaus and 
Anaxagoras,he laid the foundation 
of that exemplary virtue which 
succeeding ages have ever loved 
and venerated. Prodicus, the 
s»phist, was his preceptor in 
eloquence, Euenus in poetry, The- 
odorus in geometry, and Damo in 
music. Aspasia, a woman no 
less celebrated for her intellec- 
tual than her personal accom- 
plishments, whose house was fre- 
quented by the most celebrated 
characters, had also some share 
in the education of Socrates. He 
appeared like the restof his coun- 
trymen in the field of battle-, he 
fought with intrepidity, and to 
his courage two of his friends 
and disciples, Xenophon and Al- 
cibiades, owed the preservation 
of their lives. But the character 
of Socrutes appears more conspi- 



cuous as a philosopher and mo- 
ralist, than as that of a warrior. 
Ke was fond of labour ; he inured 
himself to sutler hardships; and 
he acquired that serenity of mind 
and firmness of countenance 
which the most alarming dangers 
could never destroy, or the most 
sudden calamities alter. If he 
was puor, it was from choice, and 
not the effect of vanity or the 
wish of appearing singular. He 
bore injuries with patience, and 
the insults of malice or resent- 
ment he not only treated with 
contempt, but even received with 
a mind that expressed some con- 
cern, and felt compassion for the 
depravity of human nature. So 
singular and so venerable a cha- 
racter was admired by the most 
enlightened of the Athenians. 
Socrates was attended byanum- 
ber of illustrious pupils, whom 
he instructed by his exemplary 
life as well as by his doctrines. 
He had no particular place where 
to deliver his lectures; but as the 
good of his countrymen, and the 
reformation of their corrupted 
morals, and not the aggregation 
of riches, was the object of his 
study, he was present every- 
where, and drew the attention of 
his auditors either in the groves 
of Academus, or the Lyceum, or 
on the banks of the llyssus. He 
spoke with freedom on every sub- 
ject, religious as well as civil, 
and had the courage to condemn 
the violence of his countrymen, 
and to withstand the torrent of 
resentment by which the Athe- 
nian generals were capitally pun- 
ished for not burying the dead at 



the battle of Arginusae. He was 
at this time one of the senate of 
five hundred, and was president 
of the day when the matter came 
first under consideration. This 
independence of spirit, and that 
visible superiority of mind and 
genius over the rest of his coun- 
trymen, created many enemies to 
Socrates; but as his character 
was irreproachable, and his doc- 
trines pure and void of all obscu- 
rity, the voice of malevolence 
was silent. Yet Aristophanes 
soon undertook, at the instigation 
of .Melitus, in his comedy of the 
C ouds, to ridicule the venerable 
character of Socrates on the 
stage. When the performerwho 
represented Socrates appeared 
upon the stage, a general whis- 
per passed along the benches 
where the strangers sat, to in- 
quire who the person was whom 
the poet meant to satirize. So- 
crates, who had taken his station 
in one of the most public parts of 
the theatre, observed this cir- 
cumstance, and immediately, with 
great coolness, rose up to gratify 
the curiosity of the audience, and 
remained standing during the 
rest of the representation. The 
confidence which Socrates dis- 
covered in his own innocence and 
merit, and the uniform consisten- 
cy and dignity of his conduct, 
screened him for the present frnm 
the assaults of envy and malice. 
When Aristophanes attempted, 
the following year, to renew the 
piece with alterations and addi- 
tions, the representation was so 
much discouraged that he was 
forced to discontinue it. A mora 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



757 



whereon lie was destined to sustain so conspicuous a part; and to work so 
complete and glorious a revolution in the Greek philosophy. 

While Socrates purified the spirit and corrected the tendency of phi- 
losophical researches ; while he even laid, by the hands of his disciples, 
the foundations of systematic speculation ; he himself wrote nothing. 
Yet his colloquial lessons, preserved by that affectionate enthusiasm, 
which his virtues kindled, and his very eccentricities helped to keep alike, 
gave birth to the branch of literature, that numbers among its foremost 
names those of Xenophon and Plato. In the pages of Xenophon we 
find a lively sketch of the Socratic ethics, and noble views of natural 
religion, which have almost exhausted that province of argument ; but 
there is a want of depth and of completeness on the more abstruse points 
of metaphysics, which is somewhat unsatisfactory when compared with 



successful attempt to injure the 
philosopher was made some years 
after. Melitns stood forth to cri- 
minate him, together with Anytus 
and Lycon, and the philosopher 
was summoned before the tribunal 
of five hundred. Hewasaccused 
of corrupting the Athenian youth, 
of making innovations in the re- 
ligion of the Greeks, and of ridi- 
culing the many gods which the 
Athenians worshipped ; yet false 
as this might appear, the accusers 
relied for the success of their 
cause upon the perjury of false 
witnesses, and the envy of the 
judges, whose ignorance would 
readily yield to misrepresenta- 
ti"n, and be influenced and guided 
by eh quence and artifice. In this 
their expectations were not frus- 
trated, and while the judges ex- 
pected submission from Socrates, 
and that meanness of behaviour 
and servility of defence which 
distinguished criminals, the phi- 
losopher, perhaps, accelerated his 
own fall by the firmness of his 
mind, and his uncomplying integ- 
rity. In his apology he spoke 
with great animation, and con- 
fessed that while others bjasted 
that they were acquainted with 
every thins:, he himself knew 
nothing. The whole discourse 
was full of simplicity and noble 
gran :eur, the energetic language 
of offended innocence. He mo- 
destly said that what he pos- 
sessed was applied for the ser- 
vice cf the Athenians ; it was his 
wish to make his fellow-citizens 
happy, and it was a duty which 
he performed by the special com- 
mand of the gods, ichose authority, 
said he emphatically to his 
judges, I regard more than yours. 
Such language from a man who 
was accused of a capital crime, 
astonished and irritated the 
judge?. Socrates was condemn- 
ed. In this stage ol the trial he 
had a right to enter his plea 
against the punishment which 
the accusers demanded, and in- 
stead of a sentence of death, to 
propose same pecuniary amerce- 



ment. But he at first perempto- 
rily refused to make any proposal 
of this kind, imagining that it 
might be construed into an ac- 
knowledgment of guilt ; and as- 
serted that his conduct merited 
from the state reward rather than 
punishment. At length, how- 
ever, he was prevailed upon by 
his friends to offer upon their 
credit a fine of thirty minse. The 
judges notwithstanding temained 
inexorable ; they proceeded with- 
out further delay to pronounce 
sentence upon him; and he was 
condemned to be put to death by 
the poison of hem iock. Socrates 
received this sentence with per- 
fect comjosure, and by a smile 
testified his contempt both for 
his accusers and his judges. 
The solemn celebration of the 
Delian festivals prevented his 
execution for thirty days, and 
during that time he was confined 
in the prison, and loaded with 
irons. His friends, and particu- 
larly his disciples, were his con- 
stant attendants; he discoursed 
with them upon different subjects 
with all his usual cheerfulness 
and serenity. He reproved them 
for their sorrow ; and when one 
of them was uncommonly grieved 
because he was to suffer though 
innocent, the phi>osopher replied, 
would you then have me die 
guilty ? With i his composure he 
spent his last days. He continued 
to be a preceptor till the moment 
of his death, and instructed his 
pu p is on questions of the greatest 
importance. He told them his 
opinions in support of the immor- 
tality of the soul, and reprobated 
with acrimony the prevalent cus- 
tom of Suicide. He disregarded 
the intercession of his friends ; 
and when it was in his power to 
make his escape out of prison, he 
refused it. and asked, with his 
usual pleasantry, where he could 
escape de;.th ; where, says he to 
Crito, who had bribed the gaoler, 
and made his escape certain, 
where ."hall J Jiy to avoid this />•- 
revocable doom passed on all man- 

3s 



kind? When the hour to drink 
the poison was come, the execu- 
tioner presented hint the cup 
with tears in his eyes. Socrates 
received it without change of 
countenance, or the least appear- 
ance of perturbation: then offer- 
ing up a prayer to the gods, that 
they woind grant him a prosper- 
ous passage into the invisible 
world, with perfect composure he 
swallowed the poisonous draught. 
His friends around him burst into 
tears. Socrates alone remained 
unmoved. He upbraided their 
pusillanimity. and entreated them 
to exercise a manly consistency, 
worthy of the friends of virtue. 
He continued walking till the 
chilling effects of the hemlock 
obiiged him to lie down upon his 
bed. After remaining for a short 
time silent, he requested Crito 
not to neglect the offering of a 
cock to iEscuiapius, a request 
most probably made while under 
the delirium occasioned by the 
poison, and then covering himself 
with his cloak, he expired. So- 
crates left behind him nothing in 
writing ; but his illustrious pupils, 
Xenophon and Plato, have in 
some measure supplied this de- 
fect. The memoirs of Socrates, 
written by Xenophon, afford, how- 
ever, a much more accurate idea 
of the opinions of Socrates, and 
of his manner of teaching, than 
the Dialogues of Plato, who every 
where mixes his own conceptions 
and diction, and those of other 
philosophers, with the ideas and 
language of his master. For 
some very interesting remarks on 
the character of Socrates, the 
young scholar is referred to 
Mitchell's Aristophanes, (Prelim. 
Discourse-), to the Quarterly and 
Edinburgh Reviews, where that 
work is noticed, and to the North 
American Review, vol. 14, p. 265. 
scqq.] Laert.— Zenoph— Plato. 
— fausan. t, 22. — Plut. de op. 

Phil, &c— Oic. de Orat. 1,54 

Tusc. 1, 41, &c— Val. Max. 3, 
4. — Anthons Lemp. vol. 2, pp. 
1397—1339. 



758 



HISTORY OF 



the vastness and profundity that distinguish the writings of 1 Plato. 8 
That illustrious man was more earnest and exclusive than his elegant 



1 B.C. 429-347. 

2 Piato was by descent an 
Athenian; but the place of his 
birth was the island of iEgina, 
where his father Aristo resided 
after that i.-Jand became subject 
to Athens. His origin is traced 
back, on his tather's side, to Co- 
drus, and on that of his mother 
Fericthione, through five gen- 
erations, to Solon. The time of 
his birth is commonly placed in 
the first yearof theeighty-eighth 
Olympiad; but perhaps it may be 
more accurately fixed in the third 
year of the eighty-seventh Olym- 
piad. Fable has made .Apollo 
his father, and has said that he 
was born <>f a virgin. He gave 
early indications of an extensive 
and original gen : us. AYhilst he 
was young, he was instructed in 
the rud mems of letters by the 
grammarian Dionysius, ^nd train- 
ed in athietic exercises by Aristo 
ofArgos. Heapplied with great 
di i igence to the study an J practice 
of the arts of painting and poetry. 
In the latter he made such pro- 
ficiency, as to produce an epic 
poem, which, however, upon 
comparing it with Homer, he 
committed to the flames. At the 
age of twenty years, he composed 
a dramatic piece, which he gave 
to the performers to be repre- 
sented upon the theatre; but the 
day before the intended exhibi- 
tion, happening to attend upon a 
discourse of Socrates, he was 
captivated by his eloquence, and 
from that moment determined to 
re.inquish all pretensons to po- 
etical distinction, and to turn his 
ambition into the channel of phi- 
losophy. He forsook the muses, 
burned his poems, and applied 
himself wholly to the study of 
wisdom. It is probable that Plato 
received the fust tincture of phi- 
losophy from Cratylus and Her- 
mogenes, who taught the systems 
of Heraclitus and Parmenides. 
When he was twenty years old, 
he became a seated disciple of 
Socrates, and remained with him 
in that relation ei^ht years. 
During this period he frequently 
displeased the followers of Socra- 
tes, and sometimes gave Socrates 
himseif occasions of complaint, 
by mixing foreign tenets with 
those of his master, and grafting 
upon the Socratic system opinions 
which were taken from some 
other stock. Plato, neverthe- 
less, retained a zealous attach- 
ment to Socrates. When that 
great and good man was sum- 
moned before the senate, Piato 
undertook to plead his cause, and 
began a speech in his defence; 
but the partiality and violence of 
the judges would not permit him 
to proceed. After the condemna- 
tion, he presented his master with 
money sufficient to redeem his 



life, which, however, Socrates 
refused to accept. During his 
imprisonment, Plato attended 
him, and was present at a con- 
versation which he held with his 
friends concerning the immortal- 
ity of the soul, the snbst.nce of 
which he afterwards committed 
to writing in the beautiful dia- 
logue en itled Phaedo, not, how- 
ever, without intprweaving his 
own opinions and language. 
Upon the death of his master, he 
withdrew, with several other 
friends of Socrates, to Megara, 
where they were hospitably en- 
tertained by Euc lid, and remain- 
ed till the ferment at Athens 
subsided. UnderEuc id he studied 
the art of reasoning, and probably 
increased his fondness for dispu- 
tation. Desirous of maki'.g him- 
self master of all the wisdom ai d 
learning which the age could 
furnish, Piato travelled into every 
country which was so far enlight- 
ened as to promise him any re- 
compense ot his labour. Hefirst 
visited that part of Italy called 
Magna Grcecia, where a cele- 
brated scliool of philosophy had 
been established by Pythagoras, 
and was instructed in all the 
mysteries of the Pythagorean 
system, the subtleties of which he 
afterwards too freely blended 
with the simple doctrine of So- 
crates. He next visited T heodo- 
rus of Cyrene, and became his 
pupil in mathematical science. 
When he found himself suffi- 
ciently instructed in the elements 
of this branch of learning, he de- 
termined to study astronomy and 
other sciences in Egypt. That 
he might travel with safety, he 
assumed the character of a mer- 
chant, and, as a seller of oil, 
passed through the whole king- 
dom of Artaxerxes Mnemon. 
Wherever he came, he obtained 
information from the Egyptian 
priests concerning their astrono- 
mical observations and calcula- 
tions. " Whilst studious youth," 
says Valerius ."Waxiinus, rather 
indeed in the style of oratory 
than history, for Piato had not yet 
instituted his school at Athens, 
" were crowding to Athens 
from every quarter, in search 
of Plato for their master, that 
philosopher was wandering along 
the winding banks of the Nile, or 
the vast plains of a barbarous 
country, himself a disciple to the 
old men of Egypt." It has been 
asserted, that it was in Egypt 
that Plato acquired his opinions 
concerning the origin of the 
world, and learned the doctrines 
of transmigration and the immor- 
tality of the soul; but it is more 
probable that he learned the lat- 
ter doctrine from Socrates, and 
the former from Pythagoras. It 
is not likely that Plato, in the 



habit of a merchant, could have 
gained access to the sacred mys- 
teries of Egypt; fur we shall af- 
terwards see, in the case of 
Pythagoras, that the Egyptian 
priests were so unwilling to com- 
municate their secrets to stran- 
gers, that even a royal mandate 
was scarcely sufficient, in a single 
instance, to procure this indul- 
gence. Little regard is therefore 
due to the opinion of those who 
assert that Plato derived his 
system of philosophy from the 
Egyptians. Nor is there better 
foundation for supposing that 
during his residence in Euypt, 
Plato became acquainted with the 
doctrine of the Hebrews, and en- 
riched his system with spoils 
from their sacred books. This 
opinion has, it is true, been stren- 
uously maintained by several 
Jewish and Christian writers; 
but it has little foundation beyond 
mere conjecture; and it is not 
difficult to perceive, that it ori- 
ginated in that injudicious zeal for 
the honour of revelation, which 
led these writers to make the 
Hebrew Scriptures, or traditions, 
the source of all gentile wisdom. 
When Piato had, in his travels, 
exhausted the ; hilosophical trea- 
sures of distant countries, he re- 
turned into Italy, to the Pytha- 
gorean school at Tarentum, 
where he endeavoured to improve 
his own system by incorporating* 
with it the doctrine of Pythago- 
ras, as it was then taught by Ar- 
chytas, Timseus, and others. And 
afterwards, when he \isited Si- 
cily, he retained such an attach- 
ment to the Italic school, that, 
through the bounty of Dionysius, 
he purchased, at a vast price, se- 
veral books, whicli contained the 
doctrine of Pythagoras, from Phi- 
lolaus, one of his followers. From 
the particulars which we have 
related, concerning the manner 
in which Plato acquired his know- 
ledge, we are enabled to ascertain, 
with some degree of precision, 
the sources of his "hilosophy. 
His dialectics he borrowed from 
Euclid of Megara : the princi- 
ples of natural philosophy he 
learned in the Eleaiic school from 
Hermogenes and Cratylus ; and 
combining these with the Pytha- 
gorean doctrine of natural causes, 
he framed from both his system 
of metaphysics. Mathematics 
and astronomy he was taught in 
the Cyrenaic school, and by the 
Egyptian priests. From Socra- 
tes he imbibed the pure principles 
of moral and political wisdom; 
but he afterwards obscured their 
simplicity by Pythagorean specu- 
lations. Returning home richly 
stored with knowledge of various 
kinds, Plato settled in Athens, 
and executed the design which 
he had doubtless long had in con- 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



759 



contemporary in his devotion to philosophy. Except in a few trivial 
attempts to bestow the poetical dress on thoughts that ever teemed with 
the fine essence of poetry ; attempts, from which his own sagacity, or 
the advice of his great master, speedily diverted him ; he did not waste 
his fire on other pursuits. Without being a methodical writer, he had 
* an intellect too discerning and too accurate to leave mental science as 
vague and undefined as he found it. He shadowed out its chief divisions, 
and their mutual dependencies ; and was a benefactor to philosophy even 
with regard to form. But much more did he benefit philosophy by the 
light and glory which his genius flung around every topic it embraced, 
and by the unrivalled fascinations of a style that drained all the treasures 
of the Grecian tongue. We forgive the infidelity with which he often 

templation, of forming a new was, not only that young men qualified him tn shine in the 

school for the instruction of youth crowded to his school from every academy, than in the council or 

in the principles of philosophy, quarter, but that people of the the senate. Plato, now restored 

The place which he made choice first distinction, in every depart- to his country and his school, de- 

of for this purpose was a public ment, frequented the Academy, voted himself to science, and 

grove, called the Academy, from Even females, disguised in men's spent the las' years of a long life 

Hecademus, who left it to the clothes, often attended his lec- in the instruction of youih. Hav- 

citizens for the purpose of gym- tures. Among the illustrious ing enjoyed the adv;ntage of an 

nastic exercises. Adorned with names which appear in the cata- athletic constitution, and lived 

statues, temples, and sepulchres, logueofhis followers, are Dion, all his days temperately, he ar- 

planted with lofty plane-trees, the Syracusan prince, and the rived at the eighty-first, or, ac- 

and intersected by a gentle orators Hyperides Lycurgus.De- cording to some writers, the 

stream, it afforded a deligh'.ful mosthenes, and Isocrates. Such seventy-ninth, year of his age, 

retreat for philosophy and the distinguished reputation natural- and died, through the mere decay 

muses. Of this retreat Horace ly produced among the compan- of nature, in the first year of the 

speaks: ions of Plato, formerly the dis- hundred and eighth Olympiad. 

ciples of Socrates, a spirit of em- He passed his whole life in a 
Atque inter sylvas Academi qnaerere ulation which soon degenerated state of celibacy, and therefore 
verum. into envy, and loaded him with left no natural heirs, but trans- 
detraction and obloquy. It can ferred his effects by will to his 
Within this enclosure he pos- only be ascribed to mutual jeal- friend Adiamantus. The grove 
sessed, as a part of his humble ousy, that Xenophon and Plato, and garden, which had been the 
patrimony, purchased at the price though they relate the discourses scene of his philosophical labours, 
of three thousat d drachmas, a of their common mast r, studi- at last aft'oi died him a sepu chre. 
small garden, in which he opened ously avoid mentioning one an- Statues and altars were erected to 
a school for the reception of those other. Diogenes, the Cynic, ri- his memory; the day ol his birth 
who might be inclined to attend diculed Plato's doctrine of ideas, long continued to be celebrated 
to his instructions. How much and other abstract speculations, as a festival by his fo. lowers ; and 
Plato valued mathematical stu- In the midst of these private cen- his portrait is to this day pre* 
dies, and how necessary a pre- sures, however, the public fame served in gems; but the most 
paration he thought them for of Plato daily increased. His lasting monuments ot" his genius 
higher speculations appears fmni political wisdom was m such high are his writings, which have been 
the inscription which he placed est mation, that sever-1 states so- transmitted, without material in- 
over the door o' hisschool : Ov&»l% licited his assistance in new mo- jurv, to the present times — En- 
AygcoMsrpTjro? elffiVw. "Let no deling their respective forms of field's Hist. Fhilos-, vol. 1, pp. 
one, who is unacquainted with government. Applications of 207 209, 211 — 214, 218. 219. 
geometry, enter here." This this kind from the Arcadians, and The most useful editions ot Plato, 
new school soon became famous, from the Theb ms, he rejected, are, the Bipont e ition, 12 vols, 
and its master was ranked among because they refused to ad pt the Sro, 1781 7 ; that of Eekker, 
the most emi ent philosophers, plan of his re|ubic, which re- Bend. 10 vols. 8vo, 1816 8 J 
His travels into distantc^unt ies. quiied an equal distribution of and the London reprint of Bekker, 
where learning and wisdom flour- property. He gave his advice in with the annotations of HeinJorff, 
ished. gave Iimo celebrity among the aftVirs of Elis, and other Gre • Wyttenbach. an I < thers. Bek- 
his brethren of the Socrat'c s Q ct., cian states and lu* nished a code ke: s text is decidedly the best. 
None of these had ventured to ot laws torS>racuse. Platowas The ed tions of Ast, Lips. 1819 
institute a schoo in Athens ex- in high esteem with several —24, 7 vis. 8vo. and ot S all- 
cept A 1 i-t"pi>us : and he had con- princes, part cularly An helaus baum, Li^s. 1821 5, 8 vols. 8vo, 
fined his instructions almost en- king 0' Aiacedon, and Dtonysius, are ;iiso deserv ng ot higii com- 
tiref. to ethical subjects, and had tyrant of Sicily. At three uiff'er. mentation. Uf the select dia- 
brought himseif into some dis- ent periods he visit d the coi rt l"gues the best edition is that of 
credit by the freedom of his man- of this latter prince, and made Heirdoift' Berol.l8; ; 2 - 1(1 4 vols, 
ners. P ato alone remained to several b dd, but unsuccessful at- 8vo- (,Sch6ll, Hist. Lit. Gr. 
inherit the patrimony of public tempts to subdue his haughty and vol. 2, p 365. seqq.) - The best 
es'eem, which Socrates had left tyrannical spirit. From the nar- translations of Plato are, that of 
his disciples; and he possessed rative of tnese. it appears that Schieiermacher, Benin, 1817 — 
talents and learning adequate to if Plato visited the courts of 26, 5 vols., and that of Cousin, 
his design of extending the study princes, it was chiefly from the now in a course of pubiication at 
ot philosophy beyond the limits hope of seeing his ideal plan of a Paris, and of which seven vols, 
•within which it had been enclosed republic realized; and that his have already appeared. — An~ 
by his master. The consequence talents and attainments rather thon's Lemp. vol. 2, p. 1215. 

3s 2 



760 



HISTORY OF 



distorted or exaggerated the views of Socrates ; the mysticism inta 
which he is prone to dream himself away ; the folly of some of his politi- 
cal reveries ; the perverseness of some of his ethical doctrines ; all is 
forgiven, as we smile or sigh beneath the spells of this mighty wizard. 
The shape into which he has thrown his productions; that shape of dia- 
logue which, as managed by him, appears so easy and delightful, that it 
requires the repeated failures of other writers to demonstrate its intrinsic 
difficulty ; afforded room for every grace of composition, from the smart- 
ness of dramatic retort, to the flow of copious dissertation ; and in Plato 
every grace is found. His style appears to possess a principle of seli- 
adaptation, by which it responds, with miraculous facility, to each varied 
mood of sentiment and passion. He is at once a satirist, a rhetorician, 
a critic, a fabulist, and, when he pleases, a sophist. We follow him with 
admiration through all his changes ; we are charmed with him under all 
aspects ; but most, perhaps, in those introductory or incidental passages 
of narrative or description, wherein he combines the skill of a consum- 
mate artist with the rich and eloquent enthusiasm of a devout lover of 
the beautiful. 

To this vein of mingled fancy and reason ; to tins Proteus-like pliancy 
of style ; to this profusion of picturesque and glowing imagery ; the 
strongest of all possible contrasts is seen in the works of liim, who has 
exerted, and down to the present hour continues to exert, an influence 
commensurate with that of Plato upon the whole fabric of philosophy. 
Were it not that there is somewhat of a kindred spirit in the acuteness 
and dexterity with which both wield the weapon of analysis ; that there 
is an agreement in many of their fundamental doctrines, and their ab- 
stract principles of taste ; and that a sort of filial tenderness perceptibly 
moderates the tone of the pupil when alluding to his master ; it would 
be impossible to believe that 1 Aristotle 2 was for twenty years the dis- 



1 B. C. 384-322. 

2 Aristotle was a native of Sta- 
gyra, a town of Thrace, on the 
borders of the bay of Strymon, 
which at that time was subiect to 
Philip of Macedon. His father 
Wis a physician, named Nichoma- 
chus; his mother's name was 
Ptuestias. From the plsce of 
his birth he is calied the Stagy- 
rite. Ancient writers are gene- 
rally agreed in fixing the time of 
his birth in the first year of the 
n nety-ninth Olympiad. He re- 
ceived the first rudiments of 
learning from Proxenus, of Atar- 
na in Mysia, of whom he always 
retained a respectful remem- 
brance. In gratitude for the care 
which he had taken of his early 
education, he afterwards hon- 
oured his memory with a statue, 
instructed his son Nicanor in the 
liberal sciences, and adopted him 
as his heir. At the age «»f seven- 
teen Aristotle went to Athens, 
ai.d devoted himself to the study 



of Philosophy in the school of 
Plato. The uncommon acuteness 
of his apprehension, and his in- 
defatigable industry, soon attract- 
ed the attention of Plato, and ob- 
tained his applause. Plato used 
to call him the Mind of the 
School, and to say, when he was 
absent, " Intellect is not here." 
His acquaintance with books was 
extensive and accurate, as suffi- 
ciently appears from the concise 
abridgment of opinions, and the 
numerous quotations which are 
found in his works. According 
to Strabo, he was the first person 
who formed a library. Aristotle 
continued in the Academy till the 
death of Plato, that is, to the 
thirty-seventh ypar of his age. 
After the death of his master, he 
erected a monument to his memo- 
ry, on which he inscribed an epi- 
taph expressive of the highest 
iespect, of which a Latin version 
is preserved : 



Grams Aristoteles struit hoc altare 

Hatorfi, 

Quern tuibas injustae vel celebrare ne- 

He likewise wrote an oration and 
elegies in praise of Plato, and 
gave other proofs of respect for 
his memory. Little regard is 
therefore due to the improbable 
tale related by Aristosenus, of a 
quarrel between Aristotle and 
Plato, which terminated in a 
temporary exclusion oi Aristotle 
from the Academy, and in his 
erection of a school in opposition 
to Plato during his life. We find 
no proof that Aristotle instituted 
a new system of philosophy be- 
fore the death of Plato, it is 
certain, however, that when 
Speusippus, upon the death of his 
uncle, succeeded him in the Aca- 
derav, Aristotle was so much dis- 
pleased, that he left Athens, and 
paid a visit to Hermiss, king of 
the Atarnenses, who bad becu 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



761 



eiple, and during a large portion of that period the favourite disciple of 
Plato. For, in the method of philosophizing, in the matter and limits 



his friend and fellow disciple, and 
■who received him with every 
expression of regard. Here he 
remained three years, and during 
this interva diligently prosecuted 
his philosophical researches. At 
the close of this term his friend 
Hermias was taken pr soner by 
Memnon, a Rhodian, and sent 
to Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 
who put him to death. Upon 
this Aristotle placed a statue of 
his friend in the temple of Del- 
phos, and, out of respect to his 
memory, married his sister, whom 
her brother's death had reduced 
to poverty and distress. Upon 
the death of Hermias, Aristotle 
removed to Mitylene, but from 
what inducement does not ap- 
pear. After he had remained 
there two years, Philip, king of 
Macedon, having heard of his ex- 
traordinary abilities and merit, 
made choice of him as preceptor 
to his son Alexander, and wrote 
him the following letter : 

" Philip to Aristotle, wisheth 
health : 

' l Be informed that I have a 
son, and that I am tharkful to 
the gods, not so much for his 
birth, as that he was borr in the 
same age with you ; for if you 
will undertake the charge of his 
education, I assure myself that 
he will become worthy of his fa- 
ther, and of the kingdom which 
he will inherit. '' 

Aristotle accepted the charge; 
and in the sec nd year of the 
hundred and ninth Olympiad, 
■when Alexander was in his fif- 
teenth year, he took up his resi- 
dence in the court of Philip. He 
had been himself well instructed, 
not only in the doctrines of the 
schools, but in the manners of the 
world, and therefore was excel- 
lently qualified for the office of 
preceptor to the young prince. 
Accordingly we find that he exe- 
cuted this trust so perfectly to 
the satisfaction of Philip and 
Olympia, that they admitted him 
to their entire confidence, and 
conferred upon him many accept- 
able tokens of esteem. Philip 
allowed him no small share of in- 
fluence in his public counsels ; 
and it reflected great honour upon 
Aristotle, that he made use of his 
interest with this prince rather 
for the benefit of his friends and 
the public, than for his own 
emolument. At his intercession, 
the town of Stastyra, which had 
fallen into decay, was rebuilt, 
and the inhabitants were restored 
to their ancient privileges. In 
commemoration of their obliga- 
tions to their fellow-citizen, and 
as a testimony of respect for his 
merit, they instituted an annual 
Aristotelian festival. Alexander 
entertained such an affection for 
his preceptor, that he professed 



himself more indebted to him 
than to his father: declaring that 
Philip had only given him life, 
but that Aristotle had taught him 
the art of living well. Immedi- 
ately after the death of Philip, 
which happened in the first year 
of the hundred and eleventh 
Olympiad, Alexander, whose am- 
bitious spirit could not bear to be 
inclosed within the limits of his 
paternal kingdom, formed the de- 
sign of his Asiatic expedition. 
It is not improbable ttiat Aris- 
totle, who, after eight years' daily 
intercourse, must have been well 
acquainted with the character of 
his pupil, approved of this enter- 
prise. For his own part, how- 
ever, he preferred the enjoyment 
of literary leisure to the prospect 
of sharing with Alexander the 
glory of conquest, and therefore 
determined to return to Athens. 
His nephew, Calli-thenes, re- 
mained with the hero, and ac- 
companied him in his exploits. 
After Aristotle had left his pupil, 
they carried on a friendly corre- 
spondence, in which the philoso- 
pher prevailed upon Alexander 
to employ his increasing power 
and wealth in the serv ce of phi- 
losophy, by furnishing him, in his 
retirement, with the means of en- 
larging his acquaintance with 
nature. Alexander accordingly 
employed several thousand per- 
sons in different parts of Europe 
and Asia to collect animals of 
various kinds, birds, beasts, and 
fishes, and sent them to Aristotle, 
who, from the information which 
this collection afforded him, wrote 
fifty volumes on the history of 
animated nature,only ten of which 
are now extant. Callisthenes, in 
the course of the Asiatic expedi- 
tion, incurred the disp'easure of 
Alexander, by the freedom with 
which he censured his conduct; 
the aversion was by a natural as- 
sociation transferred to Aristotle ; 
and from that time a mutual ali- 
enation and jealousy took place 
between the philosopher and his 
prince. But there is no sufficient 
reason to believe that their at- 
tachment was converted into a 
settled enmity, which at length 
led them to form designs against 
each other's life. Aristotle, upon 
his return to Athens, finding the 
Academy, in which he probably 
intended to preside, occupied by 
Xenocrates, resolved to acquire 
the fame of a leader in philoso- 
phy, by founding a new sect in 
opposition to the Academy, and 
teaching a system of doctrines 
different from that of Plato. The 
place which he chose for his 
school was the Lyceum, a grove 
in the suburbs of Athens, which 
had hitherto been made use of for 
military exercises. Here he held 
daily conversations on subjects 

3 s I) 



of philosophy with those who at- 
tended him, walking as he dis- 
coursed ; whence his followers 
were called Peripatetics. Aris- 
totle continued his school in the 
Lyceum twelve years ; for al- 
though the superiority of his abi- 
lities, and the novelty of his doc- 
trines, created him many rivals 
and enemies, during the life of 
Alexander, the friendship of that 
prince protected him from insult. 
But after Alexander's death, 
which happened in the first year 
of the hundred and fouiteenth 
Olympiad, ttie fire of jealousy, 
which had long been smothered, 
burst into a flame of persecution. 
His adversaries instigated Eury- 
medon. a nriest. to accuse him of 
holding and propagaiing impious 
tenets. On account of which, that 
Aristotle himself was apprehen- 
sive of meeting with the fate of 
Socrates, appears from the reason 
which he gave his friends for 
leaving Athens, "I am not will- 
ing," s..ys he, " to give the Athe- 
nians an opportunity of commit- 
ting a second offence against phi- 
losophy." It is certain that he 
retired, with a few of his disci- 
ples, to Chalcis, where he re- 
mained till his death. He left 
Athens in the second year of the 
hundred and fourteenth Olym- 
piad, and died at Chalcis the third 
year of the same Olympiad, and 
the sixty-third year of his age. 
Many idle tales are related con- 
cerning the manner of his death. 
It is most likely that it was the 
effect of premature decay, in con- 
sequence of excessive watchful- 
ness and application to study. 
His body was conveyed to Sta- 
gyra, where his memory was 
honoured with an altar and a 
tomb. Aristotle was twice mar- 
ried, first to Pythias, sister to his 
friend Hernias, and after her 
death to Herpilis, a native of Sta- 
gyra. By his second wife he had 
a son named Nicomachus,to whom 
he addressed his Magna Moralia, 
"Greater Morals." His person 
was slender, he had small eyes 
and a shrill voice, and when he 
was young, hesitated in his 
speech. He endeavoured to sup- 
ply the defects of his natural form 
by an attention to dress, and com. 
monly appealed in a costly hahit, 
with his beard shaven, tnd his 
hair cut, and with lings upon his 
fingers. He was subject to fre- 
quent indispositions, through a 
natural weakness of stomach ; 
but he corrected the infirmities 
of his constitution by a temperate 
regimen.— EvfieloVs Hist. Phil. 
vol. 1, pp. 260-265. -The best 
edition of the entire works of 
Aristotle is that of Duval, 2 vols, 
fol. Paris, 1619. The edition of 
Buhle, Biponti, 8vo, 1791, which 
promised to be a very useful ana., 



7C2 



HISTORY OF 



assigned to philosophy, and in the proposed end and object of some of its 
branches, the chief of the Peripatetics places himself in decided opposi- 
tion to the founder of the Academy. With him commenced that war 
between empiricism and rationalism, as they are technically called, which 
has raged ever since. But in style the difference of the two leaders is 
perhaps most deeply marked; and certainly not to the advantage of 
Aristotle. The fair and flowing stream of Plato's eloquence seems to 
have sunk without effect into the arid texture of his pupil's mind. A 
contempt of the flowers of diction, a resolute rejection of ornament, are 
the prominent features of the Aristotelian style. It is so dry as to ap- 
proach the confines of dulness ; so elliptical as frequently to border on 
the enigmatic. Moreover, it wants the easy command of idiomatic 
phraseology, the genuine Atticism with which Plato captivates his 
readers. We detect in it decided traces of that corruption of the Athe- 
nian dialect, which dates from the era of Alexander, and are already 
called upon to mourn over the decay of the noblest vehicle ever invented 
for the thoughts of man. Yet Aristotle, in spite of all the faults that 
may be imputed to him, is great even as a writer. Austere and timeless 
as his composition is, it is so pregnant with thought, so " instinct with 
spirit," and sometimes so enlivened by a true feeling of the lofty or the 
tender, that it seldom fails to rouse the attention or to interest the 
heart. Nor is he altogether devoid of a certain touch of humour, not 
transgressing the bounds of philosophic decorum ; a mixture of slyness 
and apparent simplicity ; that has a poignant effect when he chooses to 
display it. Amid his multifarious productions the best specimens of his 
literary powers are those most universally known ; that ethical treatise, 
which, through a veil of some perplexity and self-contradiction, discloses 
so many glimpses of truth ; that inestimable work on rhetoric, which is 
still the manual of the art of persuasion ; that code of the laws of poetry, 
which, though but a mutilated fragment, embraces all the principles of 
just criticism, and the germs of the most popular and brilliant theories 
that, from time to time, have enriched the philosophy of taste. 

Within the compass of the classical age of Greek composition, the 
literature of philosophy presents no other prominent points. But we 
have not yet exhausted the glories of that period. Those proud and 
palmy times gave birth to another kind of intellectual production, which 
can flourish, in full grandeur, only on soils that are blessed at once with 
the presence of liberty and of genius. 

Greece was the first theatre in the world for oratory ; of all Greece, 
Athens was the most splendid and renowned arena. Yet, notwith- 

never went beyond the 5th vol. best edition of the Ethics is that commendation. The best edition 

•which ends with the treatise "On by Wilkinson, Oxon. 1715, 8vo: of the Politics or treatise "On 

the Art of Poetry."— Of the se- Of the "Art of Poetry," Tyr- Government," is that of Schneid- 

parate treatises the following edi- whitt s is ihe best, Oxon. 1794, er, Francof. 1809, 2 vols. Svo, — 

tions may be mentioned. The 4to ; but Hermann's, Lips. 1302, Anthoris Lcmp. vol. J, pp. 224, 

b°st edition of the "Organon" is 8vo, and Giaefenhan's, Lips. 1821, 225. 

that of Geneva, 1605. 4to ; the Svo, are also deserving of high 



GREEK LITERATURE. 763 

standing the high rewards of eloquence, winch the constitution of that 
state held forth, it was long before eloquence was cultivated, within her 
bosom as a regular art. The elder Athenian statesmen, even those 
most famed for their success in the assemblies of the people, seem to 
have studied little how to insure or to heighten the effect of their 
natural talents. Perhaps the speeches, winch the character of ancient 
hi story, allowed to be intermingled .*ith the narrative, and in which it 
was the evident aim of some historical writers to display the full force 
of their political and historical abilities, supplied the earliest evidence 
of the magnificent results attainable by assiduous care and elaborate 
preparation. Then eloquence arose as an art and a branch of instruction. 
Schools for the inculcation of its principles were opened at Athens, and 
no price was thought too high for the lessons of an eminent professor. It 
cannot be denied that the influence of this methodical training was not 
always fortunate. Thus it would have been better for Isocrates, had he 
never imbibed an affected prettiness and a finical modulation from the 
example and the rules of Gorgias. But it is equally undeniable that by 
such scholastic discipline, and by private toils and trials, too arduous 
and unremitting for modern impatience to undergo, was matured that 
perfection of style, proof, in its intrinsic strength and beauty, against 
all changes of manners, times, and circumstances, which still astonishes 
and awes the mind in the pages of ] Demosthenes. 2 Out of the list of 



1 B. C. 3S2— 322. 

2 Demosthenes, a celebrated 
Athenian orator, a native of the 
borough of Paeania in Attica. 
His father, Demosthenes, was a 
rich individual, and the proprie- 
tor of a manufactory of arms: 
the son was born in the fourth 
year of the XCVlllth Olympi- 
ad, u. C 385. At the age of 
seven years he lost his father: 
he had a sister younger than him- 
self, who became subsequently 
the mother of Dsmochares. The 
guardians, to whom the father 
had left the care of his property, 
wasted a large portion of it, and 
neglected the education of the 
young man committed to their 
charge. Demosthenes never- 
theless attended the lectures of 
Plato, and of Eucldes of Megara. 
Determined, from his early 
youih, to bring his faithless 
guardians one day or other be- 
fore the tribunals of his country, 
he felt a strong desire to become 
one of the auditors of Isocrates; 
but not being able to raise the 
fee which this orator required for 
his instructions (1000 drachm.fi). 
he was forced, it is said, to con- 
tent himself with a system of 
rhetoric, written by Isocrates, 
which one of his friends pro- 
cured for him. At the age of 
seventeen years he appeared 
before the public tribunals, and 
pronounced against his guard- 
ians and against a debtor to his 



father's estate, five orations 
which gained him his cause. 
These discourses, most probably, 
received the finishing hand from 
Isaeus, under whom Demosthenes 
is said to have studied for the 
space of four years after attain- 
ing: his majority, A success so 
brilliant emboldened, no doubt, 
the young orator to speak before 
the assembly of the people; but 
when he made the attempt, his 
feeble voice, his interrupted 
respiration, his ungraceful ges- 
tures, and his ill-arranged 
periods, brought upon him gen- 
eral ridicule. Satyrus the actor, 
inspired him, however, with new 
courage, and gave him lessons 
in the art of speaking. To correct 
or remove the impediments under 
which he laboured, Demosthenes 
put in operation the most untir- 
ing diligence and care. To free 
himself from stammering, he 
spoke wilh pebbles in his mouth; 
and removed the distortion of 
his features, which accompanied 
his utterance, by watching the 
motions of his countenance in a 
looking-glass. That his pro- 
nunciation might be loud and full 
of emphasis, he frequently ran 
up the steepest and most uneven 
walks, where his voice acquired 
force and energy ; and on the 
sea- shore, when the waves were 
violently agitated, he declaimed 
aloud, to accustom himself to 
the uoise and tumult of a public 



assembly. He also confined 
himself in a subterranean cave, 
to devote himself more closely to 
studious pursuits; and to eradi- 
cate all curiosity of appearing in 
public, he shaved one half of his 
head. In this solitary retire- 
ment, by the help of a glimmer- 
ing lamp, he copied and re-copied 
the history of Thucydides, as a 
model for his own style, and was 
continually occupied either with 
this or in declaiming, or compos- 
ing. He re-appeared in public at 
the age of twenty-five years, and 
pronounced two orations, against 
Leptines the author of a law 
which imposed on every citizen 
of Athens, except the descen- 
dants of Harmodius and Aristo- 
giton, the exercise of certain 
burdensome functions. The 
second of these discourses, en- 
titled " Of Immunities," 1 is re- 
garded as one of his happiest 
efforts. Demosthenes, after 
this, became much engaged with 
the business of the bar, and these 
labours, next to what he had 
been able to get of his patrimony, 
formed the principal source of 
his means of support. It is very 
evident, that, while thus em- 
ployed, he must have composed 
many discourses which no longer 
exist. It has been remarked, 
that, in the number of those 
which remain, very few arc 
apologetic. The harsh and 
violent character of Demosthen* 



764 



HISTORY OF 



Attic orators, the judgment of the Alexandrian critics, selected ten as 
foremost in fame and merit: but posterity has narrowed the number. 
When we now speak of the triumphs of Greek eloquence, it is not of 
Lysias, 1 however pure in dialect and transparent in expression ; nor of 
Isocrates 2 with the unvarying seesaw of his balanced antithesis ; nor of 

es inclined l)im to the office of order to have the means for himself was a Syracusan by 
an accuser, a situation so painful supporting what he regarded as birth. At an early period of his 
to the feelings of Cicero. What the cause of truth and justice. It Jife he accompanied a colony to 
ever may have been the distinc- was the king of Persia who sup- Thurium, in Italy, nor did he 
tion and the advantages which plied him wiih it. Demosthenes return till the disasters of the 
Demosthenes acquired by his was overpowered in the contest Athenians in Sicily had alien- 
practice at the bar, his principal with the enemy of Athenian ated the attachment of the 
glory is derived from his political independence; but he received Thurians, who now dismissed 
discourses. At the period when after his defeat the most glorious with indignity the colonists 
he engaged in public affairs, the recompence, which, in accor- whom they had sought with 
state was nothing more, to use dance with Grecian customs, a zeal. During the reign of the 
an expression of the orator grateful country could bestow thirty tyrants, and the revolu- 
Demades, than a mere wreck, upon a virtuous son. Athens tion which vested the manage- 
Public spirit was at the lowest decreed him a crown of gold, ment of the state in the council 
ebb; the laws had lost their The reward was opposed by of (our hundred, Lysias endured 
authority, the austerity of early ^Eschines. The combat of his full slime of national sutler- 
manners had yielded to the in- eloquence which arose between ing : when, however, Thrasy- 
roads of luxury, activity to in- the two orators, attracted to bulus united those whom the 
doience, probity to venality, and Athens an immense concourse of cruelty of the thirty had expelled, 
the people were far advanced spectators. Demosthenes tri- and again restored the democra- 
upon the route which conducts a umphed, and his antagonist, not cy, a bill was introduced to 
nation to irremediable servitude, having received the fifth part of make Lysias a citizen. He 
Of the virtues of their fore- the votes, was, in comformity died at the advanced age of 
fathers there remained to the with the existing law, compelled eighty, having passed the latter 
Athenians nought save an at- to retire into exile. A short time years of his life in composing 
tachment, carried almost to after this splendid victory, De- orations for the use of others, 
enthusiasm, for their native soil, mosthenes was condemned for and in giving instructions in 
for that country the possession of having suffered himself to be rhetoric. Quintilian mentions 
which had been contested even bribed by Harpalus, a Macedon- this custom of the orator, and 
by the gods. On the slightest ian governor, who, dreading the adds, that in framing these 
occasion this feeling of patrio- anger of Alexander, had come to speeches, he had the art of 
tism was sure to display itself; Athens to hide there the fruit of adapting them with peculiar 
thanks to this sentiment, the his extortion and rapine, and propriety to the circumstances 
people of Athens were still bargained with the popular of those for whom they were 
capable of making the most leaders of the day for the pro- written. — Encyc. Metrop. part 
strenuous efforts for the pre- tection of the republic. We 7, p. 697.— The best editions of 
servation of their freedom. No may be permitted to doubt the Lysias are, that of Taylor, 8vo, 
one knew better than Demos- correctness of this judgment. Cantab. 1740; that of Auger, 2 
thenes the art of exciting and Demosthenes, having escaped vols. 8vo, Paris, 1783 ; that of 
keeping alive this enthusiasm, from imprisonment, protested Reiske; in the Corpus Oratorum 
His penetration enabled him his innocence. After the death Grcecorum, Lips. 1772, 2 vols, 
easily to divine the ambitious of Alexander he was restored, 8vo; and that of Dobson, in the 
plans of Philip of Macedon, from and his entry into Athens was Oratores Attici, London, 1828, 
the very outset of that monarch's marked by every demonstration 2 vols. 8vo. — Anth. Lemp. vol. 2, 
operations. Demosthenes re- of joy. A new league was p. 879. 

solved to combat them. His formed among the Grecian cities 2 Isocrates was born at Athens, 
whole public career had but one against the Macedonians, and five years before the commence- 
object, war with Philip. During Demosthenes was the soul of it. ment of the Peloponnesian war : 
fourteen years that monarch But the confederacy was broken his father, Theodorus, was not 
found the Athenian orator con- up by Antipater, and tbe death wealthy; but he gave his son 
tinually in his path, and every of Demosthenes was decreed, such a liberal education as 
attempt proved unsuccessful to He retired thereupon from Athens awakened in his mind an early 
corrupt this formidable adver- to the island of Caiauria, oft the love of literature, and induced 
sary. These fourteen years, coast of Argolis. and being still him to devote the efforts of 
which immediately preceded the pursued by the satellites of maturer years to the careful and 
fall of Grecian freedom, consti- Antipater, terminated his life continued cultivation of philoso- 
tute the brightest period in the there by poison, at the age of phy. He attended the lectures 
history of Demosthenes. The above sixty years. — The best of Gorgias of Leontium, and 
public character of this orator is editions of "the works of Demos- there imbibed a desire to com- 
however, not wholly free from thenes are, that of Reiske in the bine the qualifications of a 
stain. As a soldier, he showed Corpus Oratorum, Grcecorum, statesman and an orator ; but 
little courage at the battle of re-edited bv Schaefter, and pub- his natural timidity and weak- 
Chaeronea, and is said to have lished in London, 1822, 3 vols, ness of voice were impediments 
thrown away his shield and fled 8vo, and that of Dobson, con- to public speaking too great to 
from the conflict : as an ambas- taining also the works of be overcome, and he therefore 
sador to the court of the king of iEschines, London, 1827, 9 vols, turned his attention to the more 
Macedon, he displayed little 8vo. — Anth. Lemp. vol. 1, pp. tranquil task of composition, 
dignity and presence of mind. 466. — 473. Abandoning to the sophists of 

He was convicted also of having 1 He was born at Athens, the day all subjects connected 
accepted gold, not, it is true, for Olymp. 80. his father, Cephalus, with private contract of minor 
the purpose of betraying the having migrated thither from importance, his object was to 
interests of his country, but in Syracuse; others say the orator teach moral virtue to individuals, 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



765 



Isaeus, 1 though skilled in the science of arrangement, and armed with 
bursts of manly indignation ; nor even of iEschines, 2 who is yet so ar- 



and political wisdom tn states. 
His own pure taste led him to 
reject the perplexing casuistry 
of Protagoras, and the ostenta- 
tious ornament uf Gorgias : his 
school became the favourite re- 
sort of the studious, snd spread 
through the various cities of 
Greece, men who were after- 
wards eminent in history, poli- 
tics, and law. He died in his 
ninety-eighth year, unable to sur- 
vive the blow which the liberty 
of his country received at the 
fatal battle of Chaeronea. — En. 
Metrop- part 7, pp. 697, 698. 
— The best editions of the entire 
works of Isocrates are, that of 
Lange, 8vo, 1803, Hallae, and 
that of Coray, Paris, 1807. This 
last is based upon a MS. brought 
from Italy to France, and which 
is the earliest one extant of our 
author. Coray's edition is ac- 
companied with very learned 
notes, and may, upon the whole, 
be regarded as the editio optima. 
The editions of Batlie, Cantab. 
1729, 2 vols. 8vo, and of Auger, 
Paris. 1782, 3 vols. 8vo, are not 
remarkable, especially the latter, 
for a very accurate text. Auger's 
work abounds with typographical 
errors, and he is al^o charged 
with a careless collating of MSS. 
Isocrates also forms part of the 
Corpus Oratorum of Reiske, and 
of the Oratores Attici of Bekker. 
Among the editions of separate 
works of his may be mentioned 
that of the Panegyricus by 
3'Iorus, Lips, 1804, 8vo; reprint- 
ed, with new observations by 
Spohn, Lips. 1817, and Longue- 
ville, Paris, 1817. Two editions 
of the same production also ap- 
peared subsequently, one by 
Pinzger, in 18^5 , and another by 
Dindorf in 18i6. As to the 
oration Tltf.1 avriSiaeais, by 
Moustoxydes, this scholar found 
a perfect MS. of the discourse 
in question in the Ambrosian 
Library at Milan, and published 
an edition of the entire piece in 
1812 at Milan. It is, however, 
very inaccurately printed. A 
more correct edition was pub- 
lished by Orellius, in 1814, 8vo, 
with a double commentary, criti- 
cal and philological, in German; 
and also a smaller edition, con- 
taining merely the Greek text 
with various readings. These 
two editions are more accurate 
than thatof Milan.— Scholl, Hist. 
Lit. Gr. vol. 2, p. 208, scqq. 

1 Little is known of the private 
life of Isaeus : one circumstance, 
however, has been recorded, 
which is in itself a title to im- 
mortality, — Isaeus was the in- 
stri'.cter of Demosthenes. — The 
model he proposed to copy was 
the style of Lysias, and his 
imitation is so close that it re- 
quires an accurate knowledge to 



discriminate the two. In Isasus 
there is the pure, perspicuous, 
and concise diction ; but perhaps 
his figures are more artificial and 
his expressions less natural. — 
If his style is inferior to Lysias 
in eloquence, it surpasses him in 
majesty. The use of interro- 
gatory sentences gives to his 
speeches an animation and ve- 
hemence like that, which delights 
the reader of Demosthenes; and 
many indications of the sublimity 
which under that orator acquired 
maturity and vigour, may be 
traced in the writings of Isaeus. 
The narrations of Lysias are 
made with so much simplicity 
and candour, so much apparent 
love of truth, that they invariably 
engage the reader's assent. In 
Isaeus, on the contrary, there is 
so much visible art, and such 
appearances of preparation and 
design, that even when the facts 
communicated are true, we feel 
inclined to deny him credit. The 
speeches of Isaeus which are 
preserved relate chiefly to pri- 
vate causes ; and the minuteness 
of the subjects discussed may 
render them uninteresting to the 
general reader. Nevertheless, 
he gives us insight into many 
points of ancient jurisprudence, 
which, but for him, posterity 
would have wholly missed. — On 
the important subject of heredi- 
tary and testamentary bequests; 
on the laws of heirship by prox- 
imity of blood, and on heirship 
by appointment ; on desolate 
heritages ; on the Athenian 
customs relative to the adoption 
of children; the forms under 
which such adoption took place; 
the manner in which the fortune 
of the person adopted was affec- 
ted, both as to the house from 
which he was emancipated and 
that into which he was received; 
on all these, and other similar 
points, Isaeus supplies many 
interesting particulars which no 
other writer of antiquity affords. 
From him also may be collected 
all the Athenian laws relative 
to the rights of women, and more 
particularly of heiresses : many 
of them curious in themselves, 
and most of them evincing that 
the chains which society laid on 
the females of Athens were not 
at all lightened by the institution 
of Jaw. Isaeus has been trans- 
lated by Sir William Jones, and 
the speeches are accompanied 
by a valuable commentary. In 
that the reader will find much 
information on ancient jurispru- 
dence. See also Quarterly Re- 
view, No. 51, on DalzePs Lecture 
on the ancient Greeks. — Encyc. 
Metrop. part 7, p. 698.— Eleven 
of his orations remain ; before 
1784 we were in possession of 
only ten. They are all of a 



legal nature, and relate to ques- 
tions of inheritance and succes- 
sion. Htnce they are commonly 
cited by the title of Xo-yoi k\t,oik ;, 
discourses concerning inheritances. 
The best edition is contained in 
the Corpus Oratorum Grcecorum 
of Reiske, Lips. 1770, 12 vols. 
8vo. — Anth. Lemp. vol. 1, p. 
765. 

2 iEsohines was not a man of 
rank or fortune, and the early 
part of his life was devoted to 
the assistance of his father, who 
kept a school: from this occupa- 
tion he betook himself to act 
plays, and afterwards began to 
take a share in politic s : here he 
soon distinguished himself, and 
the violence with which he op- 
posed the party of Demosthenes 
created a suspicion that he had 
been bribed to suppott the in- 
terests of Philip. This prince 
and the Athenians becoming 
mutually tired of war, an em- 
bassy was sent from Athens to 
propose conditions of peace. 
After the preliminaries were 
adjusted, and terms srated. the 
same set of men, among whom 
were Demosthenes and ..Esehin- 
es, were again sent to exact of 
Philip the ntcessary oaths. 
Demosthenes accused iEschines 
of betraying his trust in this im- 
portant embassy ; of having been 
suborned to forward the king's 
interests; and ot circulating at 
Athens false reports, in conse- 
quence of which no exertion was 
made to prevent Fhocis from 
falling into the power of Philip. 
The accusation and the reply are 
both preserved, and rank i mong 
the best specimens of Grecian 
oratory: yet some obscurity hangs 
over their history. Some say 
they were never delivered; others 
that iEschines escaped by thirty 
votes only, and that he owed his 
acquittal to the interest of his 
patron Eubulus, rather than to his ■ 
own innocence. After the death 
of Philip, iEschines made his 
celebrated speech against Ctesi- 
phon. The charges in the indict- 
ment were three : the first, that 
Ctesiphon had proposed a bill 
unlawfully decreeing a crown to 
Demosthenes : the second, that 
Ctesiphon had acted illegally 
in proposing that Demosthtnes 
should be crowned in the theatre: 
the third that the character of 
Demosthenes himself was such 
as to render him unworthy of any 
public honour. This trial pro- 
duced from Demosthenes the 
most elaborate, and one of the 
finest of his speeches. He gained 
his cause triumphantly ; and 
iEschines, not having a fifth 
part of the votes, was banished 
from Athens, and retired to 
Rhodes. — Encyc. Metrop. part 
7, p. 701.— Here he opened a 



766 



HISTORY OF 



gumentative, so plausible, and so powerful withal, that it is difficult to 
imagine him prostrated at the feet of a victorious rival ; it is not of any, 
nor of all of these, that we are understood to speak, but of the great 
luminary that eclipsed every other light, and shines in unapproachable 
splendour. The striking fact that in Demosthenes we find the only 
consummate orator that Athens herself ever produced, may impress 
upon us the extreme difficulty of the art which he practised. Greece 
can boast an array of five or six illustrious poets, of three great historians, 
of at least two philosophers who take a high place in literature ; but she 
has only one Demosthenes. This eulogium will not be condemned as 
extravagant by those who have studied with all the attention, which 
such works deserve to have bestowed on them, the series of his political 
speeches ; the attacks upon Philip, and defences of his own administra- 
tion, summed up and carried to the loftiest pitch of conceivable ex- 
cellence, in the wonderful oration on the crown. For the complete 
enjoyment of this master-piece of eloquence an essential preparation is 
the perusal of the great speech of the accuser ; that admirable effort, 
which for a moment seems to raise iEschines almost to the Demosthenean 
level, and must extort from every one the question, " how could this be 
answered or evaded?" But a mere glance at the reply of Demosthenes 
at once explains the defeat of his opponent. What power! what art! 
what nature! what elaboration! A heathen need not have scrupled to 
exclaim, that to purchase the glory of this matchless triumph it would 
have been worth while to live the life of Demosthenes, and to die his 
death! 

When Alexander, after the destruction of Thebes, demanded the 
surrender of the Athenian orators, he showed at once his hatred of 
liberty, and his clear perception of the means that had most effectually 
sustained it. This act was far from inconsistent with the spirit in 
which, amid the horrors of an exterminating conquest, he had spared the 
dwelling and the descendants of Pindar. He intended a death-blow to 
Greek oratory ; but he held himself forth as delighted to cherish and 
reward all less dangerous manifestations of intellect ; and the declension 



school of eloquence, and com- 
menced his lectures by reading 
the two orations which had been 
the occasion of his banishment. 
Hk hearers loudly applauded his 
own speech; hut when he came 
to that of Demosthenes, they 
were thrown into transports of 
admiration. " What would you 
have said," exclaimed iEschines, 
according to the common account, 
" had you heard Demosthenes 
himself pronounce this oration?" 
The statement of Photius, how- 
ever, is different from this, and 
certainly more probable. The 
auditors of ^Eschines at Rhodes 
expressed, as he informs us, 
their surprise that a man of so 
much ability should have been 



overcome by Demosthenes : 
"Had you heard that wild beast 
(tov Svpiov eveo/oi',)" exclaimed 
iEschines, <; you would have 
ceased to be at a loss on this 
head." (el r)*ov<raie rov Sriptov 

Phot. Biblioth. vol. 1, p. 20. ed. 
Bekker ) He subsequently trans- 
ferred his school from Rhodes to 
Samos where he died at the age 
of sevenly five year*. One of 
the best editions of iEschines is 
that of Wolf, containing also the 
or. tions of Demosthenes. It 
was first printed at Basle, by 
Oporinus. afterwards at the same 
place in 1549 and 1572, at Venice 
in 1550, and at Frankfort iu 



1604. The orations of J?schines 
are also contained in Reiskes 
excellent edition of the Greek 
Orators, Lips. 17/0, &c. 12 vols. 
8vo, and in the valuable London 
edition, recently published, of 
the works of Demosthenes and 
iEschines. 10 vols. 8vo 1827. To 
these may be added the ediiion 
of Fou kes and Friend. Oxon. 
1696, 8vo, and that of Slock, 
Dublin, 1769, 2 vols. 8vo. These 
two last editions, however, con- 
tain merely the orations of 
iEschines and Demosthenes re- 
specting i he crown. The epistles 
were published separately by 
Sammet, Lips. 1771, Svo. — . 
Anth. Lemp. vol. I, pp. 79, 80. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



767 



of literature, which was one of the most signal results of his ambitious 
Career, was at the same time a severe and a felt retribution for his po- 
litical crimes. Well might he sigh in vain for a great poet to celebrate 
his exploits ; he, who by his own deeds had trampled out the fires of 
genius, and polluted the true sources of fancy and natural emotion. We 
mark with regret, but without surprise, the change that, from the period 
of his ascendency, began to affect the various developments of the 
Grecian mind. Eloquence died away in the sickly languor of Oriental 
affectation. History seeming to catch its tone from the extravagant 
projects and romantic adventures of the conqueror, became a tissue of 
bombast, compliment, and fable. Science, indeed, flourished in many 
of its branches ; for science does not scorn the patronage of despotism, 
and often requites its munificence by aiding its designs ; but all the 
charms of the art of composition, whose noblest efforts have ever sprung 
from the impulse of unfettered minds, fled with the extinction of free- 
dom. 

The victorious sword of Alexander opened a way, however, for the 
diffusion of Greek literature over half the globe, and carried a know- 
ledge of its attractions to the very confines of China. But, though it 
lingered long in different quarters, it was in Egypt that the principal 
effort was made, after the death of the Macedonian prince, to form a 
new focus of letters and mental refinement. All influences were 
brought together, that could contribute to make Alexandria be, what 
Athens had been, the capital of the intellectual world ; all, except the 
presence of those Muses, who could not be compelled to migrate from 
the clime of their birth. The liberal dynasty of the Ptolemies encour- 
aged learning and learned men ; collected libraries ; founded universi- 
ties ; and was repaid by the too frequent produce of such institutions. 
The new Greek literature was the literature of courtiers and grammarians. 
Even the Alexandrian poetry, the most favourable side on which that 
literature can be viewed, is the poetry of art and labour, not of nature. 
Let Apollonius 1 Rhodius 2 be selected as perhaps the best specimen of 



1 b. c. 200. 

2 A poet or" Alexandria, gener- 
ally called Apollonius of Rhodes 
from his having lived for some 
time there. He was a pupil 
of Callimachus, but renouncing 
the erudite style of his master, 
he endeavoured to follow the 
track of Homer. It appears that 
Cd'limachus was offended with 
this act of rebellion against his 
authority, and th.it it" was the 
cause of the enmity which sub- 
sisted between the two poets 
until the death of Callimachus. 
Apollonius, having read at 
Alexandria his Homeric poem on 
the expedition of the Argonauts, 
was hissed by a party which had 
been formed against him by the 
c.ibals of his master. Mortified 
at this treatment he retired to 
Rhodes, where lie taught rhe- 



toric, and obtained the rights of 
citizenship. At a subsequent 
period, under Ptolemy 5th (Epi- 
jhanesl, he succeeded as libra- 
rian at Alexandria in the place 
of Eratosthenes, who had become 
enfeebled by age. His principal 
production, the poem on the 
Argonautic expedition, is the 
only one of his works that has 
come down to us. It is divided 
into four books. The subject of 
the poem is the departure of 
Jason and his companions in 
quest of the golden fleece, and 
the return of these adventureis 
to their native shores after long 
and perilous wanderings. Tne 
plan is very simple : it is that of 
an historian, and is not adapted 
to poetic composition. There is 
no unity of interest in the poem; 
for Jason is not the only hero of 



the piece, and even if he were, 
his character is not sufficiently 
sustained for such an end. The 
poet pinces him in scenes where 
he acts without probity and with- 
out honour. Th> j characters of 
Orpheus and Hercules are better 
drawn. That of Medea is a 
complete failure : the passion 
that sways her breast is at vari- 
ance with both modesty and filial 
piety. In other respecfs, the 
poem contains many pleasing 
descriptions. Apoilonius also 
deserves praise for not yielding 
to the spirit of the age and in- 
dulging in those learned digres- 
sions that were then popular, 
and for which the nature of his 
subject allowed him so many op- 
portunities. The Argonautics of 
Apollonius are remarkable for 
the purity of the diction, and, 



768 HISTORY OF 

the school to which he belonged- Of him Ave must say that, if epic 
poetiy required no invention, no fire, no enthusiasm, but only a profound 
acquaintance with mythology, and an elegant and studied diction, he 
would be a gre-at epic poet; but that, as it is, he is only an epic com- 
piler of traditions, with here and there a touch of tenderness or passion. 
One pleasing species of poetry, of which only a faint prelude had been 
heard in elder times, was certainly brought to perfection during the 
Alexandrian period: but it arose in another country, and was merely 
allured from its native seat by the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 
It may be a question with some, whether the Idyll, the Greek shape of 
pastoral song, gained or lost by the nearer view of courts and capitals, 
which royal favour enabled the Sicilian 1 Theocritus 2 to take: yet, as a 
tablet of human life and maimers, the true function, according to its 
name, of this kind of composition, its province was perhaps rightly so 
extended as to embrace certain features of civic as well as of rural so- 
ciety. On either field Theocritus is equally at home ; but in an especial 
manner have the force and simplicity of his painting given a warmth 
and truth to his representations of rustic characters and incidents, that 
are scarcely to be found in any later pastorals, It required his strength, 
his sweetness, and his genuine Doric, to confer real interest on the loves 
and strifes of shepherds and shepherdesses : and the difficulty of succeed- 
ing in the treatment of such subjects is signally demonstrated by the 
care with which those writers, who are generally classed with Theocritus 



with some exceptions, the beauty 
of the versification : they are in 
this respect, a happy imitation of 
the Iliad and Odyssey. Longinus 
[de Subl. 33.) calls Apollonius 
airrcorot, an expression that is 
well elucidated by the remark of 
Quintilian (10. ). 54.) on the same 
writer: "Non cnntemnendum 
edidit opus, euquali quadarn me- 
diocri/ate."' He never rises to 
the suoJime, but at the same time 
never descends to the vulgar and 
lowly. The Romans appear to 
have entertained a high opinion 
of the Argonautics of Apollonius. 
The poem was freely translated 
by Varro Atacinus, and was im- 
itated by Virgil in the fourth 
book of the iEneid. It has been 
still more followed by Valerius 
Flaccus, who borrowed f.om it 
the fable ot his own poem ; but 
it must be confessed that the 
Roman poet has surpassed his 
model. The best edition of 
Apollonius is that of Weilauer, 
Lips. 1828, 2 vols. 8vo. Previous 
to the appearance of this, the best 
edition was that of Brunck, Lips. 
1S10, 2 vols. Svo-, with the ad- 
ditional Greek scholia, euro. G. H. 
Schcefer. Br»nck r s first e J if ion 
appeared in 1780, 2 vols Svo, from 
the Strasburg press. — Anth. 
Lemp. vo'. I. p. 188. 

1 B. C 270. 

2 Theocritus, a celebrated 
CJ reek Bucolic poet, a native of 



Syracuse, who flourished under 
Ptolemy Philadeiphus, king cf 
Egypt, and Hiero II., of Syra- 
cuse, B. C. 270. He was instruct- 
ed, in his early education, by 
Asclepiades of Samos, and Phil- 
etas of Cos ; subsequently he 
became the friend of Aratus, and 
passed a part of his days at 
Alexandria, and tne remainder in 
Sicily. It has been supposed 
that he was strangled by order of 
Hiero. king of Sicily, in revenge 
for some satirical invectives; bat 
the passage in Ovid, on which 
the supposition rests, mentions 
only ** the Syracusan poet," and it 
does not follow that this was our 
bard. {Ovid. Ib. 561 ) Theo- 
critus distinguished himself by 
his poetical compositions, and 
has carried Bucolic verse to its 
highest perfection. No one of 
those who have endeavoured to 
surpass him, whether among the 
ancients or moderns, has been 
able to equal his simplicity, his 
naivete, and his grace. He is not, 
however, free fiom the faults of 
his age, in which the decline 
of a pure taste had already become 
apparent. His Buco.ics are 
written in the Doric dialect. 
They consist of thirty poems, 
which bear the title of Idylls 
{EUlWta), and twenty-one other 
smaller pieces under the name 
of epigrams. The thirty Idylls, 



however, are not all by Theo- 
critus. It appears that rliev had 
been composed by different poets, 
and united into one-body by some 
grammarians. These thirty 
pieces are not all, strictly speak- 
ing, of the Bucolic order ; some 
appear to be fragments of epic 
poems; two of them would seem 
to resemble mimes ; several be- 
long to lyric poetry. Theocritus 
has sometimes been censured for 
the rusticity, and even indelicacy, 
of some of his expressions. The 
latter charge admits of no de- 
fence. With regard to the for- 
mer, it must be observed that 
they who conceive that the 
manners and sentiments of shep- 
herds should always be repre- 
sented not as they are or have 
been in any aze or country, bjt 
greatly embelifshed or refined, do 
not seem to have a just idea of 
the nature of pastoral poetry. 
The idylls of Theocritus are in 
general faithful copies of nature, 
and his characters hold a proper 
mediu'ii between rudeness and 
refinement —The best editions of 
Theocritus are, that of Wharton, 
Oxon. 1770, 2 vols. 4to; that ot 
Valckenaer, L. Bat. 1773, &c, 
8vo ; that of Gaisford. in the 
Pottae Minores !Oxon. 1816—20. 
4 vols. 8vo) and that of Kiesfling, 
Lips. 1819. 8vo. — Anih, Lemp. 
vol. 2. pp. 1471, 1472. 



GREEK LITERATURE, 



769 



Ruder the head of Bucolic poets, the showy Bion, 1 and the delicate 
Moschus, 2 have in fact avoided the actual scenes of the pastoral world. 
But these authors, or at least the latter of them, 3 lived at a time when 
nearness and smoothness had become the characteristics of Greek poetry, 
and when its choicest productions were fit only to bloom in an anthology. 
####### 
To complete the sketch of literary history in classical times, it is ne- 
cessary only to notice the after-growth of Grecian literature, long posterior 
to the Alexandrian epoch, in which some of the raciness of ancient 
genius seemed to be renewed. Even during the height of Roman ascen- 
dency, the Greek intellect had not failed to yield symptoms of life. 
Thus the historian 4 Polybius, 5 by the soundness of his judgment, by the 



1 A Greek poet, born near 
Smyrna, in the district of Phlos- 
sa. He appears to have lived in 
-Sicily, and to have died there of 
poison, as his pupil Moschus in- 
forms us in an elegy on his death. 
Some make him contemporary 
with Theocritus, while others 
suppose that he flourished a cen- 
tury later, about 187 B. C. He 
is ranked, along with Moschus, 
among the bucoiic poets, less on 
account of the subjects of his 
pieces, which are for the most 
part of a lyric or philosophical 
character, than by reason of the 
manner in which he treats them. 
He is far inferior to Theocritus 
in simp.icity and naivete. His 
productions are in general too 
laboured: but in description he 
succeeds perfectly, and his writ- 
ings are not wanting in elegance, 
and in correct and pleasing ima- 
gery. There are many good edi- 
tions of tnis poet's works, gen- 
erally printed with those of Mos- 
chus. the best of which is that of 
Vaickenaer, Lugd. Bat. 1810, 
Svo, reprinted at Oxford in 1816, 
by Gaisford, in the Poetre Mi- 
nores Graci — Anthon's Lemp. 
vol. 1, pp. 279, 280. 

2 A Greek pastoral poet, whose 
era is not clearly ascertained. 
Suidas [s. t\ Moff^oj) states posi- 
tively, that Moschus was the 
friend or disciple (for the word 
yi-oKTiuoj, which he employs, may 
have either signification) of Aris- 
tarchus ; if this oe correct, the 
poet ought to have flourished 
about the 156 Olympiad. (B.C. 
156 ) This position, however, is 
very probably incorrect, since 
Suidas is here in contradiction 
with a passage of Moschus him- 
self {Epitaph. Bion. v. 102). in 
which the poet speaks of Theo- 
critus as a eontemporarv. Now 
Theocnti:s nourished B". C. 270. 
Moschus is said to have been a 
native of Syracuse. He spent 
the greaterpart of his days, how- 
ever, at Alexandria. We have 
four idylls from him, and some 
other smaller pieces. 1. "Epajj 
toairf.TTjs f" Love run away. ') 2. 
'F.vpanrr) (" Europa.") 3. 'En- 



ra^ioy B.Woc (•' Elegy on Bion.") 
4. Meylpa yvv}} 'KpaxMovf (" Me- 
gara, spouse of Hercules.'' " Mos- 
chus," observes Elton, " seems 
to have taken Bion for his motel, 
and resembles him in his turn for 
apologues, his delicate amenity 
of style, his luxuriance of poetic 
imagery, and his graceful, and, 
as it were, feminine softness." 
The best edition of Moschus is 
that of Vaickenaer, appended to 
his edition of Theocritus. The 
remains of Moschus are a'so 
given in the collections of Brunck, 
Gaisford. and Boissonade. — An- 
thon's Lemp. vol. 2, pp. 978, 979. 

3 Moschus. B. C. 154. 

4 B. C. 204 - 122. 

5 Polybius, the son of Lycortas, 
was a native of Megalopolis, a 
city situated within the limits of 
Arcadia, but in its political rela- 
tions being a member of the 
Achaian Confederacy. His father 
appears to have been a man of 
ability and patriotism, who ex- 
ercising a considerable influence 
in the councils of his country, en- 
deavoured to preserve the inde- 
pendence of Achaia by a manly 
and free demeanour towards the 
Romans, without provoking their 
enmity by displaying a fruitless 
spirit of opposition. Polybius 
entered into public life at an early 
age, and steadily supported and 
followed the policy of his father; 
so that his conduct exposed him 
to the resentment of the Romans, 
when their victory over the last 
king of Macedon at once disposed 
and enabled them to treat every 
relic of liberty in Greece as an 
affront to their supremacy. The 
party amongst the Achaians who 
hoped to win the favour of the 
Romans by an excessive servility, 
accused their more independent 
countrymen of being disaffected 
to the inserests of Rome; and on 
this charge, Polybius, with more 
than a th ousand others, was 
transported into Italy, and there 
detained for about seventeen 
years. His fellow prisoners were 
mostly confined in Tuscany, or in 
other districts of Italy ; bat he 
himself, throush the interest of 

3 T 



P. Scipio iEmilianus, and his 
brother, whose fondness for 
Greek literature had first led to 
their acquaintance with him, was 
al.owed to reside at Rome. His 
acquaintance with P. Scipio, in 
particular, grew by degrees into 
an intimate friendship ; and 
when, after the lapse ot seven- 
teen years, those Achaians who 
had survived their captivity were 
allowed to return home, Polybius 
continued to live with his friend, 
and was his companion in the 
third Punic war, when he brought 
the siege of Carthage to a con- 
clus on, and destr./yed the city. 
In the succeeding year he was 
an eye-witness of the miseries 
brought upon his countrymen by 
their last ul-advised contest with 
the Romans ; and on this occa- 
sion he used his influence with 
the Roman officers to preserve 
untouched the statues of Aratus 
and Philopcemen, who were re- 
presented by the flatterers of 
Rome as having been the enemies 
of Roman power. After the final 
sett.ernent of the affairs of 
Greece by the ten commission- 
ers, whom the senate, as usual, 
despatched lo deter mine the future 
condition of the conquered coun- 
try, Poiybius was directed to go 
round the several cities of Pelo- 
ponnesus, to endeavour to pacify 
their mutual jealousies, and to 
superintend the first operation of 
the new constitution, which the 
Romans had imposed upon them. 
The latter years of ins life ap- 
pear to have been passed in his 
own country, where he is said to 
have died in consequence ot a fall 
fioai his horse, at the advanced 
age of eighty-two, about 124 years 
before the Cnristian era.— Ency. 
Metrop. part 17, pp. 541, 542. 
Poiybius gave to the world vari- 
ous historical writings, which are 
entirely lost, with the exception 
of his General History {'laropCa 
Ka9o\L>ch), in forty books. It is 
of a general nature, because he 
does not confine himself merely 
to those events which related to 
the Romans, but embraces,, at the 
same time, whatever had passed 



770 HISTORY OF 

proofs lie gave of a practised understanding, such as became a statesman 
and a warrior, by the calm and masculine tone of his narrative, deserved 
the applause of all cultivated ages, and the fame of a great political 
teacher. It is his style alone that condemns him to a subaltern rank in 
literature. In it we certainly detect a wide departure from pure Atti- 
cism, an admixture of Macedonian words and terminations, aggravated 
by the adoption of forms and inflections from the poets, and of technical 
phrases from the school of Aristotle. Yet so much was his work admired, 
that, with a few exceptions, it was chosen as the model, both in matter 
and composition, by subsequent historians. To the acuteness and sound- 
ness of the matter, however, the majority of them made no near approach, 
while they fell even below the level of the style. They displayed more 
of the subtle diction of the schools, a greater attachment to poetical 
flowers, and all the vices of a gaudy rhetoric. Of all those who may be 
classed among the imitators of Polybius, the best was 1 Dionysius of 



during that period among every 
naiion of the known world. Of 
the forty books which it originally 
comprehended, time has only 
spared the first five entire. Of 
the rest, as far as the seven- 
teenth, we have merely frag- 
ments, though of considerable 
size. Of the remaining books we 
have nothing left except what is 
found in two meagre abridg- 
ments which the emperor Co:i- 
stai.tine Porphyrogenetus. in the 
tenth century, caused to be made 
of the whole work. The one of 
these is entitled "Embassies," 
or the history of treaties of 
peace ; the other is styled " Vir- 
tues and Vices." Among the 
fragments that remain of Poly- 
bius, are from the seventeenth to 
the fortieth chapters of the sixth 
book, inclusive, which treat of 
the Roman art of war, and have 
often been published separately 
U'.der this title. That part of 
the history which is lost treat- 
ed of those events of Avhich 
the historian was himself an 
eye-witness ; an irreparable loss 
for us, though Livy made fre- 
quent use of it. Besides his 
general history, Polybius wrote 
"Memoirs of the life of Philo- 
pcemen," (Lib. 10. Ere. Pelresc. 
p. 28.) a work on '• Tactics," 
( Lib- 9. Exc. c. 20.), and a letter 
"on the situation of Laconia," 
gddres^ed to Zeno of Rhodes. 
(Lib, 16, Exc.) Fromapassage 
of Cicero, moreover, (ep- ad 
Fam. 5. 12.) it would appear that 
Polybius had written a detached 
' history of the Numantine war." 
It is probable that his visit to 
Spain, during the second consul- 
ship of Scipio, gave him the idea 
of this last mentioned work, and 
furnished him with the materials. 
— Plutarch relates that Marcus 
Brutus, the assassin of Cesar, 
made an abridgment of the his- 
tory of Polybius, and that he was 
occupied with this in his tent, on 



the evening preceding the battle 
of Philippi. Casaubon is hence 
led to infer that the abridgment 
or epitome which we possess, 
from the seventh to the seven- 
teenth book-*, may be the work 
of Brutus ; but this abridgment 
is made with so little judgment 
that we cannot properly ascribe 
it to that distinguished Roman. 
— The best edition of Polybius 
is that of Schweighaeuser, Lips. 
1789-95, 9 vols. Svo. Orellius 
published in 1818, from the 
Leipsic press, the commentary 
of Eneas Tacitus, in one volume, 
8vo, as a supplement to this 
edition — Anth. Lemp. vol. 2, 
pp. 1231, 1232. 

1 A native of Halicarnassus, 
who came to Rome at the close of 
the civil wars, A. U. C. 723, and 
sojourned in that capital for the 
space of twenty-two years. He 
employed this period in acquiring 
the Latin languaee, and in col- 
lecting materials for a great his- 
torical work on the eariy periods 
of the Roman state, which he 
published in twenty books, under 
the title of 'Fw/j.a'^h 'Apjato- 
Xoyla, '• The Ancient History of 
Rome." It was carried down to 
the third year of the 128th 
Olympiad, the period where 
Polybius commenced his general 
history. We have only, at the 
present day, the first eleven 
books, extending to A. V. c. 312, 
and some fragments of the re- 
maining nine. His style, formed 
after that of his model Polybius, 
is not always marked by classical 
purity : the harangues, too, that 
are inserted in his text, are too 
frequent and prolix. Besides his 
historical writings, we have 
also the following rhetorical 
works remaining of Dionysius of 
Halicarnaisus, 1. nspl awQieews 
bvofioLTUiv, '* Of the arrangement 
of words. 2- Tix vr i pijTopntij, 
"Artof Rhetoric." 3.T^y vu\at- 



"Characters of the Ancients," 
or " Judgment upon the An- 
cients." 4. n«pi tSj¥ 'Atth5» 
prjropwy vno/j.vr,fjL<iTL<7fioi, ** Me- 
moirs of the Athenian orators." 
5. Two Letters addressed to 
Ammasus : in one the topic of 
inquiry has reference to the 
writings of Demosthenes, and he 
proposes to show that the orator 
did not form himself on the pre. 
cepts of Aristotle : in the otner, 
which is entitled, n$pl t5>p 

OoVKiiloov Uiwparav, u Of the 

peculiarities of Thucydides," he 
establishes the character of 
Thucydides as an orator. 6. 
Ilep. Ttu* QovKvdiSon x a 9 aKT VpoS 

Zdiaifiariov, " Of the character of 
Thucydides, and of what distin- 
guishes his style." 7. A Letter 
addressed to Cneius Pompeius, a 
freedman probably of Pompey 
the Great, in reply to a letter 
in which Dionysius had been 
reproached for his severity in 
what he had said of the style 
of Plato. The author enters into 
details respecting the defects of 
this philosopher's style, as well 
as of that of the historians who 
might be proposed as models. — 
The best edition of the treatise 
on the Arrangement of Words, is 
that of Schaefler, Lips. 1809, Svo. 
The best edition of the treatise on 
Rhetoric is that of Scbott, Lips. 
1804, Svo, though carelessly 
printed. The letters addressed 
to Pompey and Tubero, and the 
second of those addressed to 
Ammaeus were published under 
the title of Dionysii Halicarnas- 
se/isis historiographia.by Krieger; 
Halle, 1823 , 6vo. The best edi- 
tions of the entire works are, 
that of Hudson, Oxon. 1704, 2 
vols, folio, and that of Reiske, 
Lips. 1764, fj vols. 8vo. Still a 
good edition is much wanted. — 
Anth. Lemp. vol. 1, pp. 48ft, 
490. 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



771 



Halicarnassus ; but it is requisite to pass by the generation in which he 
flourished, and to glance at the first three centuries after the birth of 
Christ, in order to recognise the temporary revival of the true Grecian 
spirit. In poetry, indeed, nothing very excellent appeared; but in 
biography, satire, history, and criticism, we find ample compensation for 
this deficiency. Plutarch, 2 notwithstanding many faults, wrote the 



1 A. D 49-130. 

2 Plutarch was a native of 
Chserone* in Boeotia, but was far 
from pai taking of the proverbial 
dulness of his country. The time 
of his birth is not exactly known; 
it is certain, however, that he 
flourished from the time of Nero 
to that of Adrian. His preceptor 
■was Ammonius, a learned philo- 
sopher, sometimes confounded 
■with Ammonius Sacca, the father 
of the Eclectic sect, who lived a 
century later. As soon as Plu- 
tarch had completed his juvenile 
studies he was engaged in civil 
affairs. He was first appomted, 
by a public decree, legate to the 
proconsul and afterwards under- 
took the office of archon or 
prae'or. The emperor Trajan, a 
friend to learned men, patronised 
him, and conferred upon him the 
consular dignity. Under Adrian, 
he was appointed procurator of 
Greece. Civil occupations did 
not, however, prevent Plutarch 
from devoting a great part of his 
time to literary and philosophical 
studies. He both taught philo- 
sophy, and was a voluminous 
writer. A catalogue of his 
works, drawn up by his son 
Lamprius, is still extant, from 
■which it appears, that more of 
his pieces have been lost than 
lave been preserved. Those of 
his writings which remain are 
a valuable treasure of ancient 
learning, serving to illustrate not 
only the Grecian and Roman af- 
fairs, but the history of philoso- 
phy. They abound with proofs 
of indefatigable industry and pro- 
found erudition ; and, notwith- 
standing the harshness of the 
writer's style, they will always 
be read with pleasure, on account 
of the great variety of valuable 
and amusing information which 
they contain. But it is in this 
view chiefly that Plutarch is to 
be admired. In extent and var- 
iety of learning, he had few 
equals; but he does notappear to 
have excelled as much in depth 
and solidity of judgment. Where 
he expresses his own conceptions 
and opinions, he often supports 
them by feeble and slender argu- 
ments ; where he reports, and 
attempts to elucidate, the opinions 
of others, he frequently falls into 
mistakes, or is chargeable with 
misrepresentation. In proof of 
this assertion, we may particu- 
larly mention what he had ad- 
vanced concerning Plato's notion 
of the soul of the world, and 
concerning the Epicurean philo- 



sophy. To this -we must add, 
that Plutarch is often inaccurate 
in method ; and sometimes be- 
trays a degree of credulity un- 
worthy of a philosopher. On 
moral topics he is most success- 
ful. His didactic pieces not 
only abound with amusing 
anecdotes, but are enriched with 
many just and useful observa- 
tions. Plutarch appears to have 
derived his philosophical tenets 
from various sources. Aristotle 
was his chief guide in ethics: 
his doctrine of the soul he bor- 
rowed from the Egyptians, nr 
more probably the Pythagoreans: 
in metaphysics lie principally 
followed Plato, and the Old 
Academy. We sometimes find 
him asserting with the Dogma- 
tists, and sometimes doubting 
with the Pyrrhonists; but he 
always wages open war with the 
Epicureans and the Stoics. The 
truth seems to be. that Plutarch 
had not digested for himself any 
accurate system of opinions, and 
was rather a memorialist and in- 
terpreter of philosophers, than 
himself an eminent philosopher. 
He died about the fourth or fifth 
year of the reign of Adrian ; that 
is, about the year 119, or 120. — 
Enfield's Philos. vol. 2, pp. 52, 
53. - The work to which he owes 
his chief celebrity is that which 
bears the title of Buu Trapa\\r)\oi, 
" Parallel Lives. In this he 
gives biographical sketches of 
fourty-tour individuals distin- 
guished for their virtues, their 
talents, and their adventures, 
some Greek, others Roman, and 
gives them in such a way that a 
Roman is always compared with 
a Greek. Five other biographies 
are isolated ones ; twelve or 
fourteen are lost. The five 
isolated lives are those of Arta- 
xerxes Mnemon, Aratus, Galba, 
Otho. and Homer, though this 
last is probably not Plutarch's. 
The lives that have perished are 
those of Epaminondas, Scipio, 
Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, 
Claudius, Nero, Vitellius, Hes- 
iod, Pindar, Crates the Cynic, 
Diaphantus, Aristomenes, and 
Aratus the poet. — Many regard 
the Lives of Plutarch as models 
of biography. The principal art 
of the writer consists in the 
delineation of character ; but it 
has been objected to him, and it 
would seem with justice, that his 
characters are all of apiece, that 
he represents his heroes either 
as completely enslaved by some 
passion, or as perfectly virtuous, 

3 T2 



and that he has not been able to 
depict the almost infinite variety 
of shades between vice and virtue. 
Plutarch, moreover, is not even 
entitled to the prais^ of being an 
impartial writer. The desire of 
showing that there was a time 
when the Greeks were superior 
to the Romans, pervades all 
his recitals, and prejudices him 
in favour of his Grecian he- 
roes. His ignorance of the Latin 
tongue, which he himself avows, 
in his Lives of Demosthenes and 
Cato, leads him in'o various 
errors relative to Roman history. 
His style has neither the ptui;y 
of the Attic, nor the noble sim- 
plicity which distinguishes the 
classic writers. He is overloaded 
with erudition, and with allusions 
that are often obscure for us. — 
An able examination of the 
sources whence Pmtarch derived 
the materials for his lives, is 
given by Heeren, {De fontibus et 
auctoritate » it arum purallelurum 
Plutarchi Commentationes IV. 
Gotting. 1820, 8vo) and this in- 
quiry becomes indispensably ne- 
cessary to the professed scholar, 
who wishes to ascertain the 
degree of confidence that is due 
to the biographical sketches of 
Plutarch, though our limits for- 
bid our entering on the detail. It 
may be said, in a few words, that 
PiUtarch, in the composition of 
his lives, consulted all the exist- 
ing historians; that he did not, 
however, b indly follow them, 
but weighed their respectiv j 
statements in the balance of jus- 
tice, and when their accounts 
were contradictory adopted such 
as seemed to him most probable. 
— The other historical works of 
P.utarch are the following. 1. 

•P^a'J.a, V Alrtat 'Pa^alW, 

11 Roman Questions." 2. 'EX- 

Xj7ii*<x, ?; Alrtat 'KWrji'iieaC, 

" Hellenica, or Grecian Ques- 
tions." 3. Tleol TIapaXX ?i\u>v 
•E\\ V vi K Zv K al 'V~h*SkS*, " Par- 
allels drawn from Grecian and 
Roman History." 4 n*pi rfjs 
'Ywitalwv rvxr/s, ' Of the fortune 
of the Romans." 5. and 6. Iwo 

discourses Trspi T i)y 'AA e%a>-$po» 

T'jxm ?j ipsrr,i, "On the fortune 
or valour of Alexander." 7. 

TLorepoy A&r)vaiot Kara iroXsuov 77 
Kara ao<p,av evSotorepoi, " Whe- 
ther the Athenians are more 
renowned for war or for the 
sciences." 8. n>pl "laifios «al 
'o<Tipi<5of, " Of Isis and Osiris." 
9- 'E™o^ r^j <r,.y*p t '<r«.j M«x<i»<- 
tpov Kal 'Apttrro^ai-oi^, " Abridg- 
ment of the comparison between 



HISTORY OF 



lives of great men with a power and liveliness, that shine through all his 
pedantry, all his far-fetched allusions, and all his incessant attempts at 
prettiness. 1 Lucian, 2 Attic in his taste, and nearlyAttic in his language, 



Menander and Aristophanes." 

10. lisp* ir)s 'UpoSorov KaKorAstas, 
"Of the malignity of Herodotus." 

11. 'Bio; rtoK hi/<a prjroptov, "Bio- 
graphy of the ten Orators."— 
We will now proceed to the 
philosophical, or as they are 
more commonly called, the moral 
works of Plutarch, premising a 
few observations on his general 
character, in this respect. Plu- 
tarch was not a profound philos- 
opher. He had formed for 
himself a peculiar system, made 
up from the opinions of various 
schools, but particularly trom 
those of Plato and the Acade- 
micians, which he has sometimes 
only imperfectly understood. He 
detested the doctrines of Epicurus 
and the Porch, and the hatred he 
had vowed towards their re- 
spective schools, renders him 
sometimes unjust towards their 
founders. He was not free from 



gods of paganism. His philoso- 
phical, or moral, works, are more 
than sixty in number. They are 
full of information as regards an 
acquaintance with ancient philos- 
ophy, and they have the addi- 
tional merit of preserving for us 
a number of passages from 
authors whose works have per- 
ished. An analysis of these 
writings is given by Scholl, 
{Hist. Lit. Gr. vol. 5, p. 77, segq.) 
— The best editions of the whole 
works of Plutarch are, that of 
Reiske, Lips. 1774 — 82, 12 vols. 
8vo ; that of Hutten, Tubing. 
1796 98, 14 vols. 8vo, and that 
forming part of the Tauchnitz 
collection. The best edition of 
the Lives alone, is that of Coray, 
Paris, 1809-15, 6 vols. 8vo; and 
the best edition of the Moral 
works is that of Wyttenb;ich, 
Oxon. 1795, 6 vols. 4to, and 12 
vols. 8vo.— Anth. Lemp. vol. 2. 
pp. 1226 - 1228. 

1 A. D. 122-200. 

2 Lucian, the celebrated satir- 
ist, was a native of Samosjta, on 
the borders of the Euphrates, 
and flourished in the time of the 
Antonines and Commodns. In 
his youth, his father, who was 
of low rank, was desirous to 
have diverted his attention from 
letters, and put him under the 
care of his uncle who was a 
statuary; but, being unfortunate 
in his rirst attempts, he deserted 
his art, and fled to Antinch, 
where he engaged not without 
succpss, in the profession of a 
pledder. He soon, however, 
grew tired of this employment, 
and gave himself up entirely to 
the practice of eloquence, in the 
character of a sophist, or rhetor- 
ician. In this capacity he 
tiavelled through several coun- 



tries, particularly Spain, Gaul, 
and Greece. At length, he passed 
over to the study of philosophy. 
Without rigorously addicting 
himself to any sect, he gathered 
up from each whatever he found 
useful, and ridiculed, with an 
easy vein of humour and pleas- 
antry, whatever he thought 
trifling or absurd. Like Max- 
imus Tyrius, Themistius, and 
several other eminent men of 
this age, be united the arts of 
eloquence, and the graces of fine 
writing, with the precepts of 
philosophy. Photius, and sev- 
eral modern writers, have rank- 
ed Lucian among the sceptics ; 
they might more properly have 
given him a place among the 
Socratics. But, in truth, there 
is no sect which he seems to have 
been so much inclined to favour 
as the Epicurean. He speaks of 
Epicurus as the only philosopher, 
who h a( i been acquainted with 
the nature of things, and of his 
followers as, in the midst of mad- 
men, alone retaining a sound 
mind. Himself a sworn enemy 
to imposture, he preferred the 
sect which professed to annihi- 
late superstition : and he dedi- 
cated his narrative of the 
impostures of Alexander to 
Celsus, an Epicurean. Whatever 
credit be allowed to Lucian as a 
humorous satirist, he is, how- 
ever, much to be censured for 
having, in many instances, suf- 
fered his propensity towards 
ridicule to lead him into severe 
and unjust sarcasms against the 
whole body of philosophers, and 
into a credulous, or illiberal, 
adoption of tales injurious to the 
most respectable characters of 
antiquity. His misrepresentation 
of the doctrine, and his unsup- 
ported insinuations against the 
character, of Socrates ; the 
contempt with which he treats 
Chrysippus and Aristotle, as mere 
trifiers ; and the absurd stories 
which he admits, without ad- 
ducing any evidence of their 
authenticity, are violations of 
candour and truth, for which no 
apology can be made, unless it 
be said, that Lucian intro- 
duced them for no other purpose 
than to enliven his satire, with- 
out seriously believing them 
himself, or expecting that they 
should be believeu by his readers. 
His ridicule of the Christians 
was owing to another cause — an 
entire misapprehension of their 
character, and of the nature of 
their religion; and is therefore 
• wholly unworthy of notice. 
Under Aurelius Antoninus, 
Lucian was appointed procurator 
of Egypt, with a liberal salary; 
but how long he continued there, 
or where he passed the latter 



Jart of his life, does not appear. 
Ie lived to the age of eighty, or 
as some say, ninety years, and 
died in the reign of Commodus. 
His Dialogues are still extant: 
they are written with humour, 
and discover great erudition. — 
Enfield's Philosophy, vol. 2, pp» 
132, 133.— The works ascribed to 
Lucian are : — J. Of the dream, 
or the Life of Lucian. 2. To 
him who had said, " You are a 
Prometheus in words." 3. Ni- 
grinus, or of the character of a 
philosopher. 4. Trial before the 
vowels. 5. Timon, or the Mis- 
anthrope. 6. Halycon, or of the 
transformation of the body. 7. 
Prometheus, or Caucasus. 8. 
Dialogues of the gods. 9 Marine 
Dialogues. 10. Dialogues of 
the Dead. H. Menippus, or the 
oracle of the dead. 12. Charon, 
or the gods looking upon the 
earth. 13. Concerning Sacri- 
fices. 14 The sale of Lives. 
15. The fisherman, or the resus- 
citated. 16. The passage across 
the Styx, or the tyrant. 17. Of 
the hard fate of men of letters 
who hire out their talents to the 
great. 18. Apology for the 
discourse respecting the hard 
fate of men of letters who hire 
out their talents to the great. 
19. Of an inadvertence in salut- 
ing. 20. Hermotimus, or con- 
cerning sects. 21. Herodotus, 
or Aetion. 22. Zeuxis, or An- 
tiochus. 23. Harmonides. 24. 
The Scythian, or the public host. 
25. How one ought to write a 
history. 26. True History. 27. 
The tyrannicide. 2S. The sou 
driven from his paternal abode. 
29. The first Phalaris, and, The 
second Phalaris. isO. Alexander, 
or the false prophet. 31. Of 
dancing. 32. Lexiphanes. 33. 
The Eunuch. 34. Of Astrology. 
35. Life of Demonax. 36. Loves. 
37. Images, and^ Concerning 
images. 38. Toxaris, or friend- 
ship. 39. Lucius, or the ass. 
40. Jupiter confuted, and, Jupi- 
ter turned tragedian. 41. The 
dream, or the cock. 42. Icaro- 
menippus, or the aerial voyage. 
43. The double accusation, or 
the tribunals. 44. Of the Para- 
site, or a proof that the para- 
site exercises a regular art. 
45. Anacharsis, or concerning 
gymnastic exercises. 46. Of 
mourning. 47. The teacher of 
rhetoric. 48. The liar, or the 
incredulous person. 49. Hip- 
pias, or the bath. 50. Prologue, 
or Bacchus. 51. Prologue, or 
Hercules. 52. Of amber, or the 
swans. 53. An eulogium on the 
fly. 54. Against an ignorant 
person who was accustomed to 
purchase large numbers of books. 
55. On not lending too ready an 
ear to accusations. 56. The false 



GREEK LITERATURE. 



773 



laughs with infinite good humour, and with wit seldom equalled, at the 
follies of an age which he could not mend. J Arrian, 2 by the elegance 
and animation, as well as by the title, of his principal work, invites and 
almost sustains a comparison with Xenophon himself: and 3 Longinus, 4 



reasoner, or concerning the word 
iiro'ppai. 57. Or the honse. 
58. The long-livers. 59. The 
praises of one's native country. 

60. Of the snake called dipsa's. 

61. Dispute with Hesiod. 62. 
The vessel, or the vows. 63. 
Dialogue between courtesans. 
64- An account of the death of 
Peregrinus. 65. The runaways . 
66. The Saturnalia. 67. Crdno- 
solon. 68, Saturnalian Letters. 

69. The banquet, or the Lapithas. 

70. Of the Syrian Goddess. 71. 
Eulogium on Demosthenes. 72. 
Assembly of the gods. 73. The 
Cynic. 74. The pretended wise 
man, or the Solecist. 75. The 
lover of his country, or the 
scholar. 76. Charidemus, or 
concerning beauty. 77. Nero, 
or the digging through of the 
Isthmus. 78. Tragopodagra. 
79. Ocypus. — We have also re- 
maining fifty epigrams ascribed 
to Lucian. The greater part are 
of that hyperbolic cast which 
was so much in vogue during 
the first centuries of the Chris- 
tian era. Lucian, however, has 
not carried this kind of poetry to 
that point of extravagance to 
which later writers pushed it. 
{SehoU, Hist. Lit. Gr. vol. 4, p. 
243, stqq.) The best editions of 
Lucian are that of Hemsterhuys, 
completed by Reitz, Amst. 
1730 - 36, 4 vols. 4to, edited in a 
more complete manner by Gesner, 
Amst. 1743, 3 vols. 4to, and to 
which must be added the Lexi- 
con Lucianeum of C R. Reitz, 
brother to the former, Ultraj . 
1746, 4to ; that of the Bipoi.t 
editors, in 10 vols. 8vo, a reprint 
of the preceding, but containing 
besides the various readings of 
six manuscripts in the library of 
the king of France, collected by 
M. Belin de Ballu: and that of 
Lehman, Lips. 1822—25 — 
Anth. Lemp. vol. 2, pp. 854 — 
860. 

1 A.D. 137—161. 

2 Arrianus, a Greek historian, 
a native of Nicomedia, who flour- 
ished in the second century under 
Hadrian and the Antonines. In 
his own country he was a priest 
of Ceres and Proserpina; but, 
taking up his residence at Rome, 
he became a disciple of Epicte- 
tus. He was honoured with the 
citizenship of Rome, and appoint- 
ed prefect of Cappudocia by the 
emperor Hadrian, who patronised 
him on account of his learning 
and talents. In this capacity he 
distinguished himself by his pru- 
dence and valour in the war 
against the Massagetae, and was 
afterwards advanced to the sena- 
torial and even consular digni- 
ties. Like Xenophon, he united 



the literary with the military 
character, was conversant with 
philosophy and learning, and 
intimate with those who culti- 
vated them. No less than seven 
of the epistles of Piiny the 
younger are addressed to Arrian. 
His historical writings were 
numerous; but of these, with 
the exception of some fragments 
in Photius, only two remain. 
The first is composed of seven 
books on the expedition of Alex- 
ander, which, being principally 
compiled from the memoirs of 
Ptolemy Lagus and Aristobulus, 
who both served under that king, 
are deemed proportionably val* 
uable. Arrian, himself a soldier 
and a politician, possessed a 
sounder judgment than Quintus 
Curtius, and indulged less in the 
marvellous. To this work is 
added a book on the affairs of 
India, which pursues the history 
of Alexander, but is not deemed 
of equal authority with the for- 
mer. An epistle from Ariian to 
Hadrian is also extant, entitled 
41 A Periplus of the Euxine;" 
probably written while he was 
prefect of Cappadocia. There 
are, besides, under the name of 
Arrian, a treatise on Tactics; a 
Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, 
of which the authority is doubt- 
ful ; and his '"Enchiridion," an 
excellent moral treatise, contain- 
ing the discourses of Epictetus. 
The best editions of Arrian's 
Expedition of Alexander, are 
that of Gronovius, Lugd. Bat. 
1704, fol- and that of Schinieder, 
Lips. 1798, 8vo. Of the Indian 
history, the best edition is that 
of Schrnieder, Halae, 1798, 8vo. 
Of his Enchiridion, that of Up- 
ton, London, 1739, 4to. and of 
the rest of his works, that of 
Blanchard, Amst. 17S3, 8vo, 
which contains also his treatise 
on Tactics, his moral treatise or 
Enchiridion, &c. — Anth. Lemp. 
vol. 1, p. 228. 

3 A. D. 213-273. 

4Dionysius Longinus, a native 
of Emesa, in Syria, was instruct- 
ed by Cornelius Fronto, a nephew 
of Plutarch, in rhetoric, and af- 
terwards became his heir. Whilst 
he was young he visited several 
celebrated seats of the muses, 
particularly Athens, Alexandria, 
and Rome, and attended upon the 
most eminent masters in lan- 
guage, eloquence, and philosophy. 
He was a great admirer of Plato, 
and honoured his memory with 
an annual festival. He chiefly 
followed the Eclectic system of 
Ammonius. So extensive and 
prolound was his erudition, that 
he was called the living library. 
It is much to be regretted, that 

3 t 3 



none of the writings of this cel- 
ebrated scholar are extant, ex- 
cept one piece, which will be an 
eternal monument of his genius 
and taste. Longinus was pre- 
ceptor in the Greek language to 
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra ; and, 
having been admitted to her 
counsels, shared her fortunes. 
That princess being conquered 
and taken prisoner by the em- 
peror Aurelinn, in the year 273, 
her minister was, by the emper- 
or's eommand, put to death. — 
Enfield's Philosophy, "ol. 2, p. 
60. — The principal work of Lon- 
ginus is his treatise nepl "Yf ovy 
(" On the sublime," or, more 
accurately perhaps, "On eleva- 
tion of thought and language "). 
,. This is one of the most celebrated 
•productions of antiquity. It is 
probably the fragment of a much 
larger work. Longinus developes 
in it, with a truly philosophical 
spirit, the nature of sublimity in 
thought and expression. He 
establishes the laws lor its use, 
and illustrates these by examples, 
which constitute at the same time 
an ingenious critique upon the 
highest productions of antiquity. 
The style of the work is animated 
and correct; though critics think 
that they discover in it forms of 
expression which could not have 
been employed prior to the third 
century, and which stand in 
direct opposition to the theory of 
Amati, who makes the woik to 
have been composed in the age 
of Augustus. The best edition 
of the treatise nepl "X-^ovs is that 
of Weiske, Lips. 18119, 8vo, re- 
printed at London, 1820. — An 
enumeration of the works of 
Longinus, as far as they can be 
ascertained, is given by Ruhnken, 
in his dissertation on the Life 
and Writings of Longinus, pub- 
lished under the fictitious name 
of Schardam, and reprinted in 
Weiske's edition, (p. LXIX, seqq.) 
The list is as follows : 1. The 
Philologers, or more correctly, 
perhaps, Tattling Conversations. 
2. On the Oration of Demos- 
thenes against Midias. 3. 
Homeric Difficulties. 4. Whether 
Homer was a philosopher. 5. 
Homeric Problems, and their 
solutions. 6. What things con- 
trary to history grammarians 
state as if they were in accor- 
dance with it. 7. On words in 
Homer that have various signi- 
fications. 8. A Lexicon ot Attic 
forms of expression. 9. Ai?«ty 
'AvTi(*d X ov, ko.1 'Hpo/cXaoJi'Os, 
Peculiar forms of expression in 
Antimachus and Heracleon. The 
grammarians called by the name 
of Ae?st$ those words which 
were remarkable for any pecu- 



774 



HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. 



the most sublime of systematic critics, though much of his phraseology is 
marked with the stamp of the third century, throws lustre upon that 
period by the perspicacity of his intellect, the force of his imagination, 
and the extent of his learning. His is the last individual name which 
we need mention in connexion with ancient letters. 



liarity of form or signification. Art of Rhetoric. 14. On the Rhe- 20. On the Platonic definition of 

Antimachus and Heracleon were toric of Hermogenes. 15. On just conduct. 21. On Ideas, 

two poets. 10. Oil names of the Sublime. 16. On the begin- 22. On the soul. 23 Odaenatus. 

nations. 11. Scholia on the ning of things. 17. De finibus 24. Commentaries on Plato. — 

?»lanual of Hephaestion. 12. On bonorum et malorum IS. On Anth. Lernp. vol. 2, pp- 847, 

the arrangement of words. 13. instinct. 19. Letter to Amelius. 848. 



APPENDIX, 



No. II. 



THE 

MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE SPARTANS. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



The distinguished station which Sparta occupied in Greece, renders it 
necessary that some notice should be taken in this place of its manners 
and institutions, especially as they differed so widely from those of the 
other states. 

THE C TY. 

The city itself, unlike its rival Athens, could pretend to little beauty. 
In its form it was irregular, as if it consisted merely of a group of villa- 
ges; its public buildings were few, and the most of them inelegant; and 
its general appearance, as Thucydides observes, was far from conveying 
a just idea of its importance. Almost the only structures of any note 
were the HoikiX'/i, a range of galleries decorated with fine fresco paintings, 
and the Ui^K'/i <rroex,, a portico, built in commemoration of the victory 
at Platsea. This building was in the e&yooa,, where it formed a very con- 
spicuous object. Beside it stood the senate-house and other public offices. 
The HXa.ru.yi err a,? served as an approach to the enclosure in which the 
youth practised their gymnastic exercises. It was so called from the 
plane-trees with which it was shaded. On an eminence, within the pre- 
cincts of the city, rose the temple of Minerva, XxXmoizos , built of brass, 
whence it had its name. This was the asylum in which Pausanias 
took refuge, and perished. The height itself on which it stood, was 
termed the Acropolis, not from being fortified, but merely on account of 
its elevation. Sparta, indeed, had no citadel like that of Thebes or 
Athens ; neither was it surrounded by walls, a prohibition to that effect 
having been laid down by Lycurgus, probably that the citizens might 



776 



MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS 



thereby learn to regard their own valour as the only means of security. 
During eight centuries it had no other bulwark, nor did it require any 
other till it had lost its independence. 

CLASSES OF THE PEOPLE. 

One of the most striking features of the Spartan constitution was the 
equal division of property which it established. Lycurgus marked out 
the whole territory of Lacedsemon into thirty thousand portions, which he 
assigned to as many families — nine thousand to the Spartans, and the rest 
to the people of the country. The former, who were of Doric origin, 
were called ^^r/ara/; the latter, who were Achaeans, and had inhabited 
the city previous to the Dorians, by whom they were dispossessed, were 
called U^toifiot. He farther passed a law, fixing the number of citizens 
at that of the lots of land. To prevent the population from falling short 
of this amount, marriage was enjoined on all, public ridicule was incurred 
by all who abstained from it, and certain immunities were offered to 
those who had several children. When there was an excess, it was 
obliged to emigrate. These lots could neither be bought nor sold, but 
descended unalienably from father to son. If there was no son, the in- 
heritance passed to the daughter ; and if there was no issue at all, it 
reverted to the state. Had he allowed these lands, however, to be tilled 
by their respective owners, he foresaw that a greater or less degree of 
cultivation would soon have given rise to a difference of value. To pre- 
vent equality from being in this way destroyed, they were consigned into 
the hands of bondsmen, who were permitted, after allowing the proprietor 
a fixed portion of the produce, to retain the remainder to themselves. 
As the quantity required of them was only a small portion of what was 
raised, the slaves in Lacedsemon were in general more opulent than their 
masters. 

At Sparta, as in every Dorian state, there were three tribes, Hylleis, 
Dymanes, and Pamphyli, which were farther subdivided into thirty wfiai, 
clans. The po^at were six divisions, including all who were capable of 
bearing arms. There was likewise another class called poSoiKis, composed 
of strangers and slaves, who, having been trained up from infancy along 
with the Spartan youth, received some of the privileges of citizenship. 
In early times this honour was often conferred gratuitously ; but with 
the increase of population, this became less frequent. 

Almost the only distinction of rank among the citizens was that between 
the opoici, or equals, and the vvro(Auovi$, or inferiors ; but in what this 
distinction consisted, is not clearly ascertained. It appears, however, 
that although it was hereditary, a person might be removed from the one 
class to the other as a punishment or reward ; and likewise, that a removal 
from the higher to the lower was the special penalty incurred by those 
who did not give up their children to be educated as the laws required. 
This degradation fell also on the children. 



OF THE SPARTANS. 



777 



But the great distinction of rank was that between the free population 
and the 'EiXurss, or slaves, so called, according to Miiller, from U«, in 
a passive sense, as a general term for prisoners of Avar. These slaves 
were much more numerous than the Lacedaemonians themselves, being 
in the proportion of at least five to one. The purposes for which they 
were employed were extremely various. They tilled the land, practised 
the arts* waited at the public entertainments, attended the heavy armed 
troops on land, and served as sailors in the navy. In short, they relieved 
their masters from every kind of labour, except that of the gymnasium 
or the camp. But notwithstanding the services they rendered, their 
treatment was far from kind. They were reminded from time to time, 
by blows and insults, of their degraded condition ; they were forbidden 
to use the Spartan songs, because they breathed sentiments of liberty ; 
and they were even forced to intoxicate themselves, and perform in that 
state licentious dances, in order that the disgust which they thus excited 
might operate on the citizens as an antidote to intemperance. It is 
generally understood, too, that they were exposed to a yearly massacre, 
the xguvruoz, instituted as an exercise in stratagem for the youth ; but it 
is more probable, as Miiller suggests, that this was only a species of very 
severe labour. But be this as it may, it is certain that in dangerous cir- 
cumstances, when their vast number made them formidable, and the 
cruel usage which they experienced gave reason to suspect their fidelity, 
many of them were secretly destroyed. It affords some slight alleviation 
to the dark light in which this presents the Spartan character, that these 
unhappy beings were not hopelessly retained in bondage, but were some- 
times emancipated for their services. This was a power which belonged 
exclusively to the state. 

The administration was distributed among three powers, viz., kings, 
senate, and people ; in this way exhibiting a union of the three great 
forms of government, — monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The people 
acted either directly in their assembly, or mediately by the ephori. 

THE KINGS. 

When the Dorians and Heraclidse took possession of the Peloponnese, 
the crown of Sparta fell to the share of Aristodemus ; but that prince 
having left at his demise newly born twins, between whom the question 
as to priority of birth could not be determined, a double line of kings thus 
arose, who continued to reign in Sparta conjointly. These two dynasties 
were the Agidai and Eurytionidse. Although this distribution of the 
royal power was often the cause of strife between the sovereigns them- 
selves, yet its tendency was rather salutary than otherwise, as their mu- 
tual jealousy kept them from making any attempt on the other branches 
of the legislature ; and it was perhaps partly on this account that no al- 
teration in this respect was made by Lycurgus. In time of peace the 
king's power was small, consisting principally of the superintendence of 



778 



MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS 



religion, and the right of presiding in the senate. In war, however, it 
was much increased. He took command of the army by right of birth ; 
he had the entire direction of its movements, the power of life and death, 
of raising supplies in foreign countries, and receiving embassies. In 
short, his authority was all but absolute. A council indeed was appointed 
to attend him, but he might deliberate with it or not at pleasure. When 
he returned, however, his conduct was liable to review, and if it was dis- 
approved of, he might be censured or suspended. This w?,s sometimes 
done even without a specific charge. Ever}' nine years the Ephori were 
authorized to go out into the fields in a calm moonless night, and if a 
shooting star, which was regarded as a sign of the divine displeasure, 
was observed, he was immediately deposed. He could be reinstated 
again only by the interposition of the Delphic oracle. 

Among a people so very much opposed to riches, the king's revenue 
could not have been great ; still it was more than sufficient for the decent 
maintenance of the royal dignity. The sources whence it arose were cer- 
tain lands in the territory of the Usgioixoi, a part of the Spartan lands, and 
a large share of the military spoils. He was also entitled to a double 
allowance (£/vrXa<ri«) at entertainments, and victims, wheat, and wine, for 
sacrifices. As the lineal descendant of Hercules, and the minister of re- 
ligion, he was always treated with respect. He enjoyed the first place in 
public (vfottya) ; on his entrance all but the Ephori rose up ; in the field 
he was followed by three hundred chosen warriors, as a retinue ; and his 
decease called forth the most violent lamentations. 

THE SENATE. 

The supreme deliberative body at Sparta was the senate, composed of 
the two kings, and twenty-eight old men chosen by the people. Owing 
to the advanced years of these representatives, it was called ysgax, or 
yi^ouffix. A place in this council was the highest honour to which a 
Spartan could aspire ; and as no one could become a candidate for admis- 
sion before the age of sixty, the hope of it exerted on all during life the 
most salutary influence in deterring from what was base, and inciting to 
virtuous exertion. The mode of election was somewhat singular. When 
a vacancy occurred, several persons were shut up in an edifice near the 
place of meeting, from which they could obtain no view of what was going 
on. The candidates were then led along in succession, amid the acclama- 
tions of the assembly, and the choice fell on the individual who was de- 
clared by the judges in the adjoining building to have been most clamor- 
ously received. After this contest, which was called nx,nmoiov *m aginis, 
the trial of merit, the victor was conducted in triumph, b^ crowds cele- 
brating his virtues, to the temples, where, with a garland on his head, 
he offered up incense. A variety of ceremonies followed, after which he 
took his seat in the senate. 

The power of this body was of two kinds, political and judicial. In 



OF THE SPARTANS. 



779 



addition to all questions of state which came primarily under its consider- 
ation, it also decided in cases affecting the life or character of a citizen ; 
and hence, in allusion to their twofold functions, its members are styled 
xvoioi xcu 'hifftforai rm vroXius, and xugtot ptyecXuv xgt<ncov. 

THE EPHORI. 

The chief executive power at Sparta was exercised by magistrates, 
called E<po£ot, a name expressive of the object for which they were created 
— the guardianship of the public interest. The number of these magis- 
trates, as of the tribunes at Rome, who greatly resembled them, was five, 
the first of whom, from giving his name to the Lacedaemonian year, was 
styled Wwvfios. They were chosen at the public assembly from the 
people indiscriminately, the only requisite qualification being that they 
belonged to the opotoi. The term for which they held office was a year. 
Once a month during this period they took an oath to support the royal 
authority, so long as it continued constitutional. 

Their duties were various. They attended daily at their hall (u^uov) 
in the forum, where, on their seats of office (}«pga zQo^xoi), they gave 
judgment in civil causes. They superintended the games and festivals. 
They had the peculiar charge of the youth, whom they inspected every 
ten days, to see that they were not brought up with too much delicacy. 
On such occasions they were expected to make use of the most efficient 
means to inspire them with emulation. They further took cognizance of 
any breach of public morals, awarding punishment not only in the case of 
positive crimes, but even for indolence or pusillanimity. They had also 
the inspection of the inferior magistrates, and the power of punishing 
them for misconduct. Two of their number always accompanied the 
general in war, as spies upon his actions. If they observed any thing 
amiss, they could summon him, on his return, for trial before the people, 
and obtain a sentence of censure or dethronement. They also summoned 
the popular assemblies, proposed the subject of deliberation, and carried 
the resolutions into effect. In addition to this share in the internal gov- 
ernment of the state, they had also the chief direction of its foreign policy. 
To them exclusively belonged the right of receiving embassies, of raising 
levies, of providing for their maintenance, and fixing their destination. 
Even in the field, notwithstanding the full powers with which the general 
was invested, they sometimes interposed to direct his movements, and, 
as in the instance of Agesilaus, to recall him in the midst of his opera- 
tions. 

And yet, of the manner in which they exercised power of such exorbi- 
tant extent, the Ephori could not be called to render an account. Tins 
want of responsibility; however, does not appear to have been abused ; for 
as they returned, at the expiry of their office, to the rank of private citi- 
zens, they could have no object to divert them from the only interest which 
a Spartan recognised — that of the constitution. That they were actually 



780 



MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS 



faithful to this interest, is evinced by the universal respect which they 
commanded, not only "while the spirit of the ancient institutions continued 
to animate the people, but even when they were far sunk in degeneracy. 

PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 

The principal assembly which met at Sparta was that emphatically 
termed the Iwkwrm. This assembly was composed of deputies from the 
people of Laconia, of the kings, the senators, the magistrates, and ambas- 
sadors from the allies. It was convened preparatory to engaging in any 
important enterprise, but not so much with a view to deliberate on the 
expediency of the measure, as merely to procure for it the sanction and 
support of the country. And hence the chief business of this assembly in 
the case of a war, was merely to fix the amount of supplies which each 
district should contribute. 

The other assembly, which was designated ixzkyiria, uix^a, was com- 
posed entirely of citizens. It was held originally without the city, in an 
open space, between the river Cnacion or Oeneus, and the bridge Babza ; 
but afterwards a building named cxik$ was built for the purpose. The 
ordinary time of holding it was once a month, at full moon ; and it also 
met occasionally for incidental business. 

At this assembly every Spartan who had reached the age of thirty en- 
joyed the right of being present, and taking a part. To be heard, how- 
ever, with attention, it was requisite that his character should be irre- 
proachable. 

The usual speakers were the kings, the senators, and the Ephori ; the 
latter of whom proposed the subject of deliberation, and took the sense of 
the meeting. This was not done by taking votes, as at Athens, but by 
acclamation — xgivov<ri ftoy xat ou ^ntyu ; and when the strength of parties 
could not be determined in this way, they were separated and counted. 
In this assembly the people did not possess the right of originating any 
measure, but only of confirming or negativing those submitted to them by 
the senate. Proposals were made at various times to shake off this depen- 
dence, but the majority always chose rather to acquiesce in it than alter 
the constitution. 

MAGISTRATES AND OFFICERS. 

After the Ephori, the chief of these were, 1, the Bidtouoi, five in num- 
ber, who presided at the contests of the youth, particularly those held in 
the TiXuraviffTccs. The office of these magistrates stood in the forum. 
2, The Hlofio<pu\etxss, whose duty it was to see that the laws were en- 
forced. 3, The 'Agftoo-uvoi, who had the inspection of the public manners 
in general, but especially those of the women in this department of their 
duty, corresponding with the Athenian TweuxofffiM. These magistrates 
had the direction of the female exercises. 4, The TlvQiot, who were em- 
ployed to consult the oracle on matters of public concern. They were 



OF THE SPARTANS. 



781 



appointed by the kings, with whom they had the privilege of supping at 
the same table. 5, The U^ohxos, or guardian of a prince during his mi- 
nority. This officer was generally the next in succession, and while his 
charge lasted, he enjoyed all the powers of royalty. 6, The Tleubovopos, 
or superintendent of the youth. This officer was always elected from 
among the most virtuous of the citizens. He had several young men 
under him, who went by the same name. 7, The 'Aytoffrcu, of whom 
there were two kinds. The first was a single magistrate, who was created 
only hi emergencies, for which the ordinary magistrates were unequal, 
and, like the Roman dictator, was superior to the laws. The second were 
elected annually, as governors of provinces, and generals of the allies. 
S, The UoXifAOL^ot, officers who commanded under the king in war, and, 
when in the city, had the charge of the public acts, arms, and military 
exercises. 9, The c I«r«ray£6roi, three officers, who were placed over the 
heavy-armed troops, and had the appointment of the Xoya$ts 9 a band of 
three hundred, selected as the bravest of the citizens. 10, The TSp fom, 
magistrates appointed to take charge of strangers. These strangers were 
such as came on business of state ; for by the law %ivr,\oc<riu, none but 
such were allowed to enter Laconia, unless by a special order from the 
Ephori. The design of this interdict was to prevent the rigour of the 
Spartan manners from being softened by intercourse with foreigners ; and 
hence even the few who were admitted had to conform during their stay 
to the frugal mode of living which the laws enjoined. 

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

The judicial power at Sparta was vested in different hands. The 
senate decided in criminal cases ; the Ephori in such as regarded pro- 
perty, or the conduct of other magistrates ; and the kings in causes of 
heiresses and adoptions. Disputes were also sometimes settled by arbi- 
tration. As there were no advocates at Sparta, the action was conducted 
in private cases by the parties themselves ; but in criminal ones, it ap- 
peal's that the circumstances were merely communicated to a magistrate, 
and brought by him under the notice of the senate. The laws which 
regulated the decision were committed, not to writing, but to the memory. 

PUNISHMENTS. 

These were of various kinds. 1, Z'/ipict, a fine in money or property ; 
unless in the case of kings and generals, this was very small, for the most 
part nothing more than a cake or a few laurel leaves. 2, At/^k, infamy. 
The severest form of this punishment was that inflicted on those who 
fled from battle. Such persons could fill no public office, or associate 
with their fellow citizens, or dwell in the same part of the city, but were 
marked out by various painful distinctions for the public contempt. A 
lighter species of ignominy was incurred by the dissolute and slothful. 
3, $uyr,. This was not so much a punishment as a voluntary withdrawal 

3 u 



782 



MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS 



from one. Homicides generally went into exile ; but according to Miiller, 
this was from a dread of private revenge, not in consequence of a judicial 
sentence. 4, Savxros, death. This was far from being looked on by 
the Spartans as the severest kind of punishment, or as at all equal to an 
existence prolonged in infamy. It was usually inflicted by strangulation, 
and always in the night. Besides these, there were also certain punish- 
ments peculiar to the gymnasium. 

EDUCATION OF THE YOUTH. 

As it was the main object of the Spartan legislator to give to his 
country a robust and temperate people, so the provisions which he made 
were eminently calculated to effect it. As soon as a child was born, it 
was carried for inspection to the seniors of the tribe, and if it appeared 
sickly or deformed it was at once destroyed. If, on the other hand, it 
was approved of, it was sent back to the parent's house, to be reared up in 
such a way as would give the fullest development to all its powers, and 
lay the foundation of a bold and patient character. On reaching the 
seventh year, he was removed to one of the public classes (ayiXai), where 
he was taught exercises, suited to his strength, and gradually inured to 
cold, hunger, and fatigue. After the twelfth year, the exercises became 
much more severe. About the age of sixteen, he was numbered among 
the ffdsuvoci. At eighteen he passed from this class into that of the 
ty'/ifioi, and thence, two years after, into that of the it^ins ; the discipline 
continuing to grow more and more arduous as he advanced, until he be- 
became one of the IZyifiot, and a franchised citizen. Even then, however, 
gymnastic exercises were his chief employment. 

Up to this period, the whole youth, both male and female, contended 
daily in running, leaping, wrestling, and throwing the javelin. The 
former were also frequently exercised in the chase, and made to pass 
whole nights uncovered in the fields. Any carelessness or delinquency, any 
foolish answer or remark, was punished with the whip. They were farther 
required to be modest in their deportment— to pay the greatest deference, 
not only to their regular masters, but likewise to all the citizens — to 
submit patiently to be rebuked by any of them, or directed, or chastised. 

To the efficacy of this system in fitting the Spartans for war all writers 
concur in bearing testimony ; nor can there be any doubt that this was 
the great cause of their eminent success. 

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS. 

In order that the effect of this discipline might not be counteracted 
by luxurious living, all the citizens were obliged to sup in public, where 
care was taken that nothing should be served up but the simplest and 
coarsest food. From their spareness, these entertainments were called 
Quince. This food, however, was not provided by the government, as in 
Crete, but by the guests themselves, each being required to contribute 



OF THE SPARTANS. 



7S3 



monthly a certain amount of meal, cheese, figs, wine, and money. At 
these entertainments, citizens and magistrates sat down together ; nor 
could any one be absent -without incurring the censure of the Ephori. 
An excuse, however, was sustained if the person had been engaged in 
sacrifice or the chase, only he was expected to send a share of the game 
or victim to his companions. In order to be admitted to a particular 
table, it was necessary that the applicant should be agreeable to all the 
guests. To ascertain this, a vessel was carried round into which each 
dropped a crumb of bread ; if he was favourable to the suit, tins crumb 
was round ; if not, it was flattened, and a single crumb of this latter 
sort was sufficient to exclude. This vessel was called xa^aj, hence 
xixaStitifffat, to be rejected. The youth were admitted to these enter- 
tainments, that they might be instructed by the conversation, which 
usually turned on acts of heroism or virtue: and they had likewise leave 
given them to pilfer from the tables what they could, in order to teach 
them invention and dexterity. 

The fcraixAay was an after-meal, furnished out of the presents made 
to the table The xoirts was a private entertainment, to which the host 
invited his personal friends. 

DRESS. 

The precautions of Lycurgus against luxury extended also to dress. 
The young women wore only a woollen robe (jfAunov), loose at one side 
and fastened over the shoulder with clasps. Besides this, married 
women used an upper garment and a veil. The habit of males (vgifiw) 
was also of wool ; coarse and small, and renewed not oftener, at least by 
the youth, than once a-year. Ointments and baths were prohibited. 
Embroidery, gold, and precious stones were allowed only to courtezans. 
The only rings in use were of iron. The hair and beard were worn long ; 
but the hair of boys was cut close to accustom them to cold. Soldiers 
were dressed in scarlet ; and before an engagement bound chaplets round 
their heads. 

LITERATURE. 

It was inconsistent with the object of Lycurgus to permit his country- 
men to bestow much care on letters. For besides diverting their atten- 
tion from gymnastic exercises, he foresaw that intellectual culture would 
soon raise them from that state of rudeness which he wished to 
perpetuate, as the most favourable to valour. The course of study, 
accordingly, was of small extent, and embraced only what was positively 
useful, and in unison with the spirit which marked the public institutions. 
Reading and writing were generally taught ; as also poems like those of 
Tyrtaeus, in praise of magnanimity : but comedy was proscribed as 
useless, and tragedy as softening the character by the tender emotions it 
awakened. The same severity extended to logic, rhetoric, and history 
3 u 2 



7b4 



MANNERS AND INSTITUTIONS 



Eloquence was looked on as a mere instrument of delusion ; but besides 
tins it could never have attained much success among a people who 
regarded conciseness as the chief excellence of style. Every thing, in 
short, either abstruse or ornamental, every thing that aimed at affecting 
the imagination or the heart, was treated with contempt. Dancing, 
from its connexion with gymnastic exercises, was practised and encour- 
aged. The Spartan music was wholly martial, and of the rudest kind. 

RELIGION. 

The influence of religion, as an instrument of forming the character, 
was too obvious for Lycurgus not to take advantage of it. The peculi- 
arities of the Spartan form of worship are a proof of this. The statues 
of the gods were represented armed ; the offerings made to them were 
to be of small value ; the prayers short, simple, and sincere. At certain 
festivals, there were processions where the old recounted, in verse, their 
former exploits, and the young declared their willingness to die for their 
country. Fears and lamentations for the dead were prohibited : the period 
of mourning lasted only eleven days. The place of burial was within 
the city, in order that the people by having the tombs of their forefathers 
continually before their eyes, might be reminded of their virtues, and 
roused to emulate their example. As a farther incentive to heroic 
bravery, epitaphs were held out as the exclusive privilege of those who 
fell in battle ; and as these tombs were erected in the vicinity of tem- 
ples, the principle of patriotism was thus strengthened and elevated by 
religious associations. 

WARFARE. 

In addition to the ordinary exercises of the Spartans, which all tended, 
as we have said, in an eminent degree, to qualify them for war, they 
were also taught military tactics as an art. That it was not conquest, 
however, which Lycurgus proposed as the object of his system, appeal's not 
only from some of his laws directly forbidding it, but also from the fact 
that the territories of Sparta received no accession during the most 
flourishing period of her history. So far, indeed, as the art of war was 
cultivated on its own account, it was intended merely for self-defence, 
while the great design of the other institutions was public temperance 
and virtue. 

The military age at Sparta lasted till the fortieth year from maidiood, 
or the sixtieth from birth ; but there is some uncertainty as to the period 
when it commenced. Those liable to serve were called iftQgougot. The 
army consisted of "ko-^oi vrzvr'/jxcirrvzs, ivuparia, and f&ogut. The relative 
numbers which these divisions contained is not very clearly ascertained. 
In the battle of Mantinea, there were seven \o%o^ each containing four 
vrivr'/ixoffrvzs, and each vrivriiKoirrus four ivupanu. Perhaps, however, 
this proportion was only occasional. There was another body of six 



OF THE SPARTANS. 



7S5 



hundred light infantry, the <rx^rt}s *.o%os, who marched in front, to be 
ready for any rapid movement. A number of Helots were often attached 
to the regular troops. The cavalry were few, and seldom of much ser- 
vice. 

The Spartans were prohibited to pursue far from the field, to strip the 
slain, to besiege any city, to remain long in the same quarters, or fight 
often with the same enemy. 

When encamped, the soldiers were obliged to lie in their armour, 
in case of any sudden assault ; but however great a privation this 
might be to others, it was none to men who regarded war as a pastime. 
As a relief from the more rigid discipline of the city, a sacrifice was 
offered by the king, just before engaging, after which they advanced 
to the sound of flutes. In action, their courage was calm and com- 
posed ; in this respect differing from that of the more northern Greeks. 
What with the fortitude imparted by the laborious course of training, the 
moral courage and devotedness to the state, which so many influences 
conspired to form, and the ignominy which awaited cowardice, the feel- 
ing of all was, — victory or death! 

REVENUES. 

The expenses of the Spartan government were defrayed not by regular 
taxation, but by occasional assessments to the amount required by the 
exigency. The ordinary sources, whence the revenue was derived, were 
the <pogoi, or contingents of the Laconians and allies, and the u<r(pogoct f 
levied on the property of the citizens. Considerable sums were also 
obtained from the sale of spoils, and the ransoms of prisoners. As the 
amount of tribute was regulated by the circumstances, there was no 
treasury at Sparta till after the Peloponnesian war ; but the immense 
quantities of gold and silver then brought from Athens, rendered the 
erection of one necessary, and from that time the city contained more of 
these metals than any other in Greece. 



3 v3 



APPENDIX, 

No. III. 



GRECIAN WEIGHTS, MEASURES, AND MONIES. 



Measures of length. — The unit of lineal measure adopted by the Greeks 
was the foot (vrovs), of which the SeZxrvXos, or finger's breadth, was -Jg-, 
and the sraXa^TTj or palm, The latter was also understood by $o%pyi 9 
from Vixopau to receive, by the compound term 'SuxrvXoVoxtw, and by 
1u>£ov, which properly signifies a gift ; the application of the latter term 
to this measure is commonly explained by the fact, that the palm of the 
hand is naturally extended in receiving a gift. or span, equals 

12 ^ccx.tvXoi, and is defined by Hesychius to be the distance from the 
extremity of the thumb to that of the little finger, when the hand is 
opened with a view of grasping or measuring any object. The divisions 
of the vrovgf more rarely employed, are xovtvXo?, ^%a,?, Xi%&S) and lo6b- 
lagov ; the first being 2 'haxrvXoi, and the second i Hovs, hence entitled 
by Theophrastus hptmhav. The At%&; 9 was 10 ^ocktvXoi, and the 1^6 a- 
Ico^ov^ being the length of the hand from the wrist to the extremity of the 
middle finger, equalled 11 ^axrvXou Pollux, (Lib. 2) from whom the 
previous definitions have been derived, informs us that ^rvy/^—18 
^a,KrvXoi, was the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the meta- 
carpal bone of the middle finger, while that reckoned to the extremity 
of its first phalanx was <7rvyav—2§ ^oixrvXoi, and that cr^y?=24 loixrvkoi, 
was the cubit, or the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the 
middle finger. The ?rv%ug then contained 1£ nohs* The fiypa was 2£ 
vohs, and thus corresponded to the pes sestertius of the Romans. It was 
employed by the people at large as the unit of distance, whence (In/ianf- 
voCi means measurers of roads. 'Ogyvia, or fathom, from hfiyu, " to ex- 
tend," is the distance from the hands, when the arms are raised and 
extended, measured along the breast, and equals 6 vrbfos ; hence it has 
received from Herodotus the epithets vir^u^nx u s and Utavrohns. The 
measure from which the Romans probably borrowed their decempeda was 
axcuva or xxXotpo$=zlO n'oh; ; six of these constituted the «^«, which 
together with the srA£lga»=100 nohs, and the xcckupos was used princi- 



1 From an Essay on the Weights, Measures, and Monies of the Greeks and Romans, by A. B, 
Conger, A. B,, Mathematical Instructed to the Freshman Glass, in Columbia College, New York. 



GRECIAN WEIGHTS, MEASURES, AND MONIES. 



787 



pally in the measurement of lands. The most ancient itinerary 
measure of the Greeks was the ffrdhov, which appears to have had a very 
rude origin. It is said to have been the invention of Hercules, whose 
athletic exertion it exhibited, since it comprehended the distance which 
he was able to rim without taking breath. Isidoms informs us, that it 
took its name from "tr'/ipt, 6t to stand," and assigns as a reason, il quod in 
jine respirasset simulque stetisset. It was established as the measure of 
the length of the etuXos, or foot course, at the Olympic games, and from 
the respect in which these exercises were held, it became an itinerary 
measure. This distance, the hero who instituted it measured by the 
length of his foot, which he found equal to one six-hundredth part of the 
course. Censorinus and M. Gosselin have endeavoured to show that 
there were different stadia employed among the Greeks, but their re- 
marks have been completely refuted by Wurm. 'lsr-r/acv, or the distance 
a horse could run, " sub uno spiritu" equals 4 (rra^ia, and VoXi^s has 
been variously assumed as 6, 7, 8, and even 24 cra^/a, but more cor- 
rectly as 12. Those linear measures which were known to the Greeks 
by their intercourse with other nations, were ftikiov, or the Roman mile 
=8 aroHhia ; vrococco-cZy'yy; =30 ffradtot, according to Herodotus ii. 6. and 
Xenophon, (Anab. v. 7.) though Strabo makes it in different places 40 
and 60 arnhux. ; and cr%e7vos, an Egyptian measure, whose value is differ- 
ently assigned to be 60, 40, and 32 aruha. 

Determination of the greek foot. — There are two methods of in- 
vestigating the value of the novs proposed to us: the first consists in its 
determination by its ratio to the Roman foot ; the second, by means of 
the public edifices of the Greeks which are yet standing. 

1. All authors agree that the ratio subsisting between the Roman and 
Greek foot is 24: 25, as might also be inferred from the value the Greeks 
assigned to fitktov, which we have mentioned was 8 <rr«2/a= 4,800 vrtiis 
=5,000 pedes. Now the Roman foot having been determined^: . 97075 
feet, the value of the Greek foot hence deduced is 1,0111812 feet. 

2. Mr Stuart, who examined the temples remaining at Athens, found 
the average ratio of the Greek to the Roman foot to be 25,04: 24. 
(Quarterly Review, No. 10, page 280.) The Greek foot would hence=: 
1.0128168 feet. 

The mean of these two values is 1.011999 feet. We prefer, however, 
adopting Wurm's determination, who has examined Mr Stuart's meas- 
urements with great accuracy, and has equalled the Greek foot to 136.65 
par, liii.= 1.01 146 feet, (See Tables 1 and 2.) 

ii. Measures of extent. — The unit of extent was u^qvok. being a 
square whose side is 50 *ofos ; it was divided into sixths and twelfths, 
respectively called txret and -h^kxrot. The wXifyov contained 4 u^ott, 
and is the measure most frequently mentioned in the superficial meas- 
urements of lands. The values and relations of the others are exhibited 
in Table 3. 



788 



MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 



in. Measures of capacity. — 1. For Liquids. — The greatest liquid 
measure was ^t^jjtjj?, which was also called xa$o;, from x^ uv, > e< *° 
contain xigec/Mov, probably from its being made of horn ; and up<pog-vs, 
from uft<p{<po£zvSi receiving its name from the two handles by which it was 
carried. Another synonym was a-rd^cvtov, (" xtouuiov rou otvod n vbccros 
o-u.p\m" Hesychius.) From the verses of Rhemnius Fannius, 
" A ttica prceterea dicenda est amphora nobis 
Seu cadus; hunc fades, si nostrce addideris urnam,' : 

it appears that the fAir^yi?—l\ amphor<z=8 gallons 2 quarts 0,46 pints. 
It contained 12 %ovg, 72 %i<rrou, and 144 xotvXki ; and, by comparing 
the Roman and Greek capacious measures, we will perceive that the %ovg 
corresponded in value to the congius, %i<r<m$ to sextarius, and xoruXn to 
hemina. Certain festivals at Athens were called x'ots, because, according 
to Suidas, every man had a %ou$ of wine given him, and, as Athenseus 
declares, because Demophoon, king of Athens, offered a sweet-cake, and 
Dionysius the tyrant, a crown of gold, as a prize to the first person who 
drank a x°"$ of wine. KorvX'/i derived its name from its cavity, and 
Galen mentions that the xotuXyi and hemina were applied by the ancient 
physicians to the same use with the modern graduated glasses of our 
apothecaries, being vessels of horn, of rectangular or cylindrical shape, 
divided on the outer side by means of lines into 12 parts, which they 
called ounces of measure (olyyiou pir^ixa?), and which corresponded to a 
certain number of ounces by weight, (ovyytoti ffTuOfuxcc't.) Now the hemina, 
being 1-96 of the am,phora, weighed when filled with wine, 10 uncice, so 
that the account of Galen is involved in doubt, inasmuch as the ounce by 
measure was hence 5-6 of that by weight. T&rxgrov, IZvficiQov, and xua0o$, 
were respectively equal to the quartarius, acetabulum, and cyathus of 
the Romans. The remaining measures are x'oyxv> pvar^ov, #^>7, and 
xox^-'^^ov, concerning which authors are slightly at variance. Cleopatra 
makes a greater and less xoy^yi, the greater being the same with the 
o?tjfia(pov, the less \ xvot0o$ ; while Pliny (H. N. xii. 25.) makes the 
xoy%n a determinate measure. MtW^ov, or pvtrrXev, was borrowed, a 
its name imports, from the shell of the sea-mouse, and was of two kinds, 
the less and more common being J xvuQos, the greater 1-18 of the xorvXv}. 
Xypn, derived also from some shell-fish, was divided into the greater or 
rustic=l-20 xorvky} ; and the less, or that used by physicians=l-30 
xoTv'kr,. Ko%ktxgiov was equal to % x'^^' 

2. For things dry, — The largest measure employed in the measurement 
of grain was Mi$ipvo$=6 Modii. 

Its divisions were rglros, zx.ro;, and 'hphxrov ; and it contained 4S 
XOivtxzs ; so that the x a ? vl % equalled 4 xorvXeu. The remaining measures 
were the same with the liquid measures. (See Tables 4 and 5.) 

iv. Weights. — The unit of weight was ^gstx/un, or drachm =6 ofioXot. 
Ofioko; equalled, according to Pollux, 8 x^X ei > ailC * tne W^W** 011 tne 
authority of Suidas=7 klrrx ; though Pliny makes the ofioXo$=zlO, and 



OF THE GREEKS. 



Suidas=6 xxX%et. The Romans translated z a ^X° 5 areolus, and Xivrrov 
minuta, or minutia. Though Rhemnius Fannius asserts that the Greeks 
used no weights less than the ofioXos, the physicians employed some 
smaller, viz.: «S£a<™v, equal to the siliqua of the Romans, = 1-1 44 uncia, 
and ara^iovt or grain, =^ siliqua. The multiples of the ponderal unit, 
or the weights greater than the %o«,%uh, were the pvsi, or mina, = 100, 
and <raXavr<3v=600O tga^fieu. From Libra, the later Greeks derived 
their Airoiz, which, in imitation of the Romans, they divided into 12 
cvyyicti. The rocXavrov being, according to Livy, (38. 38.) 80 Libne, 
the Libra=75 fya%p>eu and the tget%uh=l-7'0 Libra=67,327 grains ; 
which result differs very little from that assigned by Wurm. Considering 
that a more correct value of the might be obtained from the coins 

extant, he has followed the determinations of Letronne, and assumed it 
=82, 1-7 Par grains=67,3349 grains. (See Tables 6 and 7.) 

V. coins. — The Greeks counted by means of <raXavr#, ^vS/, rsroa$^u^- 
fccc, and &£&£jEe&/, and their method of standarding excelled the Roman 
in point of ease and convenience, since their coins were weights also. 

The brazen coins were Xa,X%ov$=l-9 ifioXog ; and Xscr<rov=l-7 XaX- 
Xovs. The ofZokes was so called, because, previously to the introduction 
of coined money, it was in the form of a small spit. The silver coins 
referring to the l(Zo\6s f are rsrgofioXev, <rgicfioXov, }io$oXov f hptfibXiov, and 
Vi^aX^ev ; but those are most celebrated which refer to the viz. : 

^'itooixfjiov, tgftgujgfAM, nrgd£gai%fAov. Romeo de l'Isle mentions a Greek 
coin of silver,=ll W^a/, and Plato and Julius Pollux speak of the 
vnvrnucovrd&zaxftov, which, were it a coin, must have been very large. 
A^x/^h quasi fyayph, is interpreted a handful of 6 hfioXo'i, which were 
equal to it in value ; it was employed in the computations of the Greeks, 
as the sestertius was by the Romans, Plutarch affording us many examples. 
The fyet%fth varied in different countries determining the rdXxvrov of 
corresponding variation ; that of iEgina was called cra^s/a, since it 
equalled If- Attic drachms, in contradistinction with the Attic, called 

There is mention made of the fiov;, a coin so called from the stamp of 
an ox with which it was impressed, reputed equal to the Vit^^ov, and 
coined of gold and silver. This was perhaps one of the most ancient 
Greek coins, being known to Homer, if we credit the testimony of Julius 
Pollux, and to it that immortal bard is supposed to allude, when he sings 
of Glaucus changing his golden armour, worth 100 fiois, for the brazen 
one of Diomede. The Tsr^a^a^av, or silver ffrarhg, appears to have 
been the coin most generally in use among the Greeks. Livy informs 
us, that between the years 564 and 566, A. U. C. there were brought to 
Rome by M. Fulvius 1 18,000, by M. Acilius 113,000, by L. A. Regillus 
34,700, and by Scipio Asiaticus 22,400 rtr^aSou^a. So many speci- 
mens of them remain, that they are to be found at the present day in al- 
most every collection. Letronne having accurately examined 500 of 



790 



MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 



them, and arranged them according to the centuries in which they were 
struck, deduced the mean weight of the old Attic ^o^'/j coined two 
centuries and more B. C. = 82 1-7 Par. grs. =*= 67*3349 grs. and its 
purity being -97, its value is 9d. 2*85 far. or 17 cts. 5*93 mills Federal 
currency. The latter Attic t^st^m was also found = 77 1-7 Par. grs. = 
63*236 grs. and its value thereby determined is 9d. 0-487 far. or 16 cts. 
5*22 mills. The Xwrovs, or golden <rratrrig, weighed 2, and was valued 
at 20 ; golden pieces were coined of double and half its weight, 

and though no Attic staters remain at the present day, there have been 
preserved some Darics and Philippics, whose purity is very remarkable, 
being *979. The ratio of gold to silver varied at different periods. Hero- 
dotus estimates it as 13 to 1 ; in the dialogue of Hipparchus, commonly 
ascribed to Plato, it is 12 to 1, and Lysias the orator, assumes it as 10 to 
1, which last ratio was preserved without alteration. 

The Mina (M»5), according to Plutarch, equalled 75 till the 

time of Solon, who made it contain 100. The Attic talent of silver 
equalled 60 minse ; that of ^Egina, which was current at Corinth, was 
1 00 ; and the Attic talent of gold was 600 minae, according to the pro- 
portion of gold and silver just premised. For the values of the different 
coins, see tables 8 and 9. 



OF THE GREEKS. 



791 

















TABLE 


I. 










GRECIAN 


MEASURES OF LENGTH. 












1. Small Measures. (.Unit: Horj = 1*0 1146 /<?<*.) 


ft. inch. 
0-75859 


3 










• 








1-51719 


i 






tor*} ancient ^ 


wpov 










3-03438 


a 


4 


2 


At^oj, or "B^uvtf&M 










6-06876 


ID 


_i 


^5 


1-25 














7*58595 


I] 


6*5 


275 


1*375 


1-01 


, Op666a> 














6 


3 


15 


1-2 


1 09 










9-10314 


I 


b 


4 


2 


1-6 


1 45 


H 


Uovs 






1 0*13754 




9 


4-5 


2-25 


1-8 


1-43 


1-5 


1 125 






. 1 l*6o4"l 


20 


10 


5 


2 5 


2 


1 '81 


1-6 


1-25 


11 




1 3-1719 


24 


12 


6 


3 


•?-4 


2-18 


2 


1'5 


1-3 


1-2 | n *?jr*s 


. 1 6-20628 













TABLE 


II. 










GRECIAN 


MEASURES OF LENGTH. 






no?? 




2 


Grea.' Measures, 


{Unit: Si 


iUov = 606-876 feet.) 

mi let. 


ydi, 


ft. 
1-01146 


n 




















2-52865 


6 




'Opyiua 














2 


6-06876 


10 


4 


1 






KdX 






3 


1-1146 


60 


24 


10 


1 


6 










20 


0.6S76 


10(1 


40 


■ml 


10 


>§ 


nxiepoy 




33 


2-146 


600 


240 


100 


1 


60 


10 


6 




202 


0-S76 


1200 


4S0 


200 




120 


20 


12 


2 


Ai'oi'Xoj . 


404 


1-752 


2400 


960 


400 




240 


40 


84 


4 


2 | 'brra* 


509 


0-504 


7-00 


23.30 


1200 




720 


120 


72 


12 


6 | 3 I A«A«*«S 1 


667 


1512 














TABLE III. 












GRECIAN MEASURES 


OF EXTENT. 






















p.cres. roods. 


poles. 


Sq. ft. 

1-02305 


36 




















36-82985 


100 


~9 


"A«a<r 
















102-30513 


8331 


23 A 


H 












3 


35-79278 


166 6§ 




16§ 


2 










6 


71*58555 


2500 


69 1 


25 


3 


If I'Apovpa, 








9 


107-37833 


10000 


277 | 


100 


12 


6 


4 | u\id P oi> . 






37 


157*26332 
















nxt'epa 10 2 1 


15 


211*38316 


















100 23 ! 


37 


208 0816 


















1000 234 3 


17 


175-066 



792 



MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 



TABLE IV. 

GRECIAN MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 

1. For Liquids. {Unit: Merp^s = 2371*125 cubic inches.) 

















2 














i 


1> 


Mi 


srooy 










5 


2 5 


2 










10 


5 


4 


2 


K{,a9o S 






15 


?5 


6 


3 


1^' 'OJfW" 




30 


15 


12 


6 


.Jj._ 2 




ov * • »■ 


GO 


30 


24 


12 


.J|_t 


2 


K c 




120 


60 


48 


24 


12] 8 


4 


2 




720 


360 
2160 


1728 


144 


72 48 


24 


12 
72 


6| Xovy 

36] 6 [ AtAr^ 


1320 


864 432 288 144 
r _|._j 


8640 


4320 


3456 


1728 864 576 288 


144 


72 121 2 | Msrprjrfo 



100 
1000 



0-27444 
0-54887 

0- 68609 

1- 37218 
2*74436 
4*11654 
8-23308 

16-4661; 
32-93231 
197-59383 
1185-56300 
1 643-12599 
13 1247-25992 
137 376-59924 
1372 309-9924 



8 2 
85 2 
855 2 
8557 1 



0-007924 
0-015847 
0-019809 
0-0896 IS 
O-079236 
118854 
0-237707 
0-475415 

0- 950829 

1- 704974 
0.229846 
0-459692 

0- 596916 

1- 969163 
1-691634 



TABLE V. 

GRECIAN MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 

2. For things dry. {Unit : MtSipvos = 3161-5 cubic inches.) 



"120 



240 
960 
1920 
38 10 



11520 



KuafJoy 

riiXr, 



~2~| Xoln? 



8 j 4 | 'H^.'s^to?/ 
16 I 8 | 2 |"E*r« s 
32 | 16 4 I 2 | TptrJ f 



192 i 96 I 48 I 12 I 6 1 3 [ Mi^voj 



100 
1000 



0-22444 
2-74436 
4-11664 
16-4661! 
32-93231 
65*86461 
263-45844 



1053-83377 
1 1433 50132 
18 511-01323 
182 1654-13232 
1820 989-3232 



1 

1 1 
1 1 1 
14 1 

142 2 
1426 1 



•007924 
•079236 
•118854 
•475415 
•950829, 
1-901653 
3 1-606632 
3 1-213265 
3 0426530 
1 1-279589 
0-795SS9 
3 1 -958885 
3 1 -5SSS46 



OF THE GREEKS. 



793 



TABLE VI. 

GRECIAN WEIGHTS. 

1. Weights below the Drachm. {Unit; Apax^n — 67 '334.9 grs.) 

Troy Weight. Avoirdupoise Wt, 



Lepton (Aejrrii/) . 

7 | Chalcus {XoXkoZs) . 
23 i 4 j Half Obolus (<H M c6(3oXcol) 
56 | 8 j 2 I Obolus ('0/?oXo's) 
112 ( 16 j 4 I 2 j Diobolus (Ato,3o\ v) 
336 I 46 1 12 | 6 j 3 | Dra c h m {Apa x uv) 



grs. 
0.2004 


drs. 
O-0O733 


1-4028 


O-0513O 


5-6112 


0-20521 


11-2224 


0-41 042 


22-4449 


0-820S4 


19-3349 


2-46253 



Drachm (Apaxpti) 

Didrachm (AtSpaxrf) 
gol Ma* {Mua) 



TABLE VII. 

GRECIAN WEIGHTS. 

2. Weights above the Drachm. 

Troy Weight, 
lbs. oz. dwts. g; 



5000 3000| 60 | Attic Talent (T<LWro,0 
10000 5000 100 | \% [ Talent of ^gina 



14-6693 
13-48S2 
17-292 

4 82 



Avoirdupois Weight. 

lbs. oz. drs. 

2-46253 

4-92506 

15 6-25298 

11 7-1788 

3 1 29S 



TABLE VIII. 

GRECIAN MONIES. 

1. Monies beloiv the Drachm. {Unit: Aoax/j-v — 9d. 2-S52 farthings.) h 

d. far. \ 

Lepton {AstttSv) 0116] 

. . . 0-S69 

.... . 1-619| 

... 3-2 3 J 

1 2475 

3 0-95l| 



3 K 



7 

14 


Cha 

T 


Dichalcon (A^aXxor) 


28 


4 


2 | Half Obolus ('H^'o/JoA^) 


56 


~T 


4 | 2 | Obolus ('O/SoXo'j) 


112 


16 


8 j 4 j 2 | Diobolon {ArfpoXov) 


224 


32 


16 1 8 | 4 | 2. 1 Tetrobolon (Terp^oXo*) 


336 


48 


24 1 12 1 C 1 3 U \ DKACHM (Aoar^) 



794 






MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 
















TABLE IX. 
















GRECIAN MONIES. 








D.-ach 






2. Monies above the Drachm, 


s. 


d. 

9 


far. 

2-852 


2 


Didrachm (Al6paxfj.ov) .... I 


1 


- 1 


1-704 


4 


2 


Tetradrachm, {TeTp,'iipaxfj.ov) or silver 2rar??f> 


3 


2 


3-408 


20 


10 


5 


Chrysus (Xpuo-aCy,) Baric (Aaf»€ t «u S ) Stater of Gold 


16 


2 


1-042 


100 


50 


25 


5 


Mina (M-S) . . . 4 





11 


1 21 


COOO 


3000 




m 










1500 


60| Attic Taler.t of Silver (T^Xa.-™,-) 242 


16 


6 


0-591 


1G000 


5000 


2500 


500 


100 1|| Talent of .Egina . • 404 


14 


2 


0-9S5 


600CO 


3O000 


15000 3000 


6onl 10 | 6 ( Attic Talent of Gold 2428 


5 


] 


v3h 



THE ATHENIAN COINAGE. 1 



Ancient authors, and other usual sources of information, throw little 
light upon the management of the mint at Athens, and this circumstance 
seems to imply, that the right of coinage was monopolized by the state, 
and the economy of the department veiled from the popular eye. Indeed, 
we may well conceive that the monetary system could not have been 
prudently entrusted to comparatively irresponsible individuals, and that 
the general safety was best consulted by connecting it with the govern- 
ment. The inscriptions and devices of the coins themselves evidence 
the fact : the national insignia, emblematic allusions to the state, together 
with the Athenian title, were the uniform bearings of the coin ; and it 
was only an exception to the general rule, when names of individuals and 
local references were added. 

The most important feature in the Athenian coinage was its purity 
and freedom from alloy ; for though the ancient method of refining could 
scarcely succeed in wholly separating the silver from the lead always 
found with it in the mines of Laurium, numismatic researches have dis- 
covered very little impurity in the Athenian coin, and in no instance 
have detected the presence of copper, which, as being more suitable for 
the purpose, would have been employed for wilful adulteration. The 
usages of modern states, not excepting our own country, present a de- 
cisive contrast. The silver coin of Henry the Eighth, and of his suc- 
cessor, were repeatedly adulterated, till in the end, 3 oz. fine, and 9 oz. 
alloy, were substituted for 11 oz. 2 dwts. fine, and 18 dwts. alloy, which 



1 Abridged from Cardwell's Lectures on the Coinage of the Greeks and Romans. 



OF THE GREEKS. 



795 



had been the national standard. Impurity "was at the same time intro- 
duced into the gold coinage, yet with little or scarcely any reference to 
the respective values of that metal and silver. The consequences may be 
conceived: mercantile transactions were thrown into confusion, and 
nearly suspended ; and though penal enactments were resorted to in sup- 
port of the legal tender, the severities of the law were rendered nullities 
by a course of evasion, which, while it produced temporary relief, laid 
the foundation of lasting distress. Dming a period of intestine trouble, 
an attempt was indeed made to debase the coinage of Athens with copper ; 
but this act was met by so strong a feeling of discontent, that the national 
standard was very shortly after restored. Therefore, though we may find 
difficulty in assigning to the existing specimens of Athenian silver their 
true era, we may consider them as applying to the most nourishing por- 
tions of Athenian history, and vouching for the extreme purity of the 
coinage. 

Purity was not the only superiority of the Athenian coin over that of 
modem states. It might probably be owing, in a good measure, to the 
rude process of minting, that the coin issued from the mint in a form best 
of all suited to prevent loss by friction. However this may be, the globu- 
lar form, admitting it to be inconvenient for transfer, maintained the 
value tif the coin unimpaired dining a long circulation. The effect of 
friction was also reduced by the purity; it being an ascertained fact, 
" that the purer the metal is, the less consumption of it from friction 
arises in use/" 

A remarkable fact connected with the Athenian money is the confine- 
ment of the issue to. cue species ; for if we except the copper coinage, 
which was comparatively of uo importance, we find the legal currency 
restricted to silver coins, ranging from the tetradrachm to the quarter 
obol. The operations of cc nmerce brought the gold coin of other states 
into Athens; but though these were received in payment without mur- 
mur, and circulated amongst themselves, they appear to have been rated 
according to their intrinsic value. It may excite surprise that the Athe- 
nians should display so much adroitness in the management of their cur- 
rency, at a period when, we presume, - the arts of government were 
scarcely matured ; but historical evidence is at hand to prove the extent 
of their commercial transactions, whence maybe inferred a corresponding 
knowledge of the monetary circulation. Xenophon takes occasion to re- 
mark on the confusion that would arise from the introduction of another 
species of currency. " If/^he says, " any one should tell me, that gold 
is no less serviceable than silver, so far \ do not contradict him ; but this 
I know, if gold coin becomes abundant, it sinks in its own value, and 
raises the value of silver.'"* 

It is scarcely necessary to insist on the attention that was paid to the 
Subdivision of the coinage, to meet the various demands of commercial 
convenience, since, with few exceptions, this provision has always been 
■ 3 % % 



796 



MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 



made in monetary systems. The freedom with which the Athenians 
allowed their coin to be exposed is more worthy of remark. Xenophon 
confirms this usage ; and Plato and Polybius make mention of a money 
common to all Greece, which, it is probable, was the silver coin of* 
Athens. 

A question of apparent difficulty here suggests itself: since the Athe- 
nians so well understood the principles of a currency, and were so inge- 
nious in its management, how is it to be accounted for, that at a period 
when taste and refinement prevailed so generally at Athens, the coin of that 
state should retain its coarseness of execution and rude appearance, when 
the money of other and inferior districts was distinguished for its beauty 
and elegance? The most obvious, and perhaps the only satisfactory 
answer that can be returned is, that a change of coinage, though in reality 
unimportant, is ever viewed with jealousy ; and in the case of the Athe- 
nian silver, which was renowned for its purity, any change that might 
tend to improve its appearance would be impolitic, since it would in effect 
destroy the identity of a currency whose reputation could never be sur- 
passed. For the reason just mentioned, the Venetians retain their sechin, 
which " is perhaps the most unseemly of the coins of modern Europe." 
And, in 1818, an issue of the inelegant crowns of Maria Theresa was 
made from the mint at Milan, solely because they were highly esteemed 
in the Levant trade. 

In the age of Demosthenes, and prior to his time, the bankers at 
Athens held an important station in the monetary system. These were 
usually manufacturers or speculators, who, while pursuing their individual 
advantage, found means to give profitable employment to the spare capital 
of such as intrusted them. They had also an understanding with each 
other, resembling in its operations the modern clearing house, by which 
depositors could make transfers to each other, or obtain receipts to their 
credit ; and the effect of this regulation was to produce a distinct kind of 
money, similar to our bills of exchange. Farther than this, the govern- 
ment was accustomed to issue avopo\oyyipu,ri& y or cash orders, on well 
accredited security ; and these exchequer bills (for such they may be 
termed), we are informed, were sometimes drawn, in cases of emergency, 
to meet the demands of the state, when the payment was most probably 
referred to the national revenue. 

Money of leather and shells, according to Suidas, was in use among 
the Romans ; and Cedrennus mentions a coinage of wood. Aristides and 
Seneca testify that leather money passed current at Carthage and in 
Sparta. We have no means of testing the accuracy of these statements 
by numismatic remains. If such money did exist, its durability would 
not be sufficient to hand down specimens to modern times ; and if it 
were, no advantage could be derived from them in an historical point of 
view. Still, it would be hardihood to deny that such a currency might 
circulate within a confined locality, in the same manner as the provincial, 



OF THE GREEKS. 



797 



and intrinsically valueless, tokens of this country met the exigencies of 
local trade prior to the issue of the present coinage. Ficoroni published 
a dissertation on ancient leaden coins, and introduced a vast number of 
specimens referring to the era of the Antonines, but generally believed 
to be of more modern date. Some of these, however, waving the authen- 
ticity of date, seem rather to have been used as weights, others have the 
character of tesserae, and those which may claim to be reckoned as coins^ 
have nothing to recommend them to notice. .We may, therefore, confine 
ourselves to a few cursory remarks on the gold, silver, and copper money 
of the ancients. 

Whatever impurities attached to the gold in its original state' were 
separated from it by fire. This powerful agent, how great soever its in- 
tensity, can effect no injury on the gold, yet carries off in fume, or de- 
posits apart from the metal, all extraneous adhesions or alloying substances. 
The ancient method of refining, though rude and unassisted by any de- 
fined chemical process, was so successful, that we are informed the Darics 
of Persia contained only ^ of alloy, while the gold coins of Philip and 
Alexander boasted of still higher purity. A specimen of the gold cur- 
rency of Vespasian was tested at Paris, and the alloy found to be in the 
ratio of only 1 to 788. In contrast to this, we may mention the gold 
coinage of our own country, which contains alloy in the proportion of 1 
to 12. 

Silver and copper are the alloys in general use ; and the admixture of 
a very small quantity of either with the pure gold, is a corrective of the 
extreme malleability of the latter, and renders it in many respects more 
suitable for circulating medium. The ancient electrum was a compound 
metal, composed, as stated by Pliny, of four parts of gold to one of silver ; 
but other authorities reduce its value by affirming that the proportion of 
the more precious metal was not so great. Existing specimens vary, 
however, very considerably in their degrees of purity. 

The brass coinage was a mixed metal, composed of tin and native cop- 
per ; and as these substances were never found combined together in the 
ores, it is probable that the ancients were not ignorant of the advantages 
resulting from their admixture. When examining the remains which 
have been transmitted to our own times, we notice that the coins which 
are altogether, or mostly native copper, are much corroded and defaced ; 
whilst those that have a due portion of alloy are not only more perfect, 
but have acquired an attractive richness of hue, which it has been found 
impossible to imitate with exactness. 

The accidental admixture of gold, silver, and copper, at the siege of 
Corinth, is stated to have produced the compound known under the name 
of Corinthian brass. Of what nature soever the composition might have 
been, it does not appear to have been ever applied to coining purposes.; 
no more than an en passant allusion to it is therefore necessary in this 
place. It seems probable that the skill of the ""Corinthian artificer.^ . 
3x3 



798 



MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MONIES 



rather than the quality of the metal itself, gave rise to and maintained 
its extraordinary reputation. 

The coins and medals of the ancients were not cast in a mould, but 
received their impression under the hammer; and it is remarkable that 
they should have adopted such a process, since their knowledge of metals 
was too limited to produce a material for the dies of sufficient temper to 
sustain the required force, and hence they must be frequently making 
new ones. This is evidenced by the fact, that seldom indeed have two 
ancient coins been discovered apparently proceeding from the same die ; 
and in a large collection of Sicilian medals, made by the prince Torre- 
Muzza, no two exist which in every particular resemble each other. 

The devices and bearings of the ancient coins form a subject far too 
intricate and diffuse to be discussed at length on the present occasion. 
Traditionary legends, the worship of the deities, and allusions to the 
arts, and to the actions of illustrious men, were impressed upon the 
metal, together with national emblems, and smaller devices referring to 
the different mints, or the sigla of the treasurers. The names of the 
coins were derived in some instances from their bearings, and in others 
from the name of the person by whom, or of the place at which they were 
minted. 

The devices by which the silver coinage of Athens is identified, and 
referred to its true era, consist of the inscription A6E, the head of Pallas, 
and the owl. The successive adjuncts to these devices mark with tolera- 
ble certainty the respective dates of the coins. Prior to the time of 
Pericles, the helmet of Pallas appears without ornament ; in the suc- 
ceeding period it is decorated with the sphinx and griffins, which were 
probably added from the Minervan statue in the Acropolis. In the 
earliest times the owl also is accompanied by an olive branch and a 
crescent only ; but afterwards the laurel wreath upon a diota, together 
with a variety of emblems, allusive to the history of the state, were 
added. The owl was an universal emblem of the Athenians ; and it is 
remarkable to have the extent of citizenship denoted by its union on the 
coins of Athens with the national emblems of all the countries that held 
commercial intercourse with that state. The corn-ear of Sicily, the 
elephant of Africa, the pegasus of Corinth, the sphinx of Egypt, the lion 
of Leontium, and the flower of Rhodes, are associated with the sacred 
bird. The devices of the Athenian coin were so generally adopted, that, 
at length, they became permanently established at the Roman mint, and 
were even impressed upon the currency of Sparta ; a singular coincidence, 
that the memory of Athenian greatness should thus have been perpetuated 
by her earliest and latest enemies. 

It would be gratuitous trifling to remark on the reasons for introducing 
the head of Pallas and the owl on the coinage of Athens ; but some ob- 
servation appears necessary with reference to the diota, afterwards asso- 
ciated with these emblems. Some connect this latter device with the 



OF THE GREEKS. 



799 



amphora of oil presented at the Panathenseic festival to the conquerors ; 
while Corsini considers it an honorary allusion to the manufactures in 
terra cotta, on which the Athenians greatly prided themselves, and for 
which they obtained so great fame, that the poet Critias places the in- 
vention of the potter's wheel on equality with the trophy erected at 
Marathon. It is probable, however, that the diota referred rather to the 
rich olive grounds of Athens ; since the same device was impressed on 
the coins of other countries to denote their best products. 



GREEK INDEX 

OF 

WORDS AND PHRASES. 



Aava/?arai,4!6 


A»ai-T»s, 59. 61 


AAaia, 340 


A 


a.rta, 113 


AfrSijAo., 193, 225 


Aiyav.r,, 467 


AAaAa. 496 


A 


/a.Ka.AinrT77pta, 628 


AyaGoiai/ioviarai, 704 


A« y «4,, 453 


AAaAay/x.oy, iJ. 


A 




Ayadov 6aifj,ovos, 342 5 


Atyec, 219 


AAyea, 245 


A> 




*par„p, 704 


Aiygcoy TrvAai, 34 


AAeia, 360 


A 


a Ktl »eva, 234 


Ayo^ov, 129 


Aiyw, 59, 60 


AXti-rnvpiov, 41, 685 


A 


,a*«ov. 37 


AysAa^roj. 283, n. 


AiyiKooat, 53 


AAf/crpuowv ay<ov, 309, 


A 


a« e y, 341, n. 


Ay?j77?p, 384 


A. 7 ,»,r W Iprr;, 339 


340 


A, 


a*A,T W ta, 342 


Ayr/ropftov, 336 


Atxtay cWr,, 71 . 


AAe?7jT??p t a, 461 


A, 


a^At^OTraAr,, 415 


Ayj/ropta, 16. 


AixAa, 693 


AA t ?i/<a.vroy, 564 


A 


a*pt<riy, 80, 120, 121 


Ay^Ar,, 467. 533, 710 


A.A*k«, 579 


AAat,/»o/*avT«o, 302, 329 


A, 


amoves, 423 


AyKiipa, 535 


*A t/ ua, 339 


AXtjOt) anoXoyrjaeiU) 122 ; 


A 


a«r £ y, 652 


Ayw>y, 209 


'A tx *«*owpi«, tft. 


«aT7?yopstv, 121 


A 


a«7t.o OV , 103 


Ayvu0ef, 626, n. 


•A^uAo*, 252 


AAr.rty. 339 


A 


.clktwv na^wv, 332 


Ayopatoj, Mercury, 285 


A.^ara, 712 


l AA ta , 340 


A 


a\afi/3avs^dai «ty to 


a 9X ata, yuva^.a, 39; 


Aif ofpavta, 125 


AAtT77pot, 203 


yei'oy, 665 


lirTro6a.fj,sia, 101, ft. ; 
e«07ra,A ts . 39; TrAr^ot^a, 


'Aiperoi. 78 


AAirpot, 225 


A 


,a?ay p fl a. 342 


A t <ra«oy, 707, 708 


AAwafloia, 340 


A 


a^pa 5t«<r, 219 
appucriy, 346 


40 ; <77re t po7ra.A 4 j, M. 


A t <T tM a, 304, 306 


AAAr/yop^oy, 293 


A, 


Ayopst)£ij/, 100 


Ato-toi, 306 


'AA/xa, 412 


A 


/ap^ot f)ftepa.t, 105 


Ayopa, ib.; aA0iTOTreoAjy, 


AtoiovoOai ray r;p.spay,324 


AAo/3oy, 300 


A 


- a< rxa 0l y, 112 


Aycpavojuoi, 75, «., 90 


Acavy.vvrai, 411 


AAoyiov, ]30 


A 


,a CT ra70t, 218 


'Ayoy, 322 


AtTijy, 603 


AA<j V «aAov<rt va c'er,a 


A 


aaTpo0 V . 481 


Aypaoia, 337 


Arrive. 213, 214, 229 


Travra, 201 


A, 


atrp.av.ov 129, 555 


AyoavAta, i£. 


Air.a, 126 


AA5co6ey ?..Aov, ifi. 


A(/<5pa7rocW<nr»7Aoi, 76 


Aypa^tov, 130, 168; 


A w 461 


■AAT^oey, 412 


A 


Jpeta, 670, 716 


raAAov, 130 


Auopa, 339 


AAura'6, 420 


A, 


ro.ar,, 633 


Aypaoicp vo^q. Tay ap#a? 


Atcadwia, 44 


AAtiTa 0/ V7y, lb. 


A> 




/"7 XPV"0*<- t"l6b izeot 


A«aWcu, 225 


AXcpeXcpoiai, 617 


A 


Spo\r}-J>ta, 181 


efoy, J 47 


A^avr.j, 59, 60 


AX^ra, 607, 678 


A1 


^oo^avfty, 61 1. «., 615 


Aypiajaa, 337 


Kxa-Kva Sveiv, 670 


AA^treta, 69 


A 


opo^/eety, 460 


Aypia>i/ta : J'6. 


A«ap7ra ?|.A«, 201 


'AAcoa, 341, 377 


A» 


^pa-v, 639 


Ayptooviof.Bacchus,^. n. 


A« ar «a, 537 


AXaivriTa 6ovX a gta, 76 


A, 




Aypc. t *oi, 701 


A K eXev6a, 300 


'AAcor.a, 341 


A 


7p°wv"^Ll,vre, 673 


AypoTgpa, Diana, 83 


A^paroy, 337 


AX.mir,, 453 


A 


STtot «a*, 659 


Ayporspay 3f<rta, 337 


A« t va«j;y, 194, 463 


AfiapwBia. 341 


A, 


smT V ieio S , 145 


AypV7rvty- 338 


A K /xri Sepouy, 295; vvk- 


A^/SoAa, 53S 


A 


,0 £: rr7 ? p t a, 342 


Ayvpftos, 370 


toj, l'Z>- 


A^poa.a, 341 


A 


d^rr ipi wv, 434 


Ayvp7>7S, 316 


A*oi,, 167 


ApSfiooiov, 685 


A 


9eocpop,a, 345 


AytipriAtj? craves ; 


A«t>(, 47, n. 


AjMTpO*, 627 


A 


Or;, 667, n. * 


Aye,* Aa^aoW^oy, 376 


A«OVT«T^a, 413 


A^/xuAa., 341 


A 


tspoi-fftlat. 599 


Ay Mva9X a^ 411 


A*pa Aap.7ray, 302 


Afj.fx.wv, ib. 


A 


tTTTTOl, 448 


AyaiMj apyi-ptra*, 423 ; 


Atfpat, 550 


ApvnoTLa. 17 


A 


/ t 7rTo t c sroatv. 224 ; 


ai-^roj, 125 ; areQavi- 


A*paTf.erreoov ttivsij/, 677 


A/iwov, 230 


^spo-tv, ib. 


rm, 423 ; npifrot, 125 ; 


A*p*r 4ff/ *a, 617 


Afnreioa, 423 


A-, 


.ITTOTTO^S, 261 


0-jAAti/ai, 423 


A*parov, 215 


A m «(tt», 703 


Ai 


o^oy, 379 






Api.(pr)pe<pris, 466 


A 


/oA^rrca^y, 419 


AywvoSerJjf, 394, {6. 


A«^»'mm, ift., 67S 


A M rf) 10 pa t a, 341 


A 


/ «o*, V25 


Aii^a, 126 


A«po0oA«TTa., 443 


A^^t/^oAot, 535 


A, 


rw.1, 564 


AdWroi. Aoyoy, 703 


A*potf«rta. 514 


A At ^i«5po A tta,341, 650 


A 


Ttyovfia, 345 


AcWa, 711 


A*po., 690 


AfjlpiKTioves, 96 


A 


rtyovty 59. 61 


AcWaroi. 520 


AKpoKfoaia, 538 


A/^ip^rto^a, 98 


A 


riypacpr), 122, 134 


A4»tok, J 93 


A/rpowa, 532 


A / x(J)t«u77eAAo!', 677, ?». 


A 


/T t00ff£ y, 93 


AcWa, 338 


AkpottoA.c, 30 


Afj.(f)ifiaa %a\oL, 65 


A 


ntXax^" ii-KW. 123 


AoWtao>oy, 


A«po7roA6coy e'^a\rj\ifjL)X6- 


A fJ,(pL7r7T0 l , 448 


A 


/7tAa / ^0VTey, 208 


A6a>vi&a., ib. 


VOL. 32 


A u t 7r P ^ tJ / Ot , 535 


A 


nAr,? t y. 122 


A«0aA« f , 237 


A«po(TT Ata, 532, 554 


Ap.?>4<T,5/;TV<Tiy. 93, 133 


A 


/r.Ata, 530 


A«,« e Aio», 306 


Awpcux^pta, 554 


Afjfio-Touc, 535 


A 


T6V 0fit a, 345 


A«t«r»Toi, 141 


A*ra t a. 7, 57 


A/j.(pi(pa\os, 455 


A 


T»o*t t , 59. 60 


A« P o^»m«, 328 


A* Ttt4 , 550 


Afj,<pi(pwvTe S , "218 


* 


,r t 7rpo7r t v et v, 700 ; 5- 


Aetata, 339 


A*ri«, 340 


AyajSo.^.iv, 276 




ota, ifi. 


A 0^77, Minerva, 29, 58 


A« uo oy, 114 


Ai/a/SoAfty, 444 


A 


.r.o-rarty, 300 


AQXoQerai, 81,411 


AKwSuneros, 448, 4 89 


Avayajy.a, 341 


A 


vt«Psovv, 618 


ASpr^ara, 628 


'AAa, 548 ; kcu rpaTrsS-av 


Avafl^ara, 234, 2t4 


A 


vrAtoV, 536 


Atam., 339 


waoaftMWi,., 718 


Av«i eta , 113 


A 


/roa, 196 


A ta „r £t a, 


! 'AXais /tvffrat, 370 


A»at**a«TO$, 199 


A 


vtw?, 459 



GREEK INDEX. 



Avt^oct^, 122,128 
Mtvv, 4 63 
AZlv^vtm, 329 
Afoavo* vr,oi V <rav, 194 
AJ-ovb,, 147 

Aot&oi, 579 

Aoprr;pey, 416 
Airaycyj, 131, 172, 1S2 
ATr±pa.Ka\vTTTco KS<pa\y, 

227 

Atrapxah 231, 597 
A7rop,j-8cSai, 597 
'A7raCTJ.r1.May f^axpav, 125 
A7raToupta, 15S. 345 
ATravX^r^pia, 628 

A*-a»A*a, 347, 627, 623 
Anv.w.t, 490 

A 7rfi yto v api-oy yveadat, 

672 

Ar-fAEi'Sspoi, 73. 124 
Awp«ff t « aTrotva, 212 
AveaxoivKf/x.sicly 226 

ATTT^XlUJTr?? . 3S 

A-rrrivai, 416 

AwMirri, aV £U tou ava- 
iravtaBat, 703 



/xeCT>7s rj^fpiy, 2^. 
A 7roT«..v«5 £ ? t a.VMSf au,701 
A7ro/?a0pa t , 536 

A'4i^Mis 549 
Arroyo, Wat, 197 
A™ 



A; 



A troy pa (pi), 130 

A*$««ric 88 

Arro^^racot, 90 

A TTVOVTyplOV) 41, 685 

A»o98T«OV pLf.V pWoV, 

acal/^rjy <5e th-oj at.Ti.av. 

6S2 . 
AjroSerat, 653 
ATToOrpucoc, 306 

Airo/ejjpiffi&y, 665 

A^OATTjpil&X^ TOV VLOV, lb. 



565 



, 631 



ATroXXaH-ta, 1 347 



Att 



631 



6S2 



tyiaXt. 
Airopal-avdai, lb. 
A-rrovi./j.fia., 59S 
ATro^aCT&ii, 682 
rs/iTfiv, 631 



213 



349 

„ A'ito^wm, 371, H. 
Awarwwv, 157 
A»or« 4 t<r^; 500 
AiroriBeoeai, 653 
ArrOTipLr/na, 618* |jj 
ArroToaT? « 



A* 



■CTtUl 



y^cv, 293 

ArrorpOTraia, 320 
ATroTporraiof, Aiollo, 298 
Arrowy, 93, 131 
A7ro^oai5fc, 59S 
Amj , „ p .roM«», 103 
A^mmiow., SO 

AjroiAv^/a-Mfi'ov. 55 

, 124 



rvoo 



, 19 



• '. A,ar«a, ?A1 
, Apyadsy, 58 

ApLvioy, 570 ' 
Apforroy, 250 
Ao^» </>8 Pet p, 572 

ApA.JTTM, 119 

AptOTraynriS, 114 



Apgorraytrot) <Tit 
poy,i6.; creyara)T 
Ao807rayoy, 109 
Aplasia, 348 
Apid/iO/xdv: 



Ap tc 



, 305 
, 667 



264 
Ap* T «a, 619 
Ap/crevetv, 351 
Ap«ro t , 16., 619 
'*A 0/ xa, 234 
AppaTM^eXos, 624 
'A P Me„a, 537 
'ApMswCTrat, 542 
App.o6cov p^Xoy, 708 
Aova Trpo(3aXXtiV, 4S6 
'Aps-ayey, 543 
Appa, 615, ?2. 
Appa&ov, ib. 
Apfjrjfpopta^ 348 

Appncpopoi. 395 
Ap- £/ilCTta , 349 

Ap"rr;35 d ,432 

Apj-aiov £ 0oy, 715 
Ap^atoeMOl, 105 

Aft*«r, 152, 194 
ApAV'/f "tvr/O-e^s, 305 
Ap.v^CTv.'Tjy, 210 
A PX iOto<pos, 395 
Ap A1 « t ./3i-pf^Tai, 546 

ApxirpixXivoq, 696 

Ap^v, 81, 82 

AaavbioVy 532 - 
A 0£ ,(? £l a, 129 
Afftavot, 432 
AwX^r.ta, 349 

A<r Kp a/201 

A(rx»Xia,319 
Aff Ml ,.eoi, 6S4 

AffTraftaOat, 686 
kunaartKOV /3a<7 t X««>S,23S 
Aairtiwov, 533 



Acttt^ 



, -108 ; 



460; 



16. 

A(T7rXay^'yoy ou'77p, 231 
Acttto^o,/, 215 
AarpayaXo/iaj'Tfi, 314 
AtrrpayaXoy. 719 
Ao-rpare.a, 129 
Affrpa™.™, 517 

A***, 29 

Atjrin'Ofj.01, 91, 92 
Aaq>a.\t.cT^a 77X0101., 535 
A T uo£>aX t a. 696 

A T «X«ca, 52. 63 
AreXf*, 141 

A T e^58 ' ° S ' 

Artpia, 79, 81, 121, 123, 
129 130, 133, 135, 14(1, 
145, 555, 613, 634, 63;,. 

Artuoy, 141, 156, 157, 
160, 161, 163, 175, 1S1, 
184, i85. 447 

At^oc, 124, 136, 168, 
170, 173 

ArraX.y, 59, 61 
Am*, 7r.CTrty.253 
ArrtKr/pcuy, 674 
Arrtwoy ftaprvs, 253 
Aveovscv, 230 
AlXtj, 640 
AvXrjrrtrai, 232 

A»Xo?, 495, 580, 606 ; n. ; 
, £ /3 oe£ oy 666, n. 
Avr V . 497 
kvTegtrcu, 541 



AvroKparov, 679. n. 
Auro«paropsy, 471 
A^ro^aroy, 6S0 
AvTop-oXeiv, 68 

AfTOMoXot, 517 

A^to^o^bs, 1 
At,To^ea>v, 7, 57 
Aurora, 369 
Aip' so-rtay ap^eff^at, 234, 

694 

A^sXety. 80, 208 
A0£oty, 135 
Acpyrooo, 210, -£71 
A<ptsvL, 63 
A^XaCTra, 532, 554 

A<ppo<5<CT t a, 349 

AippoUaiov. 48 
AppootT,. 349 
A A -al\-oy S^Xoy, 46S 
A,af„ at , 379 



Bot'X?7J« a7TO itvofiov, ib. 
BovXtis, 8b; Xa^«», 1( 8 
BovXojibvov oi S eZeariMi 
Bovi e^o^oy, 21b, 222 J 

6 MoXott»„, 24S 
BovCTrpo^ov, 148 
BoL-rr^ot. 357 



B,a^ £l 



a, ib. 

«, 411 



«6 6ta , 351 

Bpavpou-ia, iA. 
Bp^ray, 195 
Bpc^a^ej, 294 
Epovretov\ 46 
Bpoi-oy, 139 
Bvaios, '270 

B^ov6 t « at , 356 
B«,uoy, 194 



A x dtia, Cerps 367 


raXa«rOCT7rovoa, 216 


A^tXXeta, 350 


TaXal-ta, 351 




TaXr/, 320 




TaXiveiJ-SLa, 351 


B 


r^M^Xca. 434, 612, 620 




TaAioy, 624 , 627. tl.S r 06 J 


Bayoy. 473 




Ba9«Doy, 139 


TaCTrp^ j'6., 530, 570 


BaSoy, 477 


r £t CTOi/, 454 


Ba^pa, 47, n. 


r«X£oi/Tej, 58 


BatrvXta, 1<-i5 


TtveOXi*, 351 




r«v £ eXioy Tjaepa, 651 


BaXXa^paiay, 348 


r £V£7 ;a 351, S99 


BiXXr/rvy. 350 


rsvsrvXXty, 352 




Tevr,, 57 


BciTTTlCT^ptOV, 6S5 




Baparpoj-, 350 


Tepaipai, 360 


BapvPpoilo^ 666 n. 




BaoiXeta, b4, 350 


r £ 3ai'oy t< 355 


BaCTiXsiff. 81, 82, 84,113, 


r 6/ 3pa. 460, 503 


117, 151, 152, 360,369, 


Pe&povi 460 


696' 


Vepvpi'uiV, 370 


BcsctXt*?? oroa, 112 




BafnXtCTCTa, 82,' 360 


Te^votarai, 371 


Bao-waiia.331 i:33 


r £a iM.'a>'i«'a. 33^ 


BiTTyy, 412 


r«cupyct, 11, 58 


BaroavtOff 111 




BavSeiv, 677. h. 


r^SooKEtv, C63 


BavxaXiov. ib. 


t03T^, 352 


Ba^sta, 350 




Bf/S);Xot 225, 226 




Bt-37?Xoy, 193 


r ivv6iai 


BepicoKel 565 


PXavS inraTat, 303 






Btxip-aJrEia 315 


Tvrjrios, 55, 653 




ro>-v7r £ TfH' 238 


B^/xra.'ss? 6 




Bt^.oe^^at, 40, .«. 


rouva? £ (rea t . 233 


BtCT/3aia, 335 


TpaMMarety, 79, 95, 14S 


EMct0w«v, 322 ' 


r ayu.uaT £ ff. H4. 547 - 


Bosy^ 21b; r £ X« 0l , 219 


r., 1(1 u rx, 665, «. ► 


BoT?, 497 


T'oa'puvTiKTi, ib. ■ 


Bo^po^a, 350 


Toacpeiv, 83 


Bori&oopiHuv, 434 


Tpa^,,. 129, 163. 166, 


BolVoy, 494 


172. 176 


Bo0p O£ , 196 


r oa ^«7,. 666, ». 


BoXcy, 535 


r P a(p t y, 667, fe 


Bap.,3o S , 317 


Tpa^oi, 712- 713 


Bop/Sopoy. 322 


TooCT^oy. 4 66 






BoMa^xo*. 350 


TraXa, 456 


Boro^avr^a, 330 


TuXiuu^vsy, 470 


Bor, lat «.v i.or,,. 350 


r V Xe«r, ti. 


BorfWi, 21 1 


r,a,<a £ ^v X a.,295 


Bo«e»T«v, '221 


r 0A .v.«a Pri «. 93, 94 


Bou^oXt^m, 385 


r-MPOTra^ta, 35*2 


BovXata, Minerva, 106 


r»^ M ffn^.K, 41 


Bot.Xatoy. Jupiter, ib. 


rw»«T W , 639 


BovXevatt. 129 


Km|im«m*<m. 92. 641 


BovXevr V!Jia , 40 


r^ot.euir. 642 


B^uWwwv, 250 


TwaiKcov, 639, 632 



' I Vur*}, .616, Xi-»tf«»-as, 627 



GREEK INDEX. 



803 



A 


As Tray, 677, n. 


/cA 07r7jy, 16.5 XtlTT'Sfll.p- 


Aooprifiara., 719 


Azofj,ov adeer/xov fvXXaSo^, 


rvpiov, 135 ; fieroXXfcrj, 


A(upo<5o«ia, 130 


AaJty, 352 


237 


183 ; /*>7 oi'fa, 122 ; oi>- j 


Awpo&oKovvrai. 119 


4ka&«vx°Si 369 


A<ro>oy, 136, 30 


amy, 134; vap»ara9 r 


A<epo<popi K ai StiJtai, 213 


AatOaAa, 352, 353 


AejfiwTvpiov, 322 


«rjy, 133 ; <rtrou, 134 ; 


Aaipvffi'ta. 130 


AaiEtf ya^op, 624 


Af.o7ron/at, 2 Lb 


ovufioXaiov, 133 ; <n»v 


Auacov, 652 


Aaip.oi'Ey, 210 


AeuT£po7rTo^.at, 225, 592 


e^co!/, ib.- TVS ZeviaS-, 


E 


Aal/J.OVO^rjTTTUly 290 


Afiurepa israuevov, 4S2 


55 ; AC6o«, 133 ; £<optPi;, 


Aaiy EMrr/. 696 


Aei'p'ire iravrt^ Xeco, 10 


134 ; \j/ev&Ofi,apTvpiov,Ydb, 


'E/3(5op,ayE!'r;y, Apollo, 3o2 


AacTaAeiy, 679 


AE^E09d( OtWVOV, i22 




'iC^io^taoEy, 611 


AatTey, 696 


AExv/^epa. rpta, '432 


Aijxavai, 448 


E,36op;et)£(T9at, 650 


Aatrpot, 357 


ArjXia, 355 


Atp-otpti, 475 


'EpSop-r/, 362 


Aatrpoy, 696 


ATjAtaffTdi, 275 


At^otpiTr,y, 


EyVa<rTpt,uu0O£, 290 


A«t7-vp.o»<Ey, 6.79 


A77/iap^oy, 55, 84 
ATjfirj'rpia, 59, 61, 356 


Ato t «j7creo.y, 89 


Eyyacrrpt/.H'c5oy, 2/0 


Aa/eruAtoi'j (papuciKiras, 


AiOKXeta, 358 


Eyytypa^Ei/ot £v 7r) A- 


330 


Ar^Tjrptoy B'-op.oy, 198 


AtOfieia, lb. 


KpovoXei, 32 


Aa.vruAot, 536 


A^ioy, 322 


Aiowaia, 82, 358 ; ap- 


Ey/cat.artKT?, 532 


Aa«r„Aop.avT£ta, 323 


Ar7yx40vpyot, 11 


Xaiorepa, 360; fScorEpa, 


EywotAta, 531 


Aavn.Xoj/ a »<aT£tvao0ac, 


At^ocWkii, 670 


360 ; apxaiixa, fipavpw- 


Ey«u*Ao7rocrta, 701 


415 


ATfLiOTronjioi, 53 


via. ficKpz, vvKTT,Xia, 


Ey«co7ra, 531 


Aa*: vAoy Kpoveiv, 666, «. ; 


■Ar,p.oy,ll, 55, 57, 59,140 


TpieTTjpiica, 361 


EypaCTTt«at, 395 


^aAAen-. ib. 


Ar^ocriot, 96; 87ro7i-7a4, 85 


Aiowo-iaua, 45, 150 


Ey^oy, 461 


Aa.va.ri 569 


A^orat, 110 


Atovvoiaicoi Texvirat, 45 


Ey^utrrp^^pia.,598 
EAavov, 6S5 


Aai/a*<7. *0, 


AiifiOTixai., 129 


AiOTrEli7rTOt, 297 


AapoK, 3o4 


Ar)fiOTlKWV f.TTl TCCV, 115 

A t a Ssou otvovoQat, 233 


Aiorroi. 547 


E5s? l0 i>i/ro Trpo-rrtvoi'Tfy 


AauAty, ib. 


Aioy ayysAot, 211 ; fSovs, 


eainjty (5e?taty, /ul 


Aa^vatoy. Apollo, 278 


AiaSixaoi-j., 93 


362 


E(5voi/, 615, 


Aaipvr,, 328 


A £ a fuijuara, 47, «. 


Atoj^Eta, 102 


'Er5pat, 47, ?z. 


Aa<pvr,v Trpoy, 707 


Aia6ra, 128 


Ato<T«upta, 361 


1-^077 te, KOEao-ti/rB. 163 


A-Kpyr/fopia., 354 


Atatrav S7j-«Tpeii<at, ifi. 


Ai7rAacriairp.oy av^pooy Ka- 


vrAEioty 5E7raEJffti'. 697 


Aa(pv»(popos, ib. 


Aiajrr/rat, 120^123,128, 


ra, fiiya, firjKOS, Xo^o«y, 


'E^coA*a, ib., 531 ; otA- 


Aeiyua, 637 


131, 133 


/9a6oy. ro-rrov ?tya, 482 


,ixaTa, 537 


AeKi£CT* ea 0ai, 701 


Aiaicr/Gems, 90 


AtTrAaaia Trafia, 697 


'Erer' ap' si/ fiecro-oiot, 6L0 


AsiXta. 129 


Atawpty, 58 


At7rA^(74aTat. 482 


E0£Ao^Tat, 94 


AsieXt»?iT..f,- C67 


Ai^XXillCTLKa, 214 


AtTrAsfpoy. 480 


Ec^EAo/rpoS'-i/os, 719 


AafXtj-on, i?>. 


Ai.tAvrat, 501 


AtmiAoj', 34 


ECip.a, 556 


AdtAot, 5Jb 


. Aia,L-ip.vpiay 121, 124, 


Aitr/roy, 413 • 


Eflvoy, 57 


Aenrva fir/fiona., 670 ; s- 


134, lvi7 


At^aAayyia KEpay, 476; 


Ei rty Supamtj/ 'EAta<rT7;y 


TrocWp.a, 669 : i,,fj.OT<. K a, 


Aia/zao-uyaxrty, 356 


avrtOT-o^ny, a^^tjTOMOy, 


Eicrtrco, 122 ; KaTEKTO- 


670 ; (pparpitca, lb. ; c/»u 


Aia-ft.Sfi.eTprif.tevr) v.utpa, 


O/xotoo-TOp-oy.eTEpoa-TO/ioy, 


j-ay, 113 ; oAa>y Ftoayeiv 


AeTtxa, ib. 


124 


477 


XPVi 120 ; Tiy alpr)fptO-TOS 


A;iTvo*A?77-npi>s, 680 


Atairjvta, 357 


AlfprjQapoi, 305 


aviOT*<r6u>, 126 


AftTj'oi', 363, 667, 6C2 ; 


Ata^^Tia.itof , 667 


Ai<£poy 445, 626, n., 687 


EtKOClS 7TpCOT77 E7r', et t5£?J- 


aavftfioXov, 663; eV/j/to- 


Atay, Jupiter, 58 


A t </)„^y, 188 


Tfpa £7r', 432 


it.xov, 59: ^>parptKoy, ; 


Aiaoti, 3o7 


Aixo^rjwiss icTTTEpat, 612 


Et«coi/, 140. Cii7, n. 


P'jAetikoi/, lb. - r Ovvayat- 


Ata^rcJOtv, 123 ' 


A.^ay, 300 


EtAarrtK, 663, 669 


' y.fiov, 669 ; avvaywytov, 


AiavAofyo/aoi, ,4'12 


Atwy/ti, 380 


EiAetAi'ta, 646 


ib. ; avfj.(popr,TOv, lb. ; 


AtauAny, ib. 


AttuKtu,/, 126 


Etpe<rtojj/r7, 400, 4S5 


avfifioXifiaiov, ib. ; «a- 


Aia\!-r?'6t<rZy, 55, 56, 655 


Attouoaia. 122 


Etp^r, 665, n. 


rat^oAtoi', 10. ; to ek 


Ai6*o K aXeta aw<ppzavir)S, 


Atcu^ty, 126 


Eipr/vr). 4.-J 


KOIVOV, lb. 


6,0 


Ao^EKay Svo-fj, 222 


Etp«rt/cat, 3Go 


Af nrvov KEfpaXri- 692; 


AtEopot, 305 


A-xi/xao-ia, 79, 80, 107, 


Etyavopay E->ypa^sff9dt 57; 


TTpOOlfllOV, ib,, 693 


Aieipuivo%tvci, 'J 16 


130 


Touy iTnrouy, rov\pov, ra 


AEtTrvoi'vraf, op-tAotil/Tay, 


Ai8vpaft.(3oi, 232 


AoXt^oy, 412 


/t£3-«ovta, p-i'pa, cricopoSa, 


sira arrovi^uuevovs rcoiei 


A£i7roAeta, 357 


AoAaiv, 537 


Kpofj.fj.va., apwfiara, m- 


■rraXiv Cenrvovvras, 6S'<d 


At*at, 129 


Aopara. vaVfxa X a, 543 


pua, p.t7Aa, Ta? ^t>Tpay, 


AetTrvo^opoi, 393 

At-ipaoiwr-ns, Apollo, 277 

AsirxOat osXivov, 595 


Aixatct, 556 


Aoparo^opoi, 448 


tov ^pov Tvpov,i0..n ■ 


Aiway, 81, 128 


Aoo7rsa, 346 


aya9ov p.ot, 324; xe.lpa- 


AiKao-TT)piov, 122 


AopTroy, 667 


Xr/v, ib., 601; trot op&ov 


Ae,ca8apxos. 472, 475 


AiKaarncov, 116 


Aopu, 461 ; opeuTOV, 462 


avoSovvat, 481; Ta |fft- 


AsKa^y, 681 


Atvauroy jtxKiQoy, 89, 569 


Aopv<popot, 85 


f3Xta, 40, w. 


Ae/eavia, 475 


L-Iktcliov Atoy avrpoy, 264 


Aoo-ty, 661 


Et^ayEtv, 320 ; £ty ro t5»«- 


Ag/cay, ib. 


AiKTvvvia, 358 


AouAEta, 136 


acrr7?ptoi/, 145 


AsKaBfios, 130 


Anc?7 a^twiou, 132 ; at- 


A,uAot, 50, 73, 693 


Eto-ayyfAia, 82, 99, 131, 

132, 183 


Afi/faraAoyot. 235 


/ciaj, lii>., 181 ; aXoytx, 


AovXov, 74 


Ae«aT£i,£iv, ib , 351 


79 ; arroAsn/'Ecoy, 132 ; 
aTroo-Tao-iov, 73, 135 ; 
aitoTrofiVVi, 132 ; a?rpo(T- 


Aovvai, 662 


Eiocytoysty, 12"2, 128 
El£T7/T77pta, 80, 362 


As/faT?;^ aTro9vf.LV, 6dl ; 


Aovpo5o«r), 462 


sffrjauai, 16. ; Sveiv, \b. 


Aoxv- 300 


EKrtT77pta Sve.iv, 106 


AfKaipdLvoiy 432 


raaiov, 62, 135 ; a<pop- 


, ApcTTavv<pspoi, 446 


EicrKOfLiZeiv, 571 


AeitefipoXos, 539 


fj.T)S, 135 ; a^apto-T-toy, 


Apofiia(piov Vfiap, 650 


Eto-Tr^Aoy, 603 


A=A<pi>/. 540 


ii.; f3sj3aicoo-sws, 134; 


Ap 0/ uoy, 412 


EtoTTftAoy, ib. 


AeA^yta, 355 


pLaiaiv Or ,5iay, 132 ; 


ApvoTsu, 362 


EtffTTOtTJTOt, 659 


A?X<pLicp 117 


f3Xafir)s,ib.; ,5oAtTOV,135 ; 


AnvapiEvoy «oAa«r£«etv,21 1 


E,io(pepovre$, 94 


AeAiaro /cat KwAa, 212 


5ta <5t*j<7ic7.y, 133 ; eiy a- 


AwaayEly, 225 


Eitr^opa, 87, 669 


Aenfyea oupai/o ( u.7 7 *£a, 201 


<(>avwv Karacrrao-iv, 134; 


A1.aav7.7ra, 320 


E«aA7,<r t a, 362 


AefC'pEtuv ^syio-Twf, lA. 


ety Sorr/raiv alpemv, 133 ; 


AlXTOiCO vtcrr a , ?7>. 


'EKao-rov sv apxv *** 


Ae?iA TOU KOCT^OV, 305 


J eto-aytuyt/uoy, 121, 122; 


Av<T<p- nfJ .iai- 322, 324 


<TTOfj.a TrpovnvFt.v,8tc., 6:9 


A<%iova9at,, 686,; Oatri, 




A.ia>,><K, 416 


'EicaTou(3ia. 375 


i6. ; Owpoiy, ifr. ; rparreXr), 


atpEcrecoy, 135 ; t'£ovXr) , 


AwOSKOTr,, 362 


'ExaT^cr-.a, 362 


ib.; xpri<jTOiS Aoyoiy, «ai 


134; ErtTporr^, t'6.; s- 


Acoiia. 625, n. ; KOupiOfOf, 


'EKarorfatwv, 433 


Epyo.y, iA. 


1 PVfiV, 165 ; «a«o re^i/iwi', 


i6. 


'EKarop./? 0t a, 363 


A.? t? . 300 


j 135, 167 ; KapTrov, 131, 


Ato^aTtor. r5. 


'K/(aTo/j.7rfi5oi', 31 


A^.^.y., 701 


[ 170; iwr^tar, 132; 


Aa-pa, 130; ? f :n.va, 718 


E«aTOfj.<povi*, 364 



804 



GREEK INDEX. 



•E* 



rap**. 472 
•& Ka .TOVTap X o<;, 475 
E*0aXX«*, 631 

E.«W t a, 364 

E««X»?<T t a t , 98 
E*™^^, 570 
E^o Ml ^ t „, iS. 

E*K P dra dGpsda, 219 
E^X^Teveoeat, 123 
E/nrAoyftf, 88 
E« M ay6to^, 682 

E^^aprupc^, 124, 167 



Ek- 



es, 91 
nM, 573, 631 

icrra^oy, 481 
reiv rout yeyouc, 6u5 
rd« d. 291 
rot, 475 



E«r t e S a0 at , 653 
E* r0I >a, 113 
Evrporrat, 300 

E«(pfo«v, 570 

E/ C <popa, l6. 
E«^vXXo^o P?? o-ai, 103 
EAadat. 317 
EAa t0 £»ej t Of. 41 



EAa 



40 ' 



BXacotTTrovSa,, 216 

EAa(T3r,/3 Ada, 364, 434 

EAsarpor, 680, 696 

EXsyot, 578 

EAev^oy, ]26 

EAeXeo, 496 ; col, t*B, 392 

EXsAtcnTWoy, 330 

'EXefta, 365 
EWpooia, 372 
EAeou, 114 
EXbttoXu, 505 
EXeffla, 646 

EAeuflepia, 365 

EXevotoda, 366 

EXdy M oy MaKf-oW Ka- 
ra Xo^ovy, 481 ; Aclkwv, 
ib.; nepot/eof, KpriTtKoy, 
«ara Svya, 482 

EXXr/./o6dKat, 419 

EXXrj/'ora/itdat, 88 

EXXcurta, 372 

•EXo s , 74, w. 
Excupta, 372, 559 
E^/SoA??, 505 
E^/SoXo,.. 47S, 539 

E^irr AoKda, 372 

fepirwr*, 666, n. 
E/.t7ropioi/, 637 

Ep-rropdov errdjueXr/rat, 91 ; 

<5s unoij, 637 

E^m.pa, 299 

E^voo,, 198 

Ev «SX,udp e^acrtp 267 ; i- 

l/^Acp TOTTW, 189 

Evayety, 225 
Evay t f« V /W, 597 
Erad^ot, 306 
EvaTro^a^a-rSat, 682 

'E^tW, 118, 127. 176 
Efi«? f? , 82, 131, 163, 
168, 172 

E^f? t a TTivBbV, 701 
' EreTrcrK^a 134 

EcjjX.a^s. 372 
E»9«affTi*oi. 291 
EvtV">"- 532 
Ev0,,< 



E» 



u, 291 
jy, 625 
-,31 

EvvoTiyatos, 312 
Evt&d ovp.Bo\a, 320 



EwVcf, 267 

EvoX^oy, i'A. 
Ej-op/xto>ara, 550 
E./a7ro„oW, 215 

Ei»T«? ts , 480 

Evrara, 666, n. 
Ewpowtay, 531 
E^pto^a, »6. 
Evtoj epdouvs, 487 

Ej/mXsmv, 551 
E^orao-^s. 474, 479 
Ej/copdona,' 479 ; &a »»a- 

E? eo^Tjy Kara oiKacrOr)- 

w, 122 

E^aKEaTTjptoy.ApoliOjiee, 

244, 298 

'E?et5pai, 41 

E?s5po«, iOofoy, (boBvwv, 

306 

E^tpyo/itevot, 225 
EdYeXdyp-oy, 481 
E?eXi?»s, ii. 
E? £ ra<rrat, 84 
Et?dTr,ota, 373 

Ef*7T7po* ft.yai, 565 
E?o„Xr7, 171 
E?ovat, 455 
E?«.A«./*«, 306 

'Enprat AaKfSat^oncoj', 

3S6 

'Eopray ray aafppovw^ Kai 
Koa/ttats iiriyov, 668 ; Tay 
TOT Sea.* r;yyeXov, 211 

'EopTT? Tepovdpaiatv, 352; 
MiTi-Xrj^aico^SSg; novoy, 
397 ; ntravarwy, 398; 
'Pa^cuoW, 401 ; ni-ptfcov, 
; 374 ; <T* S X- 

\mv, 402 ; ■S.vpaKOvaojv, 
403 

Erraydwyety, 91 
Erraywyr,, 132, 480 
Errat*X E ta, 693 
Erraj/aKXttuy, 481 
ErraiAda, 61 6, 627 

B V a X 9n S , 373 

Ersyyvrat, 697 



7(10 



%.'^t„ r,» ;«.», 549 

AXa<5d<},, 116; tvs 
■^vxm rpt^ay, 65 
Errt/?a6e£, 524 
ETTt/SaOpat, 536 

4 4 8 a eiv T P VC!tirrriOV > 

Epidural. 542 
Errd^r/y, 627 
Ett./So^s, 347 
Errt/?oXty, 300 
Errtyeia, 536 
Errdypa/x/ia, 515 
Errtypan>7>, lb. 
Errdypa^ety, 88 
ErrdiSatipdajj' rj/jepa,, 371 
ErrdcSstrrra, 693 
Emc^da, 373 ; ArroXXto- 
voy, i6. 

EvcJiforai, 669 

Ett^&ovtes, 94 
E7rt5d.aS.neai, 659 

E7rt6dKO{, 133 

ETTd^npTrto-tta, 692, 633 

Errcootrgty, 94 
ETrtapOyuoy, 537 
ErrteaXaMta, 627 
ErrdSaXadtda e y e pTdKa,627; 

KO»/x?7rdKa. lb. 
ErrteytKadta, 373 
ErrdKa/nTTJjy 7raparat?ty,552 
ErrdKXetata, 373 

ErrtKX^oy, 133, 616, 659 
ETrtKXnrot, 879 



ETrdKpvua, 373 
ErrtKcoTrot, 525, 542 
E7rdXap^da ,47 9 
Ejr^a^.a.456 
Em^dAta, 619 

E7rt A d6Xr 7 Tad, 82.369 661, 
661 ; <pvA.w V , 84 

E7rctteX7;7-77y tcuv kocvcov 

npocToia.v, 89 
E7rd / ct»K7 ? y, 197 
Erru eveiv, 229 

E^tvdKta, 373 

Em^ayta, 476 
Errt? 6l .ayoy, ib. 
ErrdoaKoy, 250 

E^t^potKoy, 133, 619 
ETTt^dcof, 532, 538 
Ett.^p.*, 313 
Eir««r*a0.*, 373 
E7rt<7«7,va, ib. 

ETTdO-KTiVtOV, 46 
E7rt<TK7;^dy, 134 

E7rd<TKdpa, 373 

E7rt<TKtpa»/dy, ib. 
E7rd<TK«et<r Jt , 676, 677 

ETTttTTara Ttov oriuoaicuv 

e Pya >v, 92 
Ewidrrarai r»v Mm* SB 
ETTt^raTTjy, 88, 101, 106. 

474 

•p«r W «. 216 



■SfpTJS O 



6:o 



,217 



ETrttTToXsvy, 515 
ETTto-roXda^opoy, 
ETrtcrrp^sti-, 549 

ETTdOTpO^T?, 481 

ETrirayAda, 476, 479 
Evrdra^y, 480 

ETTdTO-Ot, 538 

ETTtrpaTreSdOy, 691 
ErrdrpoTrv, 128, 6i4 
En-trpo7roy, 73, 618 
ETrt^op^ara, 693 

ETrt^edf t V yy,702 
ETTt^gdporoi'ta twv vofiwv, 

145, 152 

Errt^doot 5«ot, 720 
Erro/x-paXedO!/, 459 
EjroTrrai, 368 
'ETTTayXaxTCToy, 666, 71. 
'E7TTa0eoyyoy, ib. 
'ETrra^opioy, i6. 
E7ra,/36Xda, 123, 186 

Errant, 325 

E7rdLrd6 £ y, 540 
Errto^oy, 58, 82, 87, 

126, 144 

Epafddrrat, 669 

Eparoy, 668, 669 



,, 58 
, 373 



541 



313 



•r,X, 

Eps^ewy , 59, 60 

Epy/j.* Kat aBara 
EprtfjLTiv oipXiOKaveiv, 1 
Epr]fXTjs KaraSiieaa 

vac, ib. 
Ept^vsuy, 322 
Epday/a, 535 
EpE^e?;Jy, 32 
'Epxyvio.. 373 

Ep^a, 199, 535 

'Ep^tata, 373 
'EpfATivevrai tapa 3, 

avGpcwot^ 206 
'Ep^tr/y ayopatoy, 244; 

Adyewy Tri'Xaty, 34 
•Ep^dd^o^, 198 

•Ep^twy, 296 

'Epftov rc\r)pov, 314 
E ?OV (pop<.a, 34S 

Ep»(5doy, 303 



Epairey, 596 
EptuT-ta, 373 

Ep""*"', 708 

'Eo-TrepddTAta, 667 
'Ecrrta, 194 
'Earta 3«m», 233 
'Eardata. 374 
'EcTTday, 3(10 



&vX<uj-,04 



'EtTrta.^679 ra 
'EffT-daTcp, ib. 
Eaiaoat, 1 6 
Etr^ap^y, 547 
|Era t p 8 « 64y , 637 
'ETadp^cTty, 129 
'JiTSpo^acT^aXut, 65 
Err; ysvouor*,*, 102 
Ercuov, 210 
Eva^pta aycd-, 394 
Ei,5ad M a.v. 652 

*E^« y , 565 

Ev6e lV vo S , 339 
Evepyerris, 652 
Eytp^uday ecRKa, 314 

Et.e«5d* £ ,f, 121 
EvOw,), 79, 96, 83, 130 

Ev«?al 2*3* /? "''"' i,> J/ 

Ev/d-n^evos, 29, ?». 
Ei^swiwa. 374 
EDitertaey, 322, ib. 

Evva.BT-npi.a., 565 

Evd;ooy. 691 

Et-ot BaK l£ , 360 ; aa/Soi, 
E„ ^ t pov vv«ra, 296 

EwopKoj, 250 

Eurrarpt^at, 11, 84, 154 
Eupoy, 38 

E?ipuayudoy, 29, 35 

EvpvQ^ov, 374 
E,.p,.KX 6 da, 374 
Et,p,.KX e <y, 290 
E„p,,o M6 da, 374 
E^w 4 .. P .a. 30« 

E^cre/Sr/y, 250 
EiJTeAr,y virrip?.i 



, 96 



A £a » f , 211, 229 
Ewc^poi/17, 711 
Eu^'iif ya/xr/Xtoi, 6^0; 

7TpOT«XfdOt, j6. 

EtWey sXadO^, 655 

E^^da, 668 

E(p' d ts 'gf.tvovs aXXr/Xody 

Sdvat, 718 
Ecrjeipoy, 421 
E^frat, 119 
Ecprfatov, 41 

EfpTj/Sot, 57 

Et^jiyeioflat, 131 
E0r;yr;trdy, 82, 131, 172 
E<r)d7rrr*pda, 479 
E^w-Kia, 444 

E^dTTTTOy, 374 

E^opot, 368 
E<pv6a,p, 124 

ttr, Y 625*671 9 
E XSV r)-C u 606 
Eytvoy, 122 

EtuXoy Tj/A'pa, 627 
Ecopa, 339 



GREEK INDEX. 



305 



Zr,g t , 318 
Zn^a, 13.5, 330 
3,:r f «ay, 703 



Zr,r 0M . 69 

-2-..ya, 531, 537, 511 
Z,- yiai . 537 
Znytot, 416, 531 

Zuytrai, 174, 54] 
Zt.yoy Trporoy. 474 ; SM 
rspoy, 477 • £n aro tl 4^ 
Zu>o t ^aXayyoy. 477 
ZuiyoaqHir), 666, ft* 

Z»^a, 456 

Z^a^ara, 531 
Zc/xoy usXay, 673 

456 

£».*r«a, 69 

Z»ot 7 *. 456, 531 

Z«»-£ t «, 69 

H 

'H avm ™Xiy, 30 

'H urw StowAo, 104 

'H sty Ilstpata, 33 



[299 



'H E<rrta 4-U. N 

'H Kara, 30 

«H EiM 35 



|H rptr, pt.^17, 40. n. 

'H rtuK , Epp;oyXi'*eta>v. »i 

'H Tfflv 'Eo^ovXvatov, 35 
40, 

*H reov Aayujro^cui' Tjusoa 

370 

'H ™„ itM^mtmmw^ 40. 8. 
*H ra>|/ 7T<tX suta.*, 35 



Hys, 
122 



rTJ ?P'° 



713 



BaXa/xtrat, 541 

0aXa M . ot , 531, 537, 541 
BaXa/ioy, 531, 541, 625, 
627 
GaXXo., 236 
BaXKo(pooot % 153. 395 

eax «»; 377 

0xXu<rios ao-of. ib. 
Bavaros, l'l4, 13S 
©avarov BVp8o\ov, 507 
©avo^sy, 512 

9ao V i,Xia, 82. 150, 377, 
434 

9* ? ™X«, 377 
8mmt«, 320 

Baarpti^SlS 
©stay aXy, 717 
©eastXta. 5S8 
9^X 40 j, 535 

QtyoOnoos. 142 

etoyovMk 373, 612 
Qsoi 



196 



0, 

tS_ 

©sovta, 

9u?l»M, 189.378 
e. Mmvm m 291 
e.o Tot ta, 599 

e-: 07 rpo^a, 265 
©SOTTpOTTOt, 255 

©s°<Pavsta, 378 

e« oaw .,« T .a t a ) 378 

6«?i*a Xo.rpa, 6;3 ; 
®av Xovrpa, 



:90 



378 

.a, 378 
•rot, 82, 83 
. 143,146 
._«t«*, 82 

ifop.a, 142, 150, 



8, 379 



ot, 655 



'HXai 
"HAwar, 5S8 
'HXtata. 119 
'H/wpai 593; Ms 

«a<rrpo0»*.««, 389 
•H^ fpaf 4.«r ayW ,, 572 
'H^epo^ooAiot, 520 
•Hi*.9»pa«w». 456 

•HutXo^ta, 475 
•Hu.Xo^tTTK, i& 
■HatoAa, 529 
'H VIOX o Sj 445 



, 447 
300 



'Hp. 

•Hpa*X«ia, 36, 375 
'IWXsta Xourpa, 633 
*Hp*a,, 34 

•How, ib. 
HM M »fc«, 376 

•Hp.V*o f rtaay, 599 
'Hpauy, 376 

*H0a t <TTtay, Vulcan, 58 
Hfwnik, 376 
47, «. 



©**oy, 304 
©aXa^.vej, 541 



. 255 



, 293 



lr:: 

fc ,po< 



©^at,' 616 

0^r« s , 13, 15. 64, 154 
e.««!, 669 



0pa«ta 7rp07roo-iy. 677 
©pavtrat, 531. 541 

SitanrAi, 537 



0i..«, 3S0 
B,XXa, 381 
B.. M eX^, 46, 48. n. 

e»u.a u4 , 214 

e-^.o'M«Tnoio^ 230 
9,.w* t *. 381 
B.. y, 217 

Bcoa,'£ Kapsy, on* Br' 

avdao-rqixa, 344 
e»p 8 ay, 460 

evoto<popoi. 448 

©upcopoy, 627 

0,<rtat £«.t>4<D 00 («a(, 213 

Butkj?, 299 

0ur*«»,s s^etoot, 673 

Bco*oy, 304 

Bc«p a ?,4o6 ; crraotoy,457: 

ffrai-oy, Jo. 
©^aXtro 



Bos 



Bows, 6S7 
©, W e ?ap A ' 0! . S , 579 
GoijWMa, lcS 

ep»o«, 315 

Bpt? av8paTrtia)&ys, 65 
Qptyoy yetffar. 588 

0««, 3S0 
B P0> 



9m» 



i: 99; 



. ib. 



S 453; Xe: 
rotTrXot, 4c 
ot, 457 
:toy, 533 



., 360 



Ia^oy-yo., 370 

IaXeuot, 579 

Ja^^ot *ac nawruXot, 423 

lavtpirof, 66? 

Ia«v. 3 

'I;Sp«o.y hxv, 71 

I.Spws, 495 
ISvKTrip, ib. 
l6* 0ff po>«ot. 719 

IWt«a t . 15*9 
E Iepa, 535; Sri/xoreXrj. 
518 ; i6oy, 370 j ffv « 7 . 

35, 370 
'Ie ? a h 34 
'Ispa^y. 293 

■IwiioK, 214, 218 
'Iepsvy, 297 

*I»po», 409 ; aXsy, 71S : 

*«< a^oXouSot. 309 
*I«p 0A ia»r«i , 293 
'IsOOTTOlOt. 210. 351 
'Ispoyya^oy, 381 

'UpCOKOTTL*. 2i!3 

'I*pon3U., 129 
'Ispo0avT7?y 368, 369 



y, 655 



'l7T7r^yoi, 524 
'Itttt.os, 443 

'Iir7ro6a^tetov, 43 

'lTTTTOeO^Tlf, 59, 61 

'iTT^o^t.otoy, 443 
'IiMTOToKorat, 448 



, 382 
. 368 



ty , 63 



laoTS^eia, 63 
IoorsXs.y, »6. 
l<To^r,<p n( iiK-n, 320 

iH* 1 " 7plT7) 

'lcna, 537 
'Iorooo^, 538 
'loroj, ib. 

'Urwv 5 a X a/ ,oy, 642 
377 

U X Ma. 382 
Iruf, 459, 461 

Ivy?. 605 

I A ev 0A *«^T««, 302 

la. Ba^ () 36U 



KuS £1Dt a. 382 

Kay?, 369 

K.c.^oi. 126 
Kaiot, ib., 103 
K a ea l0£ty . 566 

KcSxoaa, 102 
KaflaUioj, 166, 244 
KaSaor^f. 102 
Kae ( .7T £0 9s^ 60 



Ka. £ 



139 



Kawtay, 33 
Ka.vov, 118 
K«cvot vo MOt , 16 
Ka«i orrai, 322 



, 12 



. 289 
l0 ( .0aXXoi. 360 
Idcofj.aca, 381 

•Ltwof, 166. 244 
'Iw^wi, 236 

Iwpca, 45 ; vnoy, 540 

I*pio», 533. 591 

I«T£0£77, 453 

•IXaoat St«a*. 213 
<IXaart* a , 214 

'I^aTtOTTOjAtC. 40. H. 



r, 141 
Ka*»(T„, J31 
Ka« OTS(0{ 132 
KaXaOiov, 370 
KaXaAtoy, 666, «. 
KaXaotcca, 384 

KaXv 603 

KaXX.ay, 322 
KaXXigpfte, 231 
KaXXiviwoy, 652 

KaXAKfreia, 3S4 

KaXXto-TE/pavoy. • 

I KaXoc, 6ie a ' ^ 

KaXot' Ttfoj 77 «c 



17 



«a, £81 



irrat, 479 



'IjrTraiet, 34 
'U*a PXl a, 479 
'I^-Trap^ot, 81. 472 
't&rarfos, 443. 447 
'IrrTT^y, 174, 4/4 
'Irrrrsca, 465 



. 443 
, 616 



, 584 



719 

KaXn-at SiaXa 
KaXTTT? 416 
KaXTrty, 421 
KaX^ay. 667, n. 

KaXt-Trrpov, 628 

KaXa.^, 538 

Ka^Xoi, 536 

Ka^ovrsy, 563 
Kova9oai, 365 
Kavi^ope.v, 619 

Ka 1 - 7? tp O p 0t ,228, 360, 395, 
619 

Kav?7t/)oy. 628 

228 

Kavdaoou 48 

Karn.*^ 459 
Ka7r^Xsta, 637 
Karr^a^rs.a, 302 
Kapt*v povaa. 580 

K« P „ M , 441 



, ib. 



Ka 0l » lai , 5S0 
Ka»*,w 569 
KapM»a, 336 334 

KapvstTat. 385 

KaprfiJ, 494 



806 



GREEK INDEX. 



KapircxbopOV) 201 
Kap,r»ff« { , 350 
Kapvc, 385^ 

Kj.px V o<.ov, 538 

K&o-ropstov ynsAo?, 406 
Kara/?a,v«v, 276 
Kara/Wovrej, 279 

KaraPXvTiKt!, 414 
Kara/SoXT?, 669 
KaraypaAeo-, 6S0 
Karaypa^, 439 
Karatru?, 455 
Kara M » rll , 559 
]w»K 8 Xst.o> y, 424 
KaraXoyoy, 439 
KaraXoyov 7r<HS(rSj.t, 
Kara,u.6i>8tj', 566 
Js.araTreip7]Trjoir), 535 
Kar««Xra., 506, 507 
siy, 550 



Kar, 



, 441 



KaraiTTpuiftaTa,, 540 

Kara0pa*r Ot , 448 
Kara^siporovia, 80 
Karajopsw.y, 424 
Kara^oyiara, 76 
Ka™e*Xij<Kat, 100 
Ka™*Tovas, 113 
KamiTT^fla*, 71 
KaT^yopta., 129 

«ai 7rpoo-A-aXoi'uat, &C,, 

120 

KaT>7p7;y ^XayiStoty, 577 
Kavctr,, 455 

Ksat^^ks, 565 
Kaicpomr, 7, 57, 59, 60 

KsXeuffT^f, 547^ ' 
KsX^rss, 416, 528 
KeXxtS^oef, 27 
Ks^pta,' 590 



236 



, ib. 



Kevrpia&ai, 357 
K V «i«i, 538, 543 

376 

Kepa/ioy, 338, 7i. 
Kspap^y, 476 

Kspay, 455, 465 

Ksoacrai, 699 
Ktpaagat, 677 
Kepara, 477, 538 

Ksp^woy, Apollo, 264 
K* P «i3« s , 47, n. 

KspKt'patojv /xatrrtj;, 263 

Ks^aX^, 505 

Ka^aXoro/iarrua, 329 
K 8 0a,Xoy, 535 
Kq^xoy, 126; *aXoy, 604 
Kr,™, 33S 

H7]poyoa<pia, 532 
K„p 0/ ,avT««, 330 
Ktjpoy, 667, M- 

K, P »?, 95, 100, 146, 226, 

230, 276, 369 
K„ P im«s. 211, 484, 485, 

673.697 
K V pv**uv, 411 

K^roy. 331 

K.y*X.«g S , 122,200 
K t 0a P a, 666, n. 

Ki9ap«r«H', i6. 
Kttfpo/xavrem, 302 
Kt^padai. 349 
IWsy, 194 
K«»<oy 8 ? 8 <5e t08 *, 69 
K t p*oy, 308 ' 
K lTO ^«, 385 

Kl<XTOO>pOl, 370 



KAa<56i.rJ7pc«, 385 

Kx 8l <r« s , 550 

KXetTOwoiW, 530 

KXBTTT^y, 322 

K\e^vS ? a, 124 

KXr^Wy, 278, 321, 322 

K\v9rivat, 680 

Kx^oot, 314 
K\ v 'pof*a V Te t a, 313, 314 

KXtjpOI'OM'ai 8 7Tt(5l«i 
KXr/pcorot, 78, 128 

Kx^ty, 679 
Kx v , 



120 
>t, 123 



KXrp 

KXr, ropey, 120, 121, J 23, 

680 

KXtfuzKrepey, 48, H. 

Kx t/ xa K£ y, 47, »., 536 
Kx^aif, 639 
Kxtj/7-77ptoi'. 626, tj. 
Kx.^oy, 687, 68S, n. 
K\tv V , 626, ». 

K\iV7] Wfj.'pt&tr), 625 
KXto-ty, sTTiaopi', 480 
KXivr) Trapa/Stxrroy, 625 

KXmho* 626, n. 
KXto-ty btt' a<rfl-t6a, 481 
KXoioy, 136 
Kj/^^taX^iTta, 3S5 
KfTj^utfay, 458 
KvTjo-^sy, 463 

Kmm, 231, 594 

KoQopvos, 17 

KotXt/i/SoXov, 478 

KotXj?77?y V770C, 530 

KoiXot, 432 

Ko<Xo», 46, 47, 48, n. 

Koifj,acr9ai, 565 
Ko»^rr,p*a, l'6 M 716 



v ypap.p.a. 



, 56 



jrpa^cuy 



o"iay, Xoyi 

712 
KoXeoy, 462 
KoXoioy, 136 
K?\o(pwva TiGevat, 447 

KoX7TO<'y 6ty 7TTU6CV, 333 

Ko^jiy «ai a(Bpo6iairovs 
«va», 489 ; t« 3€<p, 622 
Ko^a^piox fr7pov, 626, n. 

K-OVt?TT)piOV, 41 

Kow<rrpa, 41. 48, 71. 
Kow*<Ir»a, 385 

Kovto*, 536 

KovTO'^OpOt, 44S 

IW.y, 404. 463 
Kopem, 385 

Kop?J tKKOOSl KOpOlVTjV, 622 

KoptKctor,' 41 
Kop^a^v, 637 
Kop„/?avT t *a, 385 
Kopi.eaXX.orptai, 404 
Kooir^/?a, 554 
K p„v„, 464 

Kopuy, 453- IjnrofWia, 

454; in-Trovpij, t6. 
Kopaivi7, 465 

HopUlVVV XP var i v 6T*Tt08- 

K.opa'j/t5ey, 532 
Ko M ,vo^am<a, 329 
Korra/? t a, 710 
Korra/Stretf, 709 
Korra/3ot aywi'X^roi, 710 
Korra/Sof. 604, 709 } *a- 

ra/rroy. 710 
Koruoy 3ia<T0JT7jy, 3S6 
Kort.rna, 385 



Ko U p fi a,T 4 y, 56, 346, 709 j 
Ko«p <, 339 , 

Kotipo po^oy, 621 
Kpa<5j?y vo/ioy, 378 
Kpai5)70-tT^[, 16. 
Kpaix!3r], 650 
Kpavaiy, 58 
Kpavoy, 453 

Kpar7?p, 688, n. 
KpaT77psy, 677, 609 

Kpar??p Atoy SaiTT/poy, 'E 

^oo, V Tyteioy, / 04 
Kp £a y, 114 
Rpeairt xat irXstoty 6t!7r 

so-cu a e ? t0 «roc, 697 
Kp W oy, 139 
K p)7 vo(/)vXa« S y, 92 

Kp^r-sy, 588 
Ko?jrtKoy, 424 
KptSg, 218 
Kptoy, 504 
Kpto^opo?, 373 
Kp^cy, 93 



Aauapoy, G52 



Kp,.< 



»t, 51)1 

ui/ 7rX^rp~a>, 666, 

rw,'75, «. 
raXXo^avTet, 328 
o-at, 584 

t «. 627 
, i6. 



K« a ^o t ,'l03, 125 

Kuap;oTpoysy, 125 
KvavoireZa, 691 
Kv/Sspi'Tjo-ta, 386 
tivPspvTiTriu 546 
K„/ffo/*avT«ia, 314 

K«*X y, 39, 40, n., 459, 
460 

K VK W TttTTEtV, 552 

K«X t « £i o^, 6S9 
K t .X t ?, 677, ». 

K l »X.<rr.«o., 415 

Kvrfto* 677, w. 
K t . ya y, 682 
Kvvsv, 453 

Kimra» o { a, VO t(r t re IXa,- 
p»a, 559 
Kw,» M *,45 

Ki>^o<rapyey, 45. 666, W. 
Kvvo^o^Tty, 38d 

KuttsXXov, 677, n. 
Kt. p /? at , 147 

K«p t «, 79, 99, 100 ; ^ep 
a, 122 

Kup./Sarsy, 625 

K,.p (0 f, 114, 614 

YLvpi-ot iavrtov, 659 

K V p t TT 0t , 404 

Kvprr, waparaf.f. 552 
Kuert /j.F.\-irr]9pa, 559 
Kuroy, 530 

Kv0 M k, 136 

Kv^)£octo-^oy, li. 
Kmiwv, 489 

K»a«.wr«». 448, 449 
K^a.f, 677, n. 

KuXavptrat, 89 
Ka»Xa t , J*. 
K«,Xa*p S Ta t , 16., 127 

KcoXt,T 4<at , 306 
Kcovetov, 139 
Koj7rat, 536 

Kc07T»?p'?, 525 



, 125 



7U0 

A-af.iTrafir)<popos, L . 

386 

Aao.y a<£ g o- t y, 234 
Aap t J<T t a toJ „ ^ p T>? , 3.6 
Aapt>a Kes , 584 
Aapvnta, 387 
Aaray,, 7,0 
Aara?, 16. 
Aa^p.a, 387 
Aa^t'pa, 57 
Aa^ StV , 108 
Aaeov a0 etrt y, 211 
Aeta, 626, N. 
Aeifl.tv, 215 

Asl^awr.o'', 129 
Aei7r 

A 8tw 

A« ( 7T 



UCTCU, 518 

...„.^«ov, 129 

A«ro..py t a t , 86, M., f<2, 

93, 133 , 

A 6l rot.py y, 92, 93, 162 
A^ai-o/iavTMa, 327 
Ae/vrpov, 56S 
A«ov.ie*a, 387 

Aso^r^, 453 
A.ov«* a , 387 
A 80V 7tj, 59, 60 
A«^7ax«a, 666, n. 

Aepvaia, 387 
Aeo/StaCeiv, 637 

A.»/S.a», 637 
Asvpt'ov, 530 
A«^a., 74 
A««t^,, 653 

As.jkt? ^^(/>oy, 125 
A et ,« [e , M a, 83 
A ex avr, V , 6S4 
As^spva, 375 
At,kv9ol, 667, n. 

Avfivta. o«a, 450 
Ar?/.tvta ^f' Pl '6« 
Ar)p>vi.ov /?X«7reic, ii. 
A^ vaia , 342, 387 
A v ?iap X o h 85 
A^? t y, 57 

AtPavoixavreia, 302 
Ateo^oXoy, 506 
A^o/SoXta, 140, 333 
A t 0o,*a*TM«. 328 

Atfl«/*oTa., 246 
A»«Fa, 650 
At«vtT7jy, 360 
A tKvocpopot, ib. 
AtpvaTiSia, 383 
A.vay, 538 

A, Mt a, 388 

Aivo9a>077?, 457 

Aivo h 579 

At7rapot Troapy, 686 
Ai vavoy, 666, «. 

Ac^, 38 

Aoysioy, 46. 48. n. 
Aoytrrr/y, 79, 84, 90, 547 

Aoyoy ^rryXtrsvrtwoy, 136; 

<r^)atp 4 «oy, 428 
Ao/tpoi. my ff^e^/fay, 252 
Aoxpojv <n.i'9»;^a, a'6. 
Ao^/S.*, 349 

Aofo, Ki.i aieoXia, Til 
Ao?tay, Apollo, ib. 
Aov 6 c9 al otto vsvpou, 570 

AovT-npiov, 626, «• 
Aotjrpo^, 598; #e<mof,i*. 

Aoirrto^opoy, 625 
Aot.r'po,./, 685 
Ao$eio>/, 626, H. 
Ao^oy, «t.oj/9j7y, lvwox"f 

Toy, *rapi*oy, v««n^tv»- 

/5«*r lSl 454 



GREEK INDEX. 



807 



Aox <*yoj, 472, 475 


Meri^oXr), -eir' ovpjt.v,-air y 


Miopia, 366 


SgrrAara, 716 




oupuj, 431 


MfffTtKV giCTOOOJ, 37 1 


Hevta, 157, 173, 718 


Aoj**, 349 


Merayetrvta, 389 




Eewjw, 679 


Ao^os, 475, 477, 479 


MsTayetTi/taiv, 434 


Mvxos, d50 


Egfi«»7, 716 


Ai.-yoj, 1 209' 


Msra^pTria, 693 


31coX64a, 390 


Eew/» t , 691 


Airier 67 


Merav.jrrp.,?, 7C4 


N 


Ewor6"*^ a " or ' 




Meraffrr,™ e?a>, 122 




X,<ovov ^56 ' ""^ 1 ^ 


Mjroiwa, 10 


Nat fia tov, 244 


EgfOTrapo^oi, 719 


Aweato 38S 


MerotKot, 50, 56, 61, 62, 


Naoj, 194 ' 


Egvoy, 715 


Avxata' 


73, 88, 94, 124,' 395 ' 


Nao(^Xa«ey, 210, 212 




Au*g4oe, 44 






Eeirrat ra^ot, 588 


!W*o S , ib. 


mItovovj"^"^, 531 


Nat'/<rpap/at, 84 


Ee»T7, 691 


Aw»*,443 


M, aSiKgtv, 122 


Nauwpapot, »0. 


E^oy' 138, 462 


AvKOTO^oy, 44 


M>> yevoiro, 324 


Nai'Xo^ot, 550 


Eoava, 195 


Al»«OV TO £7T4. 119 


Mr? Travrt gp./3aXXg t j/ rrjv 


N at)ffTat9^»oy, j6. 


Et'ijXa., 463 




<5g£tn!>, 686 


Naura», 542 


E«Xov,' 137 ; 5ravT8<rwpty- 


Avffu.i'opta, i6. 


Mr^oS-ra, 165 


Navr«tfc<rac, 91 


Av^vOjUaireia, 330 


Mt? <^>6pKtv, 43 


Nai^uXa/tES, 547 


yo^, 186 




Mrjis yeveaOit lxtt av sv 




nvvoiKia, 392 


M 




"f^oay^gVa* 7 540°* 


Evarot, 43 




™^T P a.Tre^7) S K aransj Vy 


'Ne^poagtTfov, 593' 




Meryaotf, 495 


MtfeV SKTtTOI KO.KOV, 623 


Ngwpo^acreia, 326 


E I » ^Totiolo r ^4 y 1 


Mayyaia, 501, 506 




Ng««<7ta, 390,' 599 





Maygia, 325 


ft /^i*xrii^f«r v 453^ a tv r '" 






Maystpoi. 21 i 


Mrjxwy. 623 


Nlo»^a, a 39(f" 


'O oa 7T8i'77y IXao-aro 701/ 


Mayoi, 326 


Mr/Xa 423 


Nsop.T/v.'o, 432 


Seov, <piAr;<ray p-oi'ov too 


Ma£a, 141 


M77ACO)/, Hercules, 375 


Ng07TToXgp.4a. 398 


rr,p airov 6s%t*v, 240 


Maip.-z«T7jp t a, 3S8, 434 




NetJoo6oT«. 666, ». 


'O g^7rp n9 6V , 114 


Ma*pa4, 525, 530 




Nsto'ota, 550 


OfSoXoy, 569 




voire' 'iri\vo''lvov ^Ar- 


N6O)'«0p0i, 212 


Ov<5o6ta, 3b0 


^0^0^683^ P °' S 7r0 ° CT 






OyKwtrai, 587 


M«XXo«8TOj|S *l-<T76tf, 302 


Mr/pot, 231 


Kq M ^^i'mr«p»y, 215 


Oy^rjarta. 392 






Nr? tov *wa, ^va, TrXa- 




M^teta, 214, 255, 289, 




TCLVOV lb. 


'0(5oc, 300 


291 


MrjTLXOV, 119 


Nt? TW^EOJ, 244 


O6 fTgy, 535 


Maxretf, 254 


M.TJTPCOOV, 4^4 




'O^oy eijofta. 35 


Mane^ar*, 255 


M^a'i/a,' 501 


N^X^/La, 391 J ' 

NjjrtaTOV, 550 

NT/o-Tgta. 379 


'OOOTOIOI, 92 


Mam*,, 254 


IMtapoi, 225 


Oi gv6g«a, 84 


StWitea< frvay, 263 


Mi Kp0l , 80 


Ol SaXXa<T<rp ireplKa.9a.i~ 


Mavr4*',i/ puro*, 270,289 


M t Xr ta 6«4a, 389 


Ntjtt;, 666, ». 


POVTO.1, 224 


Mai/Tiy, 2&9, 297, 310 


MtXroTra&Tjoc, 531 


Nr;^)aXta Lsoa, 216 ; £i>Xa, 


O.wsTat, 73 


Maor t . »a, 124 


Mti>»sta,'b89 


217 


O t «r7p;a, 136. 322 


Ma'o-T ty tav. 69 


Mto^oi/ ot«ao-Tt«oj, 116 


N??0aXiot 5T'<Tj«t, 216 


OtKo<5gp.cov, 679 


M a <myo0>opo4, 420 


MtaQcu e-Ki avv7]yopet.v,~l9A 


N^ipoi/rey, 711 


Oivoy, 642 


Marsiov 55, 57, 85 


Mia^aicetoy oiKOv &C, 


NtyXaooj, 547 


Oixovpoi o(peis- 32 


Ma rovj^^a Sgouj, 244 


5**1?, 134 


Ni«rj -ij gy Manaflton, 3Q] 


O.vat. 676 


M aTTl , a9 . 692 


Mtrpij, 456 


~NiK7)rr)pia Aflrjvay, 391 


Ou-w, 59, 61 


M a to, Stco. 244 


M„, 151 155, 171, 178, 


N;'^ao^a(, 632 


Ocvo^ai/Tgta, 302 


M a ruv, 115 


618, 703 ' ' ' 


No9e«a, 658 ; ^p»;p;aT<i, 


OivofisXi, 692 


M 1Fipj , 463 


Mv^ara, 5S9 


OtvoTrrat, 92, 7P3 


Maari? « f pap.t4*T;, 13S 


Mnufw, 5S8, 5S9 


No^oi, 73, 655 


Oivos, 40; arr7?X*tr.-,p> 


MgyaXaprta, 379, 389 


Ml vrjutiov, 58S 


NoSoy 6« Sfeyr/; ?? 7raX- 




M f yaXov Traxu, 5 


Mvvarpov, 615, n. 




to?' I-pt9t!/oy CT ^v°pt>/t f T?;s 


Meyaj, 26 
Medvetv, 233 


MoyoffTO/coy, 648 




673 


Moi^'aypta, 633 


Nop-tfo^gra, 556 


OcvooirovSa, 217 


M s fl u „ OM „, ot , 711 


Mo^fta, 129 




04^004, 617 


M 61 A.iyuaTa. 597 


Mo\v(35iSes, 468 


No"t^a>l/ ^a" cov 55 


Ot^o/xevot, 565 




MoX tiSoiyai acpaipat. lb. 


Nop.o0gT-ai, 85 ' 


Ouovio-pJaia, 304 


M e ,x t £oj, Jupiter, 257 
M s \ mvat , 534 


'MtoXvPSou.a.VTSta, 329 


No^oy, 271, 666, n. 


Oitoviffrat, ib. 


Movrjogl?, 528 


Nop.ot, 143, 144, 146, 


OiaiviaT-ootov. ib. 


M e Xav, 666, H.; ypa(2>4- 


MovOfAKVKtS, 416 


147 ; (poviKoi, 143 


OiwvoQtiai., ib. 


*»y, ib. 


Mot/ <pa.yo4, 339 


No^ o 0i'Xa*gs,'84, 85,101, 


Qiaivoi, ib. 


MaXa*a.yi r , 346 


Mopa, 479 


419 ' ' ' 


OtairoTroXot. ib. 


MfA t , 322 


Mopiat, 394 


NofxoipvXaKtov 136 


0*pt/3ay, 667, n. 


MsXta, 613 


Novvvxta, 4P 339 


Noroy. 33 1 


Oxra(r V pt S , 430 


M«x.i», 461 


Mo Ma ' M », 34 


Nov/xJ7V*a. 391 


OXtyOTTOTOf vrgy. 704 


M«X«ff«ra», 597 


Mov*vx"ov, 434 


Nv.vToy ap-oXyoy, 295 ; 0- 


OXtyoi^opoi, 6/6, 


MaXiTTOwra*, 218, 570 
M«v«Xaeia, 389 


Movoeta 390 




'OXKa^gy, 524 


Mo«<rg 40 ^ 38 


NtT 7 '' a'-'cu ' 0^ ^ 624 


'Oa«"h, 536 




Mourn*,;, 666, «. 




'OXp.0/, 267 


Me-pap^ta, ib. 




Ni'^gu-^fa 'ii 


'OXo«a«o-Tov, 230 




Mv6pos. 249 


Nup;ii»?. 628 


' OXo«auTa)p;a, ib. 


Me'oayxvXov, 467 


Mr iai 680 


N('p.^>oXT?7rroi, 288 


'O\o<pvpjj.ot, 579 


Mg<r,;, 666, ». 
Mgffoya.a. 53 


Mttmu, ib. 


N«p-0o(TToXof, 624 


OXv^-n-ia, 392 


MuXXot. 379 


Nwccat 416 


OXVUTTIOV 37 


MetroSw 538 


Mvpa, 685 


Nouroy, 697 


Op.^up.tp.gi' 7 41/a rea-Sta-v, 


MaatfuyfM, 541 






244 


M s »o/x0rtXtov, 459 


Mt.poXr^ 3.-6" J 


S' 


1 ' 0/40^(0*, 191 
"Op:oyaXaY70t, 57 

•0*toX»ia. 392 


MiawawM, 542 


Mi'ppiv^j, 678 : *Xk5o$ t) 


Hav0<«a. 391 


Meffowroj 7rpcoT7/, <Wepa, 


6a(pv; 7i , &C, 707, n. 


Bavtov, 6>6. ». 


432 


Mi •u.-c- aog t v Trpoy, 707 


Eg.ay.a, 475 


I ' Op;op:7;Tp40t)?, 613 
j •(Warp.o.tf. 


Mwrorro. ™,.0or, 700 


M w »», 390 


Egvavof. ifc. 


jU6<roupiat, 539 


Muaoy, 322 


Epvai. 636 


>- 'O/XOOTtyOK 718 



3 y 2 



808 



GREEK INDEX. 



'0/.tOTpcnreZov, ib. 


OiXeaOai, 565 


Ilapa^.poy, 416, 445 


n«ptppa»'T?7pioi/, 223, «., 


(Wa?, 369 


O^sroy, 322 


Tlapuorifxov, 71, 533 


224 


O^ai, 265 


0^ 6 vy, 454 


na P a«««», 141,152, 211 


nept£r«uXa*Kraoy, 225 


O^aXoy, 459; <rov ov 


0^ap C ov,9l 


ncpaa.To., 276. 6c0 


nfp^ra^oy, 481 


irgpt6T/x.7?6>7, 649 


Od0VO/J.0ly ib. 


JlapacTAr^vtof, 46. 48. Tl. 


n€p { <TT t ap^ y, 102 


Ofj.(pa.AoTouia, ib. 


n 


ILapaaraoLS, 123, 128 


llepiarvXtoy, 42 


Oveiparw ^o^>rai, 293 


Jlapao-rarat, 474 


n.piMij.ir/Koy, 500 


Ovstpo/cpLTai, ib. 


Uay^XaSca, 393 


napaao.e^a, 492, 493 


H^TOvs.a, 532 


O, SiP 07roX 0t , 297 


llayKoariaoTa*. 415 


IlaoaroS'ty, 475 


nspt^aXAta, 360, 39S 


0„ et0 oy, '293 


nay^patiov, 41, 415 


napari.Ayu.oy. C34 


Jlepcfeptia, 459 




IWvsy, 232 


Ilapa^rpva, 619 


nep^oay/zara, 540 


O^atfX/jr^p, 689 


Ilatav epPaTT/pios, exivi- 


Ilapaippay/xaTa, 540 


Jlspaac is ^ U0W ir»y, lf.9 


O^aro^avre^ 330 


« t oy, 491 


na <W. 83 


TLsavonavTeia, 314 


O^arof, 376 


na.oaycoya., 665, tl. 


Ilaos^oX,,, 480 


n,=raXa, 138 


O.vxo^reta, 32S 


lla^ey, 698 ; Ssto*, 659 


nap»0«i., 640 


n f raX t <ra y, i6. 


Op^.OffYOTTl^a, 304 


IWutkcm, 6^8 


nap 6 vra? t y,.480 


nerpa. 246 


0?oy, 322 ; ei/^rov, 6/3 


IIaiiorp t /Sa t , 665, M. 


IJapeg'etp^o-ia, 532 


n 6 7pa t UaKpac, 37 J Ke«« 


0? t ./? e X*y, 506 


llai<5coj/ <nropa> rwv yV7)Gi- 


Hap,**, 448 


p07rtat, ib. 


On-tcO^f, 240 


toi/ o-o4 ti)» tu.aVT0V.Svya- 


nap^woAtoau-rsy, 575 


IlerpoPoXos, 506 


Orriaeooo^oy, 32 


Tsoa, 615 


nappoo.a, 445 


n^pu.jSoXifMV, 441 


0-m.<,6a<t>v\al;, 474 


IlaXatov, 5 


ILapdeviat, 655 


n £ T etoM a, b63 


Ott^co, 114 


IlaXaiffrijr, Jupiter, 41S 


napflsrcH, 31 


ri^<r« yt o*. 85 


'OttXi™*. 58, 442 


UaXa^rpa, 41 


napta. 532 


n,yo^avra t a, 327 


' 07rXtTaytoyo£, 521 


IlaX,, 414 


llaooooy, 531 


n^aXtov, 535 


'OrrXcroopow, 412 


IlaAia, 627 


Ylapoxn, 719^ 


ni7*T, s , 495 


OTrwrjoca 628 


IlaXXa«r7, 616 


napo^oy, 623 


n^rai, 501 


'On-coy /car^Tway, 113 


IlaXXaKloss, 635 


TlapvTrar,), 666. M. 


nitfFjwoj, 322 


(Wa, 293 


naXX £t v, 462 


napco7rty, 626, n. 
napa,r«a, 448 


n t 6»o t y 4a , 342 


Opyava a<p£TT)pin. 505 ; 


IlaX Mt «a wwM^ara, 317 


Hikooi. yao £ i foot, 302 


/*ayyavt«a, 7r&rpopoXtKa, 


TlaXftoi. ib. 


naraerMtv, 141 


ILwi,»o*, 667, n- 


odd 


llaXxa, 462 


narponoi, 659 


n t .-a« ia , 105 


0>6 a. v£? . 57, 172 


TlaXrr,, 537 


Hat^avaa, 398 


n^a?, 667, «. ; ayepr*- 


O pr . ta , 169 


Ila^/Soiwrta, 393 


nat.<r t *a«,. 137 


*oy. 316 


Oo«a, 338, n. 


ria M ^a^t OV , 416 


na^-oy AaXaYPSi 477 


IltMiy 701 ; 


Oo^ajflai, 462 


Ila/^tapo*. 225 


n« P *. 423 


/iET-' aXX^Xcov. 669 


Oodia. naX V , 414 


IWad,,„«,a, 339, 393 


n St p a «,.y, 48 


n««ve^t«f., 434 


Opg.of, 666 677 


Havana, 396 


natoai«a & , 34 


IlAwoiw. 478 


P e ^, 566 


Ilai-aa.ffia, 670 


Jln'ciavaKttos. 3S 


nXa^ ls , 395 


'Op*ia t^vs^, 247 


TLuv&amKoi, 395 


n S 6<r Ma ra, 526, 536 


IlXarawc, 641 


c Op« toJ . Jupiter, 244, 250 


Ila^^ov, 396 


n*,Woi, 214, 217 


nx e .pa tl 477, 531 ^ 


, Op«oy,242 i <5,u f yay,243, 


na^ca, lb. 


neAapyoi, 30 


nX^yai 7rXay£tat, 376 


216 ; 6 ^i*poy, 243 


lI*v<W t y, 59. 60 


neXao-ytKov. ib. 


Ex^rpa, 536 


'Oonvi, 48, 530 


Ilavipooos, 396 


n^Xara*, 64 


nX^oac. 371 


O^oo-ko™, 304 




n^Xftat, 239, 269 


nX7? D 77s. 430. 432 


Oovig S , ib. 


IlartXXrj^a, 


TlsXaioparreiu &9 


nX>>pa>/*a«a. 541 


Op^o^^y, 304 


llaveeov, 33 


IlsXe<v S , 464 


nXi.^ov, 478 

nX.rSoy, 500 


O , t <W«o™, >b. 


na..,«».a, 396 


n s Xra t , 443 


Ofruyoy, 340, «. 


n a , OM ^a t0 y, 256 
TlavovXca, 520 


HeXXrii'iKri \Xaiva, 315 


11 X ota, 524 


Opvy^a, 139 


UsXontL*, 398 


JlXoca ii<p6rpiv*. St pun- 


Op^oreX^rat. 2S7 


nawfa, 39S 


UsXraarac 443 


Ttva, ftovo%v\a. 523 


Op yrjOTrjy, 70S 


Havres avBpmrroi. avnu- 


IlsXrr;, 460 


nXoxa^oy S-f 7TT7?ptoy, 621 


Oox^rpa.. 46 


vo/mbv ray teipai' £iy toi' 


mxcopta, 393 


nXvrrvofa, 399 


"Oaia, 556 




YlBfiTraSaoxoi, 472, 475 
n^Tray, 475 


n*f$, ioo 


'O™*, 210, 225, 271 


voC^V^^ 


n «5 S y, 53S 


'O^corr/p, 210, 27 1 


na7rvpoy, 666, n. 


Usvcav. 78 


noOVVSKS.J, 460 


Oaro^ox-eca. 5S4 


Yla.paPXrifJ.aTa, 540 


nevraOXoy, 41. 382, 411 


nooova^r,, 137 


Oorpa^a, 108 




nsvraKKTjiXto., 16 


noooffra/^, ie. 


0*rpa« t o M °S 137 




n«vra«o«ap V »?S, 475 


n«eoy XevKO* 595 


On P a*o., 138 570 65 4 


Tlapaypa^Tj, 186 


n.VTa*o«,ap r * tt , W. 


no«a napvaata, 423 


OvXOCpOpLCL, 392 


napaycy,?, 4S0 




no.K.Xi;, 38 


Ocrjo^opiov, 393 


TlapcXteviov jfi0 t W, 463 


89, 174. 616 


IIo.KLXoTTeons. 70 


'Ort tco 6f«aTCo «tei to 


n« P .9»a Mtl 531 


n^raKoaruy, 479 


no^av6p t a, 230 


IAioi/ ^opfl^ouct, V-66 


Uapa^arr,^ 446 


nsvra^Xoa, 393 


noiwei^r? a^ Mt a.a, '-'93 


Orrai 321 


naoa^ra^oXTj, 123, 133, 


n^rjjKOpTJjMS, 474 


TluX^apx oy. 82, 83, 10U, 


Ot'8' 6 irvp(popo$ so-ioSr/, 


173, 178 


II«VTr;*o»Tap^ca. 475 


470, 472. 474, 479 


493 


TlafaKi> VM *Sia, 448 


llgi/Tj?/covrap^oy, i'A. 


noX tet a, 399 


Oic^fty oiSe rt. cttitA^o-a, 


UapaKO^nv, 570 


n^T^«oi»Tari7?, 479 


noX.y. 29 


7rXrji> ye gtny optay, o04 


napaXta, 7, 5S, 39S 


n S vrr/«o^77p, ib. 


noX 4 r ae , 50 61 




riapaXoy, 44] 


n«PT,*ovTO P uy, 523, j46 


noXXot *'ayae«, 229 


oL'LrTvl! 113 


naoa M aoT,.p.a, 121 


n«»T,* M r,.. 479 


lloXvyovoy. 623 


0-,« STra.vsee^c ouO eK 


napa/wwos. 678, ». 


n^oXteo^^a,, 260 


noAvtVooy, 617 


^pioW**), 594 


naoa^g^^, 666, n. 


n S TXo?, 395, 623, n. 


nnX..7rp 01 *0 S , lb. 


Ou« ef07j^i,oy, 69 
OtAai, '217, '230 


Uapa/jnoiSia, 448 
Ilapaar/o.oi/, 463 


Usot tiXiov «5 ( .<r,a a y, 223 


JloXv(p9o^ 270 


Tie olI3otito$, 35 


TLokvtpapou, 676, n. 


OyXo?t,<W, '217 


Uapavopiai y?a(pr,, 14. 


n«p t ««tiri,ov, 593 


Tloftnatoi, 347 
nouTT^ox, 35 


Qvpa, 474, 532 


TTcpavo^a.!' ypacpr,, 130 


n?pi<ioo/xi^£y, 43 


Orpayoy, 474, 475 


napa».«. M ^ t0 y, 624 


neoicpopt77, 533 


JIouttswv oai/xovoy £opr«j, 


Oupav, 720 


napavi-/»0of, »6. 


TleptMQaXata, 332, 453 


399 


Otpavoy, 428 


TTapaopot, 416 


nepi/fX^oiTiifey, 659 


noTrava, 217 


0<pe a x^o S , 531, 534, 696, 


naoair« / *ir« t »-, 573 


nep t o t «o5 0/1 *7,, 588 


JIOTTTTV^V, 313 


703 


napan-Bra^ara, 540 


IleptTrarvrococ, 44 


nop.a, 524 


Otf)r,..,£f, 454 


llapaTrXeopaia, 448 


n 6 pc7rer e ,a, 39S 


nop M .a, 6^7 


Oiavov, 459 


1 Hapa^pea^sta, 130 


riepiTroXot, 439, 489 


no P 7ra/c t y, 459 



GREEK INDEX. 



809 



Iloo^a, 399 
IloM.W, 434 

DW<Wa, 399 
IIo.rei6a.waj, 58 
IIoTeAe.o, 620 

Horror, 677, n. 
llof a« AAer. &c, 713 
n P a«r 0/36J , 88, 161, 170 

Ilpa^py.Jai, 399 
IIfaTr,p Xi0oy, 76 
IIps<T/3 e4 y, 483 ; avro*pa- 

Topey, .6. 
Hpso-^y, 95 
Jlptanaua, 399 
n P oa«Xta, 627 
Ilpoat/Xio,/, 639 
IlpoSoXr,, ISO 
Ilpo/SouXsi^a, 102, 107, 

144, 461 

Jlpoya^a, 620 
Ilpoypaaua, 101, 144 
npoyi'/xvacr^aTa, 419 
IIpoo t *oy, 473 

IIdo(5oo/xoj, 639 
npo66p £ « £t r, 101 
lipoma, 47, n., 140,520 
n oej>ot, 85, 96, 101, 106 
Tlooe^te^, 700 
Ilpof^/SoXos, 540 
Tlponpocna, 399 
Iloo9vaaTa, 230 
lipoma, 616 

n P0£ ?,' 6is 

YlpoiaavrayafMrnv aai Bv 

aicju, 673 
IlooKaAeiv, 66 
Ilo *aX„MA""a, 510 

Hp*™™, 542 

IJpoAoyia, 400 
IIpo,wa*ta, ib. 
TLofxayn.s, 269; «<>««!., 
16. 

IWa;t-o 5 , 497 
n D o««T«» W4 6«. 44S 

Jlpo^^a, 400 
ilpj^v^OTpta^, 624 

IWoy, 497 

Tloovaov, 194 
llpownr.oi., 569 
IIpo^rpKit. 624 
IIpoi;si/oy, 713 ; a.7ra>Xetay, 

ib. ; <r<or7?ptaj, t/yie*ay, 

00opay, 719^ 

Hpooi/juov, 674 

IIpOTTB^TTSlV 573 

Upon-nBiv, 700 5 (pi\oTr)- 

YLpoirodes, 538 
ITporoXoj, 212 

lipoma, 692 

IIpoj iXoy r ; -/ouaa^i£fa, 

76 ; to. X 4 0a>, 81 
IIpo^A,,™*, 1 
IW.-rafty. 480 
IIpoa7?yt>pot. 263 
IIpoMaXou^a. to* few* 

to«5 6 a^tvjj^aTOJ, &C, 

120 

IIpoc-K^aXataJ, 639. «. 

llpoa^ou, 46. 48, n. 
IW*,..,^, 23S 

lipoma, 129 
lipoma p»eyaAa, 210 
Hpo<rra? t y, 480 
npo<rraT W tor, A poll O, 298 
IIpOTTUTUJ, 62, 73 
IWr/Wia, 448 

IIpo<j09 6 y*T W ta, 623 

DEpo^atp^ca, 40(1, 621 
IWyd**, 232 
IIp»ir,u&m 579 

RpoocjTrox ety, 535 
n^arcAfia, 400 



IlpOTi^<»9ai, 568 
Tlporovoi, 539 
Uporpuyeia, 400 
JlpocpaTVS, 547 
rip ^9 a( r t a, 400 
Hpo0vAa*i6es, 551 
TlpoxapttXTVpia, 400 



r, 229 
a, 122 



Ilpf/tra* rr,v -"Wir, 54S ; 

KfoveaOat, 549 
IlpUMr7?cria, 536 
npvra^ta, 99, 105, 106, 

117, 123, 170 
IIpt.T*Mi r , 96, 103, 232 

Tlpuioa, 581 
IIp*T««X«..a, 400 
noa.T 0ff T«Ti, S , 474 
Urapu-oi, 318 
Ilr.pa, 532 
IL-epra, 538 
Tlreposv, 460 
Ilrspt.ysf, 456 
IlToX^atf, 59, 61 

ft™*** 534 
IW«tf.a, 377, 400 

4i3 

Uvs\ ov 631 
IL>0.*oy vo/ioj, 4*23 
m.tw ? , 290 

llvKvwatS, 478 
IL;Aa»,300; A(ip*aM»», 34; 
A^ap^wai, ib. ; Ato^a- 
pouy Aio/xeta, ib. ; Bpa- 
kicll, lb. ; Spiatr.at, i£. ; 
IrcBftat, ib. ; Kspafitt- 
kov, ib. ; S*a«u, ?6. 
JIuAa.a, 97, 300, 401 
TIvAr/yopai, 97 



. 665 



Jii'pa^ou, 710, 714 
IL'pyoy, 478, 504 ; $001)- 

Toy, 504 
TIvpiarr,oiov. 6S5 
Ili.p.aia', 129 
TlvpopoXvt. X t 0o, 



, 301 



Hvporj(popos, 37( 
IIt.pffoi.pi(5ai, 551 
Flupo-orpoi, »6. 

n™™,, iop^ 401 

ILuXr^at, 63. 83, 114 

IIa>X>7T77piO^ TOV fJLBTOlKl 

63 



Pa^ 0£ , 127 
-■Vafronavrtia. 315 
'■PaP&ovopoi., 411 
'Pa/S^ou a^aXr^s, 401 



41 1 



'Pa/Sao$>opoi, 420 
'Paipaj-.nWiy, 634 
Ta-.Wop.a./Teia, 314 
'Pijfat, 414 
•P,«i, 6t7r siv, 712 
"P^Topey, 94 
'P^ac to toi' ao-^&c, j 
'P^ao-Tr^ey, 518 
'Pi^iy, 412 



, 635 



'Pv^ara, 536 ^ 

'Pvf/,7) TOIT7), 35 



Za^WrM, 401 
Say^wsF.., 500 

2aX 0t , 550 
SaAjrty* rr;y, 4;5 



SaXwty^, 494 ; rt'pp^WKIfj 

495 

2a»fo M ar«, 540 



, 1:'! 



627 

Sap.cro-a, 462 
S« P<0 »*a, 401 
SaupaiT^y, 461 

S«!Ta^9««, 402 
geipa.oy, 416, 445 
2 ipa^oy, 445 

2 stpo 0opo 4 , 416 

Ve t <ra X esta, 136 
SsX^i^at, 218 

SsXXovs, 260 
2 £MS A^, 402 
2 EAt ^ac3 6 a t , 113, 322 



•?;p;o 



, 402 



S^rpoy, 38 
Secoy, 472 

5Voy, 193, 194, 196 

S w »Ta, 589 

5Vs ia , 492, 493 ; ^pstv, 

552 
SiJAieiOK, 493 
S^/xEtoi^opoy, 475 
S^ffa^oy, 623, 710 
Sflsvca, 402 
2^r /po/ »a»rtia, 329 

Zcvtwj, 450 

2c*T W , 16. 

Ewtfpioy, 623 
S.T^o-ty *»IIpwTamai, 141 
StTta, 141 
2 t To Mg7P a t , 90 

SlTOTTOilVoj 0**OJ, 69 

2 t T 0V o**,, 175, 618 

2cTO0 O X, 



i, 90 



2vaX M0t) 537 

2*a^a, 412 

2*an-T £ a9ac, 523 
2«a077, 62, 523 
2ic>i<pT]<popoi, 395 
2«« P a, 402 

2«sA?7 /xffi^pa, 33 
2«,raaT W ia, 461 

Sketttj, 588 
2*^,, 46 

2*ijjrrp v, 116, M., 289 

2*«o, 667, »., 6:0 

*E«cai ei a, 62 

2«* a «« f , 384 

2vta6r;^pprt, 62 
2*4aypa0;a, 667, «. 



402 



326 



2«i7 

2 «p^7 38 

2«.po0opia, 402 



2 ;= 



434 



173, 178 



2*oXca, 707 
2/roTtot, 655 
2OT.flat, 85 

2**01/07 7TOO-I 
2*»0 t «TT, »« 

2**0 ow « t „, ... 
2*,.Ao, 512 

2«t,TaXr„ 521 
2«„raX ta , 469 
2/curaXt^fy l6. 

2* t .0, s , 677, n. 

2*a,»ra t , 371 
2/tanrTt/ca, 708 
2p.7;yp.a aropi ^etus A a P 

682 

2/jXoy, 413 

2 p 0t , 584 
2™ P a t , 536 
SruJtw, 215 
27rXay A v' ena 
2 n -o6.oy, 196 
Sxroy^Ma, 597 

Y 3 



2^0^8(0?. 424 
2™,/o„, 214. 485 
2^0^X0.. 123 

27ro D T t a, 402 
2 To ;.oa t a, 703 
SraoWpo,!^*, 412 
2ra6co V , lb. 
2raupo £ , 139 
2retp»7, 530 

2r^aa"'T t? ;270 
2re<pai'r?, 253 
2re^£>afoy km ev<pr)/jia.'j]2 
2r £r >avo t , 140 ; U,i K oi t 

ib. 

2rs0a>/o0opoy, 37? 
^ImipEiy, 7U0 ; Kp7/T77pay, 

j6. 

2r,,X77, 136, 5S8 
2 r7?J / ( a, 403 

2r t y^a T a, 136, 440 



2 rt? >oy, 476 



r 'Aoy, 



., 313 
477 



2roa t , 
2roa ^aotXeioy, 31 ; 
oiUht,, 14S ; ^ a *pa, 48, 
637 ; Ta>va\ecTwv 40, n. 
2t«^« w , 630 

2roX.zp A oy. 545 

2toAoj, 532 ; /*Jjvo£n5'jy, 

552 
2ro^ a , 550 
2ro,u.a A oy, 247 
2ro?) £t a, 403 

2rpa T 77yoy, 26, 81, 93, 
100,161, 471. 476, 545, 
696 



, 524 



2T P aT.«. tl *a, 89 
27paToXoyta, 439 
^rgaroKvpvn, 475 
2rpoyyipXa t , 525 
2rpoyyvXoi'OT/rat, 5-12 
2rpo^)aioy, 136 
2rpa,.uaT a , 444, 6S9, It. 

2tuA s, 666, n. 
Zrv M <p a \ ia , 403 
2T«,V*o t , 38 

2t/y*X6 t £ti/ Tovy o^eaX^ 

MOyy, 566 
2t.y*Xr / Toy, 93, 679 
EvyK\ V ro t .' eK K\ v ? l ai, 109 
2tiy*o/xn57?, 570 



, 403 



2 t .*^. 

EvKOtbayrat, 127 
2,.AAo At0 - M oy. 475 

•Zv.uf3a KX oc 377 

SwAt/SoXa, 4£6, 492, 538, 
718 

2 t .,«/3oXr,, 669^ 

Si'/x/iajM, 483 

2» / i / *op*«, 93, 162, 514 
2f/*To<rtop^oy, 679, 636 

SwMTTO^OI/, 712 

2u/z Troaiov apxwv, fi7S 

eiriyaeX^Tijs, 696; Tracra. 

o-t/vayaiyr; 7r;v on,aj et y 

Seo» ay£ SpS , 668 
S«.^»-ot ., 679 
2,y.«/) pa, 669 
2»^opei>s, 479 
2i'iai*A«ta, 693 

2..v«^ 0T reiv, 566 

2 l .^OTr t <r A coy, 4/8 

Sn*Ai««-Mi 679 
S^.*«, 88. 94. 146 



810 GREEK INDEX. 



Suvvyopiicov, 94 


TaXoy, 476, 479 ■ ol npia- 


Tp4yoJvov, 119 


'Tirsp«apco(Tts, 478 


^vr,y poi, 84, 94, 124 


/new, 439 ; ttjs ayopay, 


Tp4e777p4^a, 430 


'T7rap?)aX4iyy43-4y, ib. 


^vvBvKri. 485 


90 


Tp47?pap,voy, 545 


•TTrapcoa, 639 


492 


TeXaiva, 88. 235 


Tp4r7cv^fXr,y, 547 


'T7j-7>pao-4a, 537 


S.-f&WaiT-at. 669 


Tep-evoy, 194, 205, 206 


TptrjpsTttt, 542 


'Tttvobt,^. 475 


2ei/v a <H, l yi 


T ap^aii', 478 


Tp47or?,u4oX4a, 529 


'Trr«par4«a4. 530 


S»>»ot*erat, 


Tapoy, 579 


Tpt*Xa P 4a, 4-1)4 " ' 


*T7T4yyoy, 232 


Zi>i/ 4*4a, 403 


Tfpvteeuy X a P"'t 201 


Tptfxopipoi 648 


'Ttti/o.. ^orr/p. 296 


Su»ro7/*a, 475 


TeoffapttKO^TO, 120. 123 


Tp407T4a, 405 


'Ttt jffoXo*, 618 




Teo-ffapa/eoo-roy, 4U3 6j4 


'Vptopxvs, 308 


'T7ro>aia. 587 


2u ? , 220 


1 en-u^sra ti.fj.txiv jjpaAVa)!/, 


Tp47ro(5ay, 35 273 
'VpnrovrjTa, 405 


TTroypa?)??. 667, n. 


SviCTiTia, 670, 673, 6L1 . 


5J9 ; LnoQtwv, ib. ; 40-0- 


'TTToypa.p.y. (A. 


715 


\vii-vto>v\ lb. 


T P 4n«aXp.oy. 537 


'TTroito/iOTa &BI 


Suaraffty. 475 


Tarpaar^y. 430 


Tp4T07raTopaia. 405 


TTrnvat'O-T-ov, 6~i5 




Tsrpa*o<v404 -5a ovrey, 16 


TpcTOTraropey, 616 


'T7ro M ,eo6la4 121 


Si.orpe^a, .6. 


TtrpaXoyta. 394 


Tp t rr, 666. n." 


.'T7r07rt.y la rwv Bptrwv, 537 


Xvpauta. 403 


Terpap^jjy, 475 


Tp,rr«a, 222 


Tito<»«^ VIO v 47, 48, 71. 


Sup.yyey, 423 


T«Tpa^«Xayyap it r,{, 476 


Tp4TTfap A -04. 84 


'YirnjaZi^ 480 


2vy/CO^tK7T7?ptO, 377 


TsrpalpaXayyap V4a, lb. 


Tp4TT tl y, 57, 222 


<Ti?orvTrwois 667, n. 


Svpiyuoy, 424 


Tarpa^nXoy, 455" 


Tp4vo f 6oy, 666, n. 


'T7io(pr7ra4, S6«, 269 


2u P 4y£, 495, 666, n. 


Terpco/SoXo.. ^4oy, 441 


Tp.i.« s ,455 


•Tirojamo., 196 


2tipoy, 67 


Tarr.yay, 1 


i p/co^oXa, S9 


'TTro^Xtopoy, 6/9, n. 


S(/)oystof, 230 


Tecppo^avTua.^ 329 


Tpo«aXr7aty , 66 


'Trrw^oaca, 121 


S©aipai, 414 


Ta,v»-4«??, 255 


Tporrata, 515 


'Ttro-oy, 467 


20aipto-rJ7pi.oj', 41 


Tr7X8,a40-rp4a, 579 


TpOTra40x iaravat,, 516 
Tpon-ty, 530 


'To-rapoj 114 


S^aipo^.a. 414 


Tr,Xe/xtp5i7, 579 


*T^ f p 0J rro M 04 , 2 25, 59 2 


"£<p*i-6ov V> 4(i7, 506 


Tt}V afiirjartav, 108 


TpoTrot. 537 


'Tar Vpl z, 406 


20r,voet<5?7 478 


Ttjc <5e4fa Kill rov KVpiov t 


Tponarvptt. Mt 
Tpo<pe ia , 663 


'T(pnopLoi, 550 


Sro tI / tov , 226 


121 


*T^»Vat, 587 


2^o^ ot , 139 


Tv» rerpaKTW, 244 


Tpotpoi, 641 




2 /t 04»o/?ara4, 542 


Tv°OVflBVOl, 512 


Tpo^covja, 405 


Ea'TJJp, 652 


'Vi6r,,u&ia., 403 


Tpo(toov4ou / ae/iai'T8t)ra4, 


( I ) oyw04a, 406 


SMi-Wta, 245, 403 


Tt^^ara, 87 


'^83 


4 <:yo4, 671 


2a>0poi>tJTat, 92 


T*y t V Ss, 229 


Tpo X o<;, 448 


<£a 7 o,y, 406 


2«,<ppov4ar77f, 278 


Ttraiaa, 404 


Tp^ara, 502 


*af(T^opo S , 64S 


2<u^)poy4yT?7ptov, 136 


TA?7TroXe ( 44S4a, ib. 


TpvTTV^ra, 531 
Tpua4ir7T40v, 448 


*a4V84>/ rov **Bp V , 83 


T 


To e?co 7repippaj'T>?p40v, 


l I cXayyap^ r,'?, 4 V 6 


193 


TpvrpaXeix, 455 


'-» cXayy4a, 548 


TaTlaiStTTjy, 403 


To ecraj, li. 


Tpa ) yaX t a, 692 


'I'aXayycy apapoy, 477 ; 


Ta ^eXtcrn-oi^a, 216 


To KpeTTBlV, 211 


Tf^/Soy, 190 


44^07-OMia, ,b. ; (UijJcoy, 


Ta 7TSO-01TC4 ,147"/ C4Va4pe4(T- 


To 04-tO(T«O7r4«O4', 320 


Tv/iTrava, 139 


476-, OA4<paXoy, 477 5 0-1- 


0at, 594 


ToL X apxo h 5-17 . 


T^rrano.-, ib 


vo X r h ib. 


Ta (ppvyai-a. 301 


Toi^Oi, 531 


T«7ra4, 405 


<5>aXayyap /r ?y, 476 


Ta £0 K a/j.fj.n>a, 412 


T 0i 44ay, 247 


Tt-pai-voy. 291 


$aXayyap^ t a, 1U. 


T a .4f ap Ia , 403 


Toe ays„>/ S y, 70 


Tvp ( Sr/, 405 


^aXayyey. 461, 548 


Ta«T4«04, 483 


Tov irrapfj.ov Ssov qyov- 


Ttipoaty. 30 
Tcp Sr)fj.O). 103 


$aXay?, 4/6 ; op6ta, #7 ; 


TaXatuorpyoy, 642 


/te9a, 'SIS 


6repo / u.77<£y, lb. 5 ?rapa- 


TaXa/xoj, 579 


Tovmo., 404 


Ta>p ei/ ayopa pavjeuti,, 


^77/cey, £6.5 -rrXayia, ib.; 


Tap.4a4 row Oeov, 127 


To?a /?oe t a. 465 


316 


Ao?jj, i6. ; a/x^ioro/ioy. 


Tap.la4 tcoi/ iapeov A'P»7/W 


Tot?ap4d"4«, 404 
To^ap^oy, 475 


Tcoy Ttrapfxaiv 04 p.sv eiatv 


; avT40-ro/xoy, 10. ; 


IttK, '210 


w<ps?.ifj.o h oi 6s pXaptpoi, 


TreTrX^ya/in/r,, «6. ; 87T4- 


Ta^44ty TT?? <5404«77<T6a)J, R9. 


Tt>£tK>7, 4J3 


319 


«a/x7r»js, 478 ; ea-rrapfj.il- 


90 ; TW4- 5s4« f ,4«40^. 90 ; 


To?or, 464 


T 


VT), <b. ; po/j.j3oEiSris, ib.; 
%i<poeL&rj<;, ib.; iepa, L03 


ra>v crTparianiitwv, ib. 


T g' ( iTa4, 8-5, 101, 103 




TavuiTrspiiysj, 306 


Touy ai/a^ef vofj.ov S . 148 


'HWj/^a, 405 


'KXapa, 449 


Ta?4 S , 475 


Tovy ev Mapa0a>.<4, 245 


'T/?p4?-£4», 141 


<X>aX7,p 0i ', 49 


Ta?»ap*ot, 47 2 


Tovy 87T4 T??y 04O4K7?o-ecuy, 


'T/?p t y, 113, 136 

'T/?p40-T4*a. 405 


f PaX«4y, 530 


Ta?4ap>;oy, 696 


472 


$aXXt/ca a^fiara, 360 


Tap.7rrpa a V/ j,ara, 299 


Towj.jt* rmv 67rXo.v, »6. 


'T/Spto-TO^Kat, 91 


<t>uAXoy, 350, 360, 454 


TapavTivaoita, 479 


Tovy kutwGsv vopovs, 148 


'Ty64a, 233 


$aXXofliopot, 360 


Ta«p 6 4^, 403, 453 


Tor>y «oXa«au€ti/ ivvapte- 


'Ty4f4a4, 321 


<J>ap-/naorp4a, 406 


Taupoi. 219 


vov S , 211 


"T^pavoy. 363 


$ap^A:a ewTr lP <.*, 230 


Taj.poTroXeta, 403 


Tpay7?paT40-^ov, 692 
Toayrjaara. i6. 


"1 iptat, 62 


Qapnaxeia, ib. 


Tat>po^oX4a, t6. 


'Ttipiatpopoi, 62 395 


<tapA*a*<H, 377 


Ta0oy, 593 


TpaTTf^oy, 691 


'TopouayTFta, 302, 327 


<J>ap^a«ov, 129, 139 


Tayao4 SaAap:o<,, 639 


'VpiaxaSes, 50, n. 


'T^pO<T7TOV<5a, 216 


<J)a<T4y, 82, 131, 171, 172 


Te0pt7r7TO4, 416 


TpaTracTa, 692, 693 ; -rrpce. 


'T<Vo<pop4j., 406 


t£e40.ria, 670, 711 


Teevaifievov, 685 


T??,&C., ; tjej^a, 716 5 


'T6»p «ara ^,-f4poy /xita. 


$eXXoy, 406 


Tst^oy ffopetov, 33, tt. ; 


S4«eXi«»7, 674 


rpaTre^ay, 632 


<■ epaor^oy, 648 




TpansKvt e« rr??, 636 


< T /i eva404. 579, o25 


<*>epfi^a7-rta, 406 


'Ytixiov 'iTrvapxov, 45 


Tpa7r f ? OW o/44y, i6. 


*Tp;evey. 625 


$.=pv7?, 618 


TVjoy Ki^v.o*, 30 


TpajrfLro7T04oy, ii. 


'Tjiwa, 406 


$aprpoi', (ir <5aperpov, 56S 


T E 4^»7 fj.a«pa., 33 


Tpaw^a sk Trpo^ay, 129 


'TjrayKa^a, 537 




Ttt^oy Not40v, i'i. ; *a- 


Tpa^^f, 531 


'T7ra4epo>', 588 


$7?/*a, 321 


XrjptKov, lb. 
Te4^07rotoy, 92 


Tpa^TjXoy, 53S 


'T7ra<oj/r40-Ta4, 44S 


tre f yy6O0a4 p\ao<pr ll j.i*v , 


ToJi^ara, 521 


'Trrap^ovraf, 541 


32^ 


T s Xa,uo)f , 459 


Tpca TraXai^ara, 113 


'TTrarw, 666, «. 


^>94>'0VT0? 66XUT1J, 433 


TaXap^rjy. 476 


Tp4aYa6ay, 57 
TptaKovra* 128 


'TTraroy, Jupiter, 18S, 


4:^049, 370 


TeX(?4a 3-uo-4a, 219 


199 


fJUaXT?, 677, w. 


TaXetot, 620 


T P 4a o y04 , 93 , 94 


•TTrsvepeav, 60 


fJ>4XaosX^)oy, 652 

rt'tXorijj, 322 


TeXawj, Jupiter, 234 


TpiaVat, 414 
Tptafay, 144 


'Tnspa. 53S 


TaXawy tXetSepoi, 73 


•T^pa™ rou /^vreiov 


$4X7,^ /3JO-.X4KU4-, 237 


TeXij, 87 


TftyXr;,. 370 


5vo rjaay nuAeuw, 263 


$ ( Xr/7opes. 600 



GREEK INDEX. 



S1L 



4>iXto S , 631 


XaX« ey u/SoXot, 539 


X W a><rr<u, ib. 


\g 


HAotiCh^ 273 


XaA«so$ ayaip, 375 


X(Wa, 407 




4>iAoAoyta, 665, R. 


XaA*«vj, 45 1 


Xfloi/of. 557 


Waivra, 217 


(fc^A-pa. UU4 


X«A«w 530 


XiXiap^a, 475 


¥«wr , *<i30 


gmrvntMr, 637 


XaXK.oc/tta, ^06 


XtAtap^oj, 49 2, 475 


681 


' 115 


XaX-coiis i(?5 


XiA (0 a,o S , 475 


^fvteyyoatyn, 130 


fco.-t-oirappo*, 531 


XaA«a.pa *e«,v, 539 


Xtrtow 623, m., 687, n. ; 


¥«Mo«Ai,r,ia. -6 


<i> ovos , 12d 


X«,«„ wl , 261 


XaiVos, 63 2 


^•V-acr^ia 127, 167 


<topaii7V Tr^TreiJ/, 572 


X«ona, ,06 


X.rama, 407 


y^ca^a 103, 107, 1<>4 


ti-opoc, 87 


Xapieararo,, 211 


XXew^fliy, 371 


^•Piop-ar* T»jv 0ov\i)S, 


$ op/ui-y?, 666, rt. 


XaptXa, 406 


XAoat. 217 


144 


$Opri)y<M. 524 


Xapiopara. 719 


X.Wa, 407 


M^™, 267 


4 paropej, 56, 57, 155, 


Xapi«a, 407 


Xvqtw,, 494 


•^.io^VTE:*, 314 


605 


Xapiorr/ptii, 213; eX«u- 


Xoo.4 T^ovTr/piot, 597 5 


W?,(pa V , 103, 125 


vpaT P 4a,56.57, 172, 181 


0,p t aj. 407 


ScAKr?7pi<K, i6. 


Y.Aayta. 475 


Qparptapxoi, 84 


Xao/xoavra, ift. 


Xoe s , ibj 342, 407 


V»Aot, 442 


^pa^^i^^^OArATjTftaj, 123 


X, r8 , 700 


Xon-.g, 137 


¥otf,CO TOU KWSVVOS, 448 


<&pe*TTOi, 118, 180 


Xap->7s, 666. w. 


Xo.pcvat, 125 


^ A a 7wyt « 5^0 


<4 pvyoroi/. 623 


Xa pa .v«or, 136 


X A 7 . 322, 407 




Qpvysrpw, 174, 623 


X«p«.rt 0J wA.po.es, 48, n. 


Xo.tWoTrca, 69 


Ijpfwrat, 507 ; TroXf^tot, 


Xse.y nr^a, 587 


Xop7?yo*. 93, 162 




iA.j y-tXiot, i6. 


Xetofftoflpa, 543 


Xopo t , 162 


<J>pf*7a>,ia, ib. 


X«pa $ av.^co^, 239; 


Xp^ar.ffpos, 292 


639 




a.aTMW., 246 


Xp?70>toXoy«i, 255 


£lyi.yt« «a«i, 5 


$vXa t 57 


Xtuoeij, 458 


Xp^tr.uoj, v55, 289 


Xlyvytos, 4 5 ; evr/0£ia, 5 




X e4 po M o*T POVl 6S2 


Xp I;0 -pot avioQwvo:, 257 ; 


ni El o^, 39 


wucrepivai, ib. 


Xe.popavreia, 330 




306 


«,A«*7,, 490 


X 6tp0 7rov t a, 407 


Xo^o-p.to.S^waT-a, 'i55 


Ova, 639 


<*>i.Aap t <H. 81, 84, 472 


XetpoTo^g.i/, 103 


XoTjepwi.ai, 16. 


n^-v^vs- 337 


OvAAa^j Urr, oef , 236 


X, tO orov )7 r 0t . 7 8 


X f ,n T ;, pt a, .6. 


, IVoteT«* j 231 


^oAo/9a«A B «. 84, 117 


Xe.pOTOKtOA 103 


Xp V a OKf pooi. 227 


'XlpoV>ay t a. 361, 409 


4>rAo7ri5, 497 


XeX^para, 530 


Xpa.-p.ara. 667 


nocco^a, 302 


<£t.Jei to i,5a>p t>/ ? SaAacr- 


X.A t «o«a, 407 


X,rXa, 327 


£ipa t a, d09, 599 


<r?7j KaGioTiKO* e<r7t, Si24 


X*A«>»7J 502 ; <TTpar t WTCOV, 


XiToa, 151. 654 




«^W«M>>W^ 330 


503 ; ovvucirivfjios, ib.; 


Xvrp^ 6tV , 327 


'Xls /JaoiAetaj Trapao-Jj- 


apa, 247 


x—rn%, it'-; »pvg, ib. 


X.rp.opo,, iA. 


pov, 193 




Xepi'tn-reoSat, 223 


Xi'Tpoi, 343, 409 


'als M<""?5 apy° 1 ' a ' 


<3?a>ofopJ, 4U6 


Xspial/*, (6. 


X„Tp „, 686 


avu(3o\ov Kati^optvov, 




XrAat, 550 • 


Xcopa, 503, 5S7 


67 


X 


X?7no«o$, 533 


'Ho-Trsp ol £ n'£»i>i.,yo f 7£S 
81 


XdUcta, 339, 305, 406 


660 




■nT A -o?)op.», £92 



LATIN INDEX 

OF 

WORDS AND PHRASES. 



Aliiit, 56.) 
Abitio, 505 

Abolere jus moremque 
asylorum, quae usquam 
erant, 235 

Acamus, 59 

Achilles, 137 

Aries obliqua,477; recta, 
ib. 

Acrisius, 96, 190 
Actaeus, 5 
Adrianopolis, 25 
Adversus cariem ac tini- 

as firmissimum, 512, 

n. 

aSacas, 190 
/Eantis, 359 
iEgeus, 59 
^Egina, 24, 98 
jEschylus, 144 
/Esculapius, 192, 286 
ZEtna, 5529 
Agamemnon, 43, 116 
Agesilaus. 473 
Agger, 503 
Agis, 16, 473 
Agitator remigum, 547 
Agnus castus, 209, 379, 

609 
Agora, 38, n. 
Agrauli, 156 
Agrolas, 30 
Agyrrhius, 101 
Aidoneus, 37, n. 
Ajax, 59 
Alcibiades, 138 
Alcman, 75 
Alcmena, 45 
Alexander, 19 
Alites, 306 
Altare, 196 
Amalthea, capra, 125 
Amentum jaculi, 467 
Aminocles, 522, n. 
Amphiaraus, 283 
Amphyction, 96 
Anaxagoras, 429 
Anaximander, 429 
Anaximenes, 429 
Anchismus, 29, n. 
Anohonis, 53y 
Androgens, 9 
Andronicus Cyrrhastes, 

38 

Andronicus Palasologus, 
27 

Anim-m pro sale ne pu- 
trescant, 672 
Annuendo, 237 
Annuere, 229 
Anquinas, 538 
Antigonus, 20, 39, 59 
Antigouus Gonatus, 21 
Antiochus, 59 
Antipater, 19 
Antiphoi), 124 



Antiquum et omnium 
civitatum, 471 
Antoninus, 25 
Apaturia, 56, 57 
Apertae naves, 540 
Aphetoriae opes, 271 
Aphidnae, 8 

Apollo Actius, 340; atpr,- 
to, p , 210, 271; \vkok- 
rovos, 44; Branchides, 
276; Carneus,3S4; «W 
paiKorvi, 277 ; Delphi- 
nus, 117,265 ; Didymae. 
us,276; lpiofiLay*vvu362: 
efoX/iOf, 267 ; einpaTT)- 
pjoy, 422; el-arcsoT-rjpios, 
aTrorpoiraios, averruncus. 



XuKStoy, Xvxr/yews, 388; 
yusrayBiTnoj, /xgXXoety, 

389; Milesius, 276; *«o- 
fj.7jvios, 391 ; Oropaeus, 
Selinuntius,Goryphaeus, 
Ptous, Aa<pi>dios, lsmeni- 
us, Spodius, Tegyraaus, 
273;Palatinus, 192; Pa- 
trius,80; Philesius, 276; 
<pop/j.mr)c, 666, 71. ; rtoXioy, 

399: Pythius, 265; $so- 
fewoj, 378 ; Triopius, 
405. 

Apturia, 621 

Aqua Marcia, 676, n. 

Arae, 239 

Alee et foci, 234 

Aratus, 21 

Arcadius, 26 

Archontes, 11 

Arcus aurei, 465 

Areopagus, 152 

Ariadne, 9 

Aries, 504 

Aristides, 14, 15, 78, 87 
Aristogeilon, 14, 24 
Aristomanes, 221 
Aristophon, 54, 144 
Arm a superveheris quid, 
Thrasybule, tua ? 511, 

Arripere omen, 322 
Aruspicium, 304 
Aspis, 192 
Asterius, 224 
Attica, 1, n., 8, 253 
Augurium, 304 
Augustus, 24 

B 

Bacchus, 358, n. aypimv 

*0TT,s#4£lip<'v\vs 71 1 ; 
Linseus, 342, 387; Aa/xv 
rvu 3:6; XtKivtrr,!, ^60; 
fj.nAa.va.iyis , 316 ; v>fx,o- 

0ayo S , 361; 409; n-porpv 



ym, irt>orpvyaios, 400 : 
Sabazius, 401 ; $6olvo$. 
361 

Bceotia, 27 
Balista, 507 
Balius, 445 
Balneum, 684 
Barathro, 139 
Bidental, 313 
Bis in die saturum fieri. 
668 
Boethus, 159 
Bona noniina, 321 
Boreas, 38 
Brachia lor.ga, 33 
Brauron, 8 
Brennus, 97 
Brutus, 24 
Bucoleum, 120 
Byzantium, 18, 87, n. 



Cabiri, 382, n. 
Caecias, 38 
Caesar, 24 
Calenus, 24 
Calidarium, 42, n. 
Callimachus, 486 
Callistratus, 101 
Calones, 96 
Cassander, 19 
Cassius, 24 
Castalis, 270 
Castor, 192 

Castor et Pollux, avaices, 
37 

Catapirales, 535 
Cato, 64 

Cavea, 46, 47, n. 
Cecropia, 7, 8, 23, 30 
Cecropiae tereti nectebat 

dente cicadfe. 1, n. 
Cecropidae, 520 
Celeres, 474 
Cenotaphia, 591 
Cephalenia, 25 ' 
Cephissa, 8 
Ceramicus, 39, 512 
Ceres Amphictyoneis,96; 

Betrfj,o(po P o ? , 142, 378 ; 

Enropa, 280; Homoloia, 

392; npovpovta., 399 ; 

Pylasa, 401; *9o«a, 407; 

#Xon, ev^Xoos, 408 ; $7) ■ 

fx-vrnpi 356 ; Hercvnna, 

373; <LXa>af, evaXaHTta, 

341 ; a X e*La, 367, 373 ; 

Legifora, 142, 378; My- 

siae, 390 
Certa, 253 
Ceruchus, 538 
Oryces, 53 
Cespes vivus, 196 
Ctspites, 500 
Gestus, 414 



Chaereas, 504 



Cii a 



, 19 



Chalcedon, 18 
Charops, 12 
Cliiron, 243 
Cicuta, 139 

Cimon, 29, 30, 45, 
301 

Circumpotatio, 593 
Classiarii, 54^ 
Claudius, 23 
Claustra, 550 
Cleodemus, 25 
Cleon, 12 
Clepsydra, 38, n. 
Clientes, 73 

Clisthenes, 14, 137, US 
Cleogenes, 159 
Clostratus, 429 
Clypei orbis, 4G0 
Cnidus, 17 
Coeli cortina, 268 
Ccena, 66S, 692 
Ccenae caput, 692 
Coliortes, 480 
Coliocare, 568 
Coloenus, 5 
Colonus carceris, 36 
Colophonem imponere, 
447 

Comedere, 233 
Compromissarii, 128 
Conon, 17, 19, 33, n. 
Constantius, 26 
Conti, 535 
Continuo ductu, 261 
Conus, 454 
Copiarii, 719 
Cornua, 538, 550 
Corona cingere, 500 
Coronae, 532 
Coronas hospitales, 143 
Cortina, 263 
Coitina theatri, 268 
Coius, 38 

Corybantes, 385, n. 
Corymbi, 532 
Cossutius, 37, ?i. 
Costae, 531 
Cotytto, 386, n. 
Cranaus, 58, 109 
Ciaterus, 21 
sus, 486 
Crypteia, 75, n. 
Oyptopcsticus, 42, n. 
Culpa, 209 
Cunei, 47, n., 530 
Cuneus, 478, 552 
Currus falcati, 446 
Cu'stodes navis, 54? 
Custos rerum mtimaratn 
234 

Cyc lades, 529 
CjfliidaB, 53 

Gynosaiges, 44, 55. 120 



LATIN INDEX. 



813 



Cynurii, 3, n. 
Cytheris, 8 

D 

Dactilis, 46 
Daedalus, 352, ft. 
Damon, 138 
Daphnephoria, 355, ft. 
Darius, 14 
Decelea, 8 
Decuria, 106 
Decursio, 583 
Demetrius, 39, 59, »15, 

the Phalcrian, 39, Po- 

liorcetes. 20, 21 
Demophantus, 159 
Demophoon, 116 
Denasci, 565 
Dentes, 535 
Deucalion, 30 
Diaries, 504 

Diana, ayporeoa, 83 ; Ao- 
te^s, 349; Perots, 3j0; 
Biauronia, 351; Orthia, 
356; Dictynna. 358; Del- 
phinia, 117; Caryates, 
385 ; Laphria, 3S7 ; 
XuiT'-fajfoj, 37; Limna- 
tis, 3SS; .^unychia, 339; 
Tivpwvia, 387; Stophea, 
Stymphalia,403; eAa^ 
/3oXoy, 364 , ravoo-rro'Kos, 
403; Triclaria, 404; 
Hymnia, 406; x*- TO > v <- a > 
408; Corythallia., 403. 

Dii meliora. 324 

Diodes, 144, 153 

Diogenes, 22 

Diomedes, 116 

Diomus, 45 

Dionvsius, 190 

Diph'ilus, 21 

Dipylum, 29, ft. 

Diris deprecationibus de- 
rigi, nemo non metuit, 
241 

Dodona, 187, n. , 258 
D'imitijnus,,66 
Draco, 12, 109 
Draco, Aupvrjr, 5 
Dromoclides, 21 
Diomones, 5 -6, ft. 
E 

E stipitibus rudibus et 
impolito robore, 195 
Echedeniea, 44 
Efferre, 570 
Elatio, 570 

Eleusis, 8, 29, ft., 150, 

366, n. 
Emptos de lapide, 76 
Ensis falcatus, 463 
Enyalius, 156 
Epaminondas, 18 
Ephebeum, 42, n. 
Ephebi, 155 
Ephetae, 117 
Epicnemidii. 97 
Epidaurus, 98 
Epistata, 161 
Epistatae, 101 
Eponymi, 152 
Epulari, 233 
Equ'nes, 443 
Erechtheus, 53, 59 
Ericthonius, 58 
Esculi, 671 
Euclides, 153, 155 
Euloia, 26 
Eumolpidae, 53 

uropa, 452 
'Jhirus, 38 



Euryaces, 53 
Euryalus, 30 
Exacria, 8 
Exportare, 570 
Expoitatio, 570 
F 

Faeminas omnes ubique 
nocere, quae duplices 
pupillHS habent, 352 

Fascinus, 331, 333 

Fauces, 550 

Favete Unguis. 229 

Felo de se, 181 

Ferire feed us, 247 

Fidiculas, 139 

Fora, 39, 40 

Foras ferre, 571 

Forceps, 552 

Fores divae, 196 

Forfex, 478 

Fori, 531 

Francus, 27 

Frigidarium, 42, n. 

Fnuilla, 605 

Fuit, 565 

Fulmen trifidum. 60S 
Funes solvere, 536 
G 

Gallienus, 25 
Ganymedes, 452 
Germanicus, 24 
Graccnus, 444 
Graeca fides, 251 
Graeca fide mercari, 251 
Graecus mos, ut Graeci 
dicunt, 702 
Graeco more, 305 
Graeco more bibere, 70 j. 
Gymnasia, 41, 161 
H 

Harmodius, 24 
Harpagines, 543 
Hastas longai, 543 
Hastati, 491 
Haustrum, 536 
Hebe, 45 
Hecate, 363, ft. 
Hecalombeon, 80 
Heliaea, 85, 120, 184 
Helix, 547 
Helos, 74 
Helot.se, 67,74 
Hephaestia, 82 
Hephaestium, 36, n. 
Hercules, 37, ft.; KijXay, 

375 ; Buraicus, 285 
Hermione, 98 
Herodes Atticus, 39 
Hippades, 35, ft. 
Hippagines, 524 
Hipparchus, 14 
Hippias, 14, 137 
Hippocrates, 40. 53 
Hippomanes, 604 
Hipponicus, 52, ft. 
Hippotheon, 59 
Homo trium literarum, 

70 

Honorius, 26 
Hordearii, 672 
Horologium, 33, n. 
Hortator remigum, 547 
Hospitium sine uiuscis, 
6S0 

Hostias maxima;, 228; 
majores, ib. \ 
Hostis, 715 
Hyperbius, 30 
Hyperbolus, 133 



Tcus, 24 

Ignis lambens, 311 

Ilissus, 43, n. 

Illotis manibus, 224 

Iilotis pedibus, 224 

Impolluta, 253 

In mare defen i, 325 

In ultimas terras depor- 

tari, ib. 
Inductio, 480 
Infantes in cunis tueri, 

et fascinum submovere, 

333 

Infulae, 237 
Ino, 287 
Inquilini, 86, n. 
Inscripti, 70 
Io, 452 
Iolaus, 15 
Ion, 3, ft. 
Iones, 3, ft. 

lonicus motus, 695, 706 ; 
risus, 695 

Ipsa silentia adoramus 
201 

Isis, 190, 332 
J 

Jentaculum , 667 
Juga, 5S7 

Juno, avQeia^io\ Lamia, 

1 Pi- 
Jupiter Agamemnon, 279; 

106 ; Diomeus, 35S; 
Eleutherius, 365 ; He- 
calus, 362; Herceus,£0; 
Homoloius, 392; xaiuac- 
rjjs, 389 ; KTyvtos, 402 ; 
^iiXtX 10 ^ 35 ?, 4 02 ; 
Olympius, 37; op«toy, 
Ixecios, K a0*pvio 5 , 
cirr^otof, 244 ; Ouoaiaoc, 

6; vaXaiorrjSf 418; Pe- 
'asgiens, 260; (poar-iipio^ 
346 ; Polieus, 357 ; Sa- 
bazius, 401 ; a^rrjp. 32, 
33, 403 ; raXato?, 403 ; 
T £ Xetoy,7 1 4 ; Tro ph oni us . 
279; iB-aToi,199;fww , 

J us civile papyrianum 
146 

Jusjurandum, 243 
Justa, 5o6 

L 

Labra, 567 
Labratum, 237 
Lachares, 21 
Laconicum, 42, ft., 6S5 
Laevae, 305 
Lapithae, 444 
Lari sacrificare, 233 
Laterculus, 478 
Lafona, 192 
Latrina, 684 
L a vat r in a, ib 
Lebadaea, 283, ft. 
Lectus genialis, 625 
Legifera, 37S 
Legiones, 480 
Leo, 59 
Leosthenes, 19 
Lesbos, 18 
Lexiarchi, 85 
Libare, 215 
Libatio, 215 
Liber, 450 
Liberti, 73 
Libs, 38 
Lictores, 420 



Ligna et sal, 720 
Litari, 231 
Literati, 70 

Litibus et jurgiis absti- 
nere, 321 
Lituus, 494 
Logistae, 79 
Lorica, 456, 457, 58S 
Lucina, 646 
Lupata, 443 
Lupi, ib. 
Lustrare, 223, ft. 
Lyceum, 44 
Lycurgus, 39 
Lycus, 8 
Lyra, 495, 580 
Lysia, 51, ft. 

JVI 

Male ominata verba, 32.2 
Manipuli, 480 
Manus ferrea, 543 
Mantinea. IS 
Marathon, 14 
Mardonius, 14 
Mars, 156, 450 
Massilia, 40 
Medon, 31, 12 
Medontidae, 31 
Megiilus, 75, ft. 
Menon, 52 

Mensa,692; prima.&c. ib, 
Mercurius ayooaios, 285; 
Merops, 190 
Metionidae, 8 
Metius Pomposianns, C6 
Mila (sacra) conficiuutur 
sine moia salsa, 238 
Milisseus, 390 
Miltiades, 14, 342 
Minerva, A9r,v, h 29 ; w*?, 

33; 7roXiay,32; l3ov\aio<;, 
106, 362; ayoompa, 337; 
Alea, 340; sAXcrtj, 372; 

epyavrj, 406; omrspeta, 33 

Minos, 142, 452 
Mithridates, 23 
Modimperator, 626 
Modi us, 53S 
M ok salsa, 228 
More Romano, 305 
Munychia, 19, 21, 23, 49 
Musaeus, 33 
Muscae, 680 
Museum, 21, 39, ft. 
Mycon, 3S 

N 

Naenia, 380 
Natuialis, 254 
Naufragorum ulcimum 
votum, 549 
Naves longae, 526, ft. 
Navicu;aj, 62 
Nerius, 27 
Nerva, 24 
Nicias, 52, ft., 138 
Nisus, 8 

Nomotbetoe, 152, 153 

Non sinentes, 306 

Non fuisse asylum in 
omnibus templis, nisi 
quibus consecrationis 
lege concessum est, 204 

Nothus, 54 

Notus, 38 

O 

Obsccenare, 322 
Occidei;s, 38 
Ocreaj, 458 
Oculis iratis, 332 
Odeum, 120 



S14 



CEJipus Colone-us, 665 
(Eneas, 59, 076 
ffiuooidas, 429, 
Otryges, 4, 30 
Ogygia, 4 
Olympeium, 37, n. 
Ominis, 324 
Onomatopoeia, 710 
Opheltes, 425 
Opifera, 538 
Ordines, 4S0 
Oremen, 321 
Orpheus, 137, 286 
Oscines, 306 
Oscula terras 6<rit, 720 
Ostium, 550 
Ozoke., 98 

P 

Palaemon, 4"i6 
Paiajstra, 42, n. 
Palioe, 251 
Pallas, 8 
Pallium, 567 
Palmam dare, 411 
Palmula, 537 
Pan, 237, 39", n 
Panathenaea. 82, 149,210 
Pan^.aenus, 38 
Pandion, 59 
Panici terrores, 317 
Papvrus, 523 . 666. n. 
Parochns, 719, 720 
Purolcones, 536 
Pcs'phae, 287. 380 
Passerculus, 605 
Pausanias. 16 
Pedes, 538 
Pelasgi, 187, n. 
Pelopidas, IS 
Fepurcthus, 24 
Pericles, 29, n., 3^ 39 
Periphas, 5 
Pliaeax, 138 
Phalanges, 461 
Phalerae, 449 
Phalerus, 8, 33. 49, 116 
Phalli, 359 
Pharae, 285 
Pharnabazus, 33, n. 
Pharos, 550 
Philemonides, 52. n. 
Phocus, 15S 
Phoebus, 192 
Phoroneus, 190 
Picture, 533 
Piraeus, 23, 33, 48 
Pisistrstus, 14, 143 
Platasa, 14 
Plicatiies. 501 
Plistonax, 473 
Piurium palmarum ho- 
mo, 411 
Plutei, 540 
PJutns, 32 
Polemarohus, "51. n. 
Pollux, 192 



LATIN 



I Polybius, 23. 

Poiygnotus, 38 

Polyidus,504 
j Portisculus, 547 
, Praecinctiones, 47, n. 
| Prasdicare, 411 
jPrsefectus classis, 545 

Praeficae, 579 

Praefiscini, 332 

Praxiteles. 38 

Priapus, 399, n 

Principes, 491 

Proaeresius, 26 

Proedri, 101, 102, 161 

Prodi gia, 325 

Prompt hia, 82 

Propugnacula, 540 

Proserpina, 150 

Prrtanes, 101, 103, 158. 
159. 

Prvtaneum, 10, 105 
Pu'gi.es, 414 
Pura, 253 
Pylas, 97 
P'yle, 17 
Pyrrhichia, 394 
Pythagoras, 429 

Q 

Qui homo apud G'ascos 
maximus habetur, 341 

Quis unquam caenavit 
atratus, 694 

Ouod antiqui, a sacerdo- 
tio repeilebant bis nup- 
tas, 209 

Quorum hie mnndus om- 
nis templum esset ac 
domus, 1 1 .9 
R 

Ramorum nexii, 202 
Recens aqua, 224 
Regulus, 605 
Remora, 606 
Remos inhibere, 549 
Remulci, 536 
Repotio, 627 
R&rum custos intiraar- 
um, 694 

Retinacula, 535 
Rex, 696 

Rostrum, 478, 552 
| Rudentes, £38 
Rufus Festus, 109 
S 

S?.cra, 535 

Sacram anchoram sol- 
vere, 535 
Salissationes, 317 
Salvia, 330 
Scena, 46 
Sciathes, 24 
Sciros, 447 
Scholia, 708 
Severus, 25 



INDEX. 



Sinistrum, 305 
Socrates, 125 
Solis precibus et igne 
puro, 199 

Solon, 13, 109, 115 
Solutiles, 501 
Solvere funes, 536 
Sorta, 292 

Sortes, 314 \ Honiericae, 
ib.; Sibyllinae, ib. ; via- 
les, 316 

Spandon, 75 

Sphaeristerium, 42, n. 

Sphettus, 8 

Sportula ccena, 669 

Stadium, 43 

Stapia, 444 

Stationes naviura, 550 

Stellio, 606 

Stylus, 666, n. 

Subducerc, 551 

Subex pedaneus, 444 

Subsolanus, 28 

Sufiuus. 217 

Supparum, 537 

Stincus. 606 

Sylla. 23, 25 

Synesius, 26 
T 

Talthybius, 484 
TecUe, 5 10 
Temperat, 675 
Templum suumum, 194 
Tenellis infantUms rotas 

eertasque fi^uras asii- 

malium arder;ti ferro 

impriinebant, 70 
Ten us, 24 
Tepidarium. 42, n. 
Terebraa, 502 
Tergemina, 643 
Terpander, 75 
Tessera;, 4S6, 492 ; hos- 

pitales, 719 
Tesseram iransrere, ib. 
Testudo, 502, 535; arie- 

taria, 503, 505 
Tetrapolis, 8 
Teucer, US 
Thales, 40. 144, 429 
Thargrelia, 56 
Themistocies, 14,63,221 
Theodosius, 25 
Theophrastus, 19 
Theramenes, 17 
Thermopylae, 97 
Theseus. 9, 12, 317, 452 
Thesmothetae, 131, 153, 

173, 180 
Thessalu3, 14 
Thoraces, 457 ; biiices, 

ib.\ triiices, ib. 
Thoricus, 8 
Thrasybulus, 17 
Thyestete preces, 241 



Thymoetes, 470 
Tiberius, 24 
Tibi caput redeat. 324 
Tibi mecum erit, Crass», 

in eodem pistrmo vi- 

vendum, 69 
Tibiae, 580 
Timarchus, 51, n. 
Toga, 567 
Toilens. 536 
Tomuri, 262 
Tomurce, ib. 
Tonsa, 537 
Torquilla, 605 
Transtra, 531, 537 
Triformis, 648 
Triptolemus, 8 
Tripos, 267 
Trophonius, 278 
Tumulus, 191, 5SS 
Turris, 478. 504 
Tutela, 533 
Tyndarus, 452 
U 

Umbo, 459 
Umbrae, 680 
Uso, 190 

Ut el victus quotidianns 
in Prytaneo Duoiictf 
praaberetur, 141" 

V 

Vaticinantium mulier- 

um antistes, 269 
Venus UnoXvrei*, 33 * 

ot-pavia, irav6j,fj.os, 36 

Verbena, 228 
Versatilis, 46 
Versis armis. 511 
Vespema, 66S 
Vesta, 40, 192 
Vigiliae. 490 
Vina coronare. 217 
Virginius Rufus plenaa 

annis abiit, plenus hoit- 

oribus, 565 
Vitte. 237 
Vixit. 565 
Vocatio, 679 
Voc^'cores, 6S0 
Voces, 321 
Vulcan, 450 
Vclgares, 96 
X 

Xanthus, 445, 470, 493 
Xenocrates, 63 
Xerxes, 14, 15 
Xysti, 43 

Z 

Zaleucus, 142 
Zeno, 38 
Zoilus, 457 
Zonae, 654 



INDEX 

OF 

PROPER NAMES AND THINGS. 



Alios, oracle of, 277 
Academy, the, 44 
Accidents, ominous, 320 
Accusations, laws touching, 1S2 
Achseans condemned to impri- 
sonment, 22 
Achilles, festival of, 350 
Acropolis founded by Cecrops, 7 
Adoption of children, 659 
Adrian, 25 
Adrianopolis, ib. 
Adulteries, 629 

Adultery, laws touching, 175 ; 

punishment of, 632 
JEacus, festival of, 339 
^Eseus obtains the sovereignty 

of Athens, 8; death of, 9 
/Esculapius, festival of, 349 
Aglawus, festival of, 3b7, b99 
Ajax, festival of, 339 
Alaric makes an incursion into 

Greeoe, 26 
Alcathous, festival of, 340 
Alcibiades, 16 
Alexander of Macedon, 19 
Altar consecrated to Demetrius 

Poliorcetes, 20 
Altars first erected byCecrops, S 
Ambassadors, 484 
Amphictyonic council, 96 
Animals. &c., various, divination 

by, 310 

Anniversaries of the dead, 599 
Antipater, 19 

Antiquity of origin claimed uni- 
versally by nations, 1 
Ants, divination by, 310 
Apollo and Pan, temple of. 37 
Apollo, festival of, 336, 340, 347, 
354 , 356, 362, 3S0, 384, 391, 
402; oracles of, 264 
Apparel of the military, 450 
Aqueducts, 40 

Aratus liberates the Athenians, 
21 

Arbitrators, laws concern!:)?, 

166 
Archers, 442 

Archons, 11, SO; their period of 
government limited, 12 

Areopa£ites, manner of electing, 
105 

Areopagus, court of, 104, 109 ; 
its authority destroyed by Per- 
icles, 115 

Ariadne, festival of, 34S; rescued 
from the Minotaur by Theseus, 
9 

Aristides, 15 
Armour, 456 

A i my, divisions of the, 474 
Arms and weapons, 450, 461; 
bows and arrows, 464 ; buck- 
lers, 458; helmets, 454 ; in- 
Bt;u.T.eii!s of war in ships, 539; 



shields, 458 ; slings, 467 ; 
spears, 443 
Arrows, divination by, 315 
Arts, laws respecting, 172 
Asterius struck dead, 224 
Asyla, or sanctuaries, 20i 
Athenians laid claim to very 
remote origin — singular no- 
tion respecting it—wore marks 
and badges indicative of their 
descent — their antiquity ad- 
mitted — they send forth co'.o 
niesinto the several parts of 
Greece, 1 ; divided into four 
tribes by Cecrops — he teaches 
them navigation, 7 ; divided 
into three ranks by Theseus, 
11; enjoyed tranquillity under 
the Archons, ib. ; had no king 
after Codrus, ib.\ kings, 12 ; 
submit to the Roman protec- 
tion, 22; their condition. under 
the Romans, 23; take part with 
Pompey — are pardoned by- 
Caesar, 24; attach themselves 
to Biutus and Cassius, ib.; af- 
terwards to Antony, -ib.; under 
Nerva and Trajan, ib. ; their 
condition improved by Adrian, 
25; councils and courts oMus- 
tice,96; their love of bovs, 602, 
Athens made a commonwealth 
by Theseus, 10 ; so named by 
Theseus, ib. ; surrenders to the 
Spartans, 16; plundered by the 
Goths, 26 ; reduced to ruins, 
ib. ; its extent— names by 
which it was known, 2S, 29 ; 
falls into the hands of Bajazet 
— afterwards of the Venetians 
— finaliy surrenders to the 
Turks, 27 
Attica overwhelmed by a deluge 

in the rei^r. of Ogvges, 5 
Attic laws, 149 
Augurs, 304 

Augustus reduces the Athenians 
to submission, 24 

B 

Becchus. festival of, 337, 33S, 
341, 342, 349, 350, 358, 361, 
3S0, 386, 409 

Bathing. 6S3; fountains, 675 

Baths, 43, 684 

Battering rams, 501 

Battles, 490; at sea, 551 

Beds, 626 

Bees, divination by, 310 
Betrothment, form of, 615 
Bible, divination by the, 314 
Birds, divination by, 303 ; their 

language, 309 
Black broth, 673 
Booty, 51 -J 



Borrowing of wives, 631 
Eows and" arrows. 464 
Bovs, love of, 600 
Branding of slaves, &c. 69 
Brazen kettles, oracles ot the, 263 
Bride, the, 623 
Bucklers, 458 
Bura, oracle of, 295 
Burial rites, intreaties for, 557 
Burning the dead, 5S0 
Buying and selling, laws con- 
cerning, 170 

C 

Cabiri, festival of the, 3S2.& ft. 
Camps, 488 

Carnival at Rome, 343, n. 
Cassander, 19 

Castor and Pollux, temple of, 37 

Carver ai; banquets, 696 

Cecrops, king ot" Attica, 5; insti- 
tutes laws and forms of reli- 
gious worship, 8 

Cecrops II., 8 

Cenotaphs, &c. 5S6 

Ceremonies in sickness and 
death, 563 

Ceres and Bacchus, festival of, 
341 

Ceres, festival of, S7S, 390, 407 

Cestus, boxing with the, 414 

Chariot races, 4.16 

Ch^rronea, battle of, 19 

Chamber of the bride, 6^7 

Child-bearing. 645 

Children, adoption of. 659; dif- 
ferent classes of, 655 ; educa- 
tion of, 665, n. ; exposure of, 
653; gratitude of, 662; illegiti- 
macy of 656; laws relating to, 
155; managemen|.of,649; nam* 
ing of children, Col 

Citadel, the, 30, 31 

Cithaeron, oracle of, 287 

Citizens of Athens, 50, etn. ; 
laws concerning, 154 

Cirrha, oracle of, 274 

Civil courts, 118 ' 

Claros, oracle of, 277 

Cocks, omens concerning. 30(1 

Codrus, 11; devoies himself for 
his country, ib. 

Compacts, how confirmed. 24b 

Companionship in death, 585 

Concubines, 629 

Conon, 17 

Consanguinity, marriage re- 
strained by, 613 
Consecration of altars, 199 
Conspirators denied sepulture, 
559 

Couches, 6SS 

Courses of the banquet. G$2 
Crowns, honorary. 140 
Crete, oracle of. 264 



816 



INDEX. 



Crystals, divination by, 328 
Cupid, festival of, 372 
Cups, the solemn, 704 
Cynosarges, the, 45 
D 

Daedalus, 352 

Damages, laws concerning, 182 
Dancing, 706 

Darius invades Greece — is over- 
thrown, 14 

Dead, customary to swear by the, 
245 

D^ath, punishment of, how in- 
flicted", 138 
Deceiver, festival of Jupiter the, 

345 

Decrees, laws relating to, 154 

Decree, the, 152 

Delos, oracle of, 274-, annual pro- 
cession to, 275 

Delphi, city of, 265 

Delphic oracle, 264 

D'duge of Ogyges, 5 

Demetrius Pol iorcetes, 20 

Demetrius Poliorcetes, and An- 
tigonus, saluted as kings ib. 

Demetrius, the Phalereari, 19 

Demons, prophesying, 290 

Diana, temple of, 37; festivals of, 
341, 34j, 350, 351, 356, 358, 
364, 385, 387, '389 

Didyma, oracle of, 27<i 

Diogenes, tomb of, 589 

Divination, 254 ; by various ani- 
mals, &c, 310 ; by ants, ib ; 
by arrows, 315; by bees, 310; 
by the bible, 3 J 4; by birds, 303 ; 
by crystals, 328; by lots, 313; 
manner of casting lots, 314 ; 
by palpitations of the heart, 
&c, 3i7; by pat'ic terrors, 317; 
by the poets, 314 ; by rings, 
328; by rods, 315; by sacrifices, 
298 ; by spectres. 328 ; by 
verses, 313; by words and 
things, 316 

Divine protection implored be- 
fore journeys, 7'20 

Divine worship, &c, laws re- 
specting, 149 

Divorce, 618—629 

Divorces, laws referring to, 75 

Dodona, the temple of, 258, and 
n. 

Doves, why prophetesses were 
so called, 260 

Dowries, laws concerning, 174 

Dowry of women, 615 

Draco institutes severe laws, 12 

Dreams, 292 

Drinking, 700 

Dromoclides, 21 

Duke, the chief magistrate; of 
Athens so called, 26 

Duties and offices, laws treat- 
ing of, 162 

Dying men possessed of pro- 
phetic knowledge, 2:12 
. E 

Eagles, omens drawn from, 306 
Ejrihquakes, evil omens, 312 
Ears, ringing in the, omens 

drawn from, 317 
'Suiting, times of, 666 
Eclipses, omens thence drawn, 

311 

Education of children, 665, n ; 

of women, 642, n. 
Eleusis founded by Ogyges, 4 
Eleusininu mysteries. 366 



Enemies denied funeral honours, 

559 

Enigmas, 712 
En g: ires, 5(1 1 

Entertainments, 688 ; ceremo- 
nies at, 687 ; custom before, 
679 ; fiuier.il, 593; honorary, 
141 ; laws concerning, 183 

Enthusiasts, 291 

Entrails, omens drawn from 
the, 299 

Ep.iminondas — his death, IS 

E.ectheus, the temple of, 32, 
and n. 

Erigone, festival of, 339 

Europa, festival of, 372 

Evidence, ho v given injudicial 
matters, 124 

Exposure of infants, 653 

Extinction of oracles, 233, rc. 
F 

False swearing, the gods pun- 
ished for, 243 
Fascination of the eyes, 331 
Feasts after sacrificing, 233 
Feet, infernal gods invoked with 

tiie, 239 
Festivals of the Greeks, 334, 
and j? ; of Achilles, 350 ; of 
iEacus, 8 ; of rEsculapius, 
349; of Aglaurus, 337- 399 ; 
of Aj;x, 339 ; of Alcathons, 

340 ; of Apollo, 336, 340, 347, 
354, 356, 362, 380, 384, 391, 
402 ; of Ariadne, 348; of 
Bacchus, 337, 338, 341, 342, 
349, 350, 358, 361, 380, 386, 
409; of the Cabiri, 382, and 
n\ of C?res and Bacchus, 

341 ; of Ceres, 378, 390, 407 ; 
of Cupid, 372 ; of the De- 
ceiver, 345; of Diana, 341, 
349, 350, 351, 356, 358, 364. 
385, 387, 389; of Erigone, 
339 ; of Europa, 372 ; of He- 
cate, 362, and n ; of Hercules, 
373, 375, 381 ; of Hyacinthus, 
405 ; of Isis, 332, of Juno, 
345, 363, 374; of Jupiter, 357, 
362, 364, 365, 389, 401 ; of 
Latona, 364 ; of Leonides, 
387 ; of Minerva, 337, 339, 
340, 341, 348, 372, 393 ; of 
the IMuses, 390 ; of Neptune, 
339,352; of Pan. 397 ; of the 
Panathenasa, 333, of Proser- 
pine, 345 ; of the Sun, 340, 
377 ; of Theseus, 380, and n ; 
of Venus and Adonis, 338, 
and n ; of Venus, 341, 349, 
355 ; of Vulcan, 376 

Fetters, various kinds of, 136 
Fire of the sacrifice, omens 

drawn from, 301 
Fire, trial by, 249 
Five Hundred, laws regarding 

the, 158 
Food, 671 

Form of prayer, 236 

Fountains, 675 

Four Hundred, the, 15 

Funeral of the slain, 508; pro- 
cessions, 5/0; music, 5S0; 
orations, games, lustrations, 
entertainments, consecrations, 
&c„ 591 ; of the Greeks, 556; 
anniversaries of the dead, 599; 
burning the dead, 580; ene- 
mies denied honours, 559 ; 
ceremonies before, 566; en- 
tertainments, 593 ; interring 
the dead, 580; libations to 



the dead, 597; mourning fo: 
the dead, 574 ; oral ons fo 
the dead, 591; piles, 5S2 
places of burial, 584; sac 
rifices to the dead, 597; se 
pulchres, 586; urns, 584 
Furies, festival of the, 374 

G 

Galleys, 525. n. 

Gjmes, 40;J, and n; boxinir, 414 
chariot races, 416; horse ra 
ces, ib; Isthmian games j 
leaping, 412; Nemaeart gameajj 
425; O.ympic games, 417« 
Pyihian names, 422; running 
412; tin owing, ibs wrestling 
414; funeral/592 

Garlands placed on the tombs. 
5S6 

Garments, the sacrificial- 227 
G..tes of Athens, 34, and n. 
Gods invoked by oath, 244 
Grand duke, a title of the clii 

magistrate of Aihens, 26 
Grasshoppers, worn as a badt :■ 

by the Athenians, 1 
Gratitude of children to parent 

662 

Graves of the Greeks, 587 
Greeks unmindful of oath: . 
251 

Greece, her struggles for libei 
ty, 27, n. 

Guardianship, laws concerning. 
178 

Guards, 489 

Guests, number of, 681 

Gymnasia, the, 41; laws regard- 
ing the, 164 

H 

Hair offered to the gods, 233 
Hands lifted up during praye . 
239 

Harbours, 48, 549; Munychir 

33, 49; Piraeus, 16, 33, 48 
Harlots, 629 

Hawks, omens connected will 
308 

Heait, omens connected Avil 

the, 301 
Hecate, festival of, 362 and n. 
Hecatomb, 222 
Helmets, 454 
Helots, the, 74, and n. 
Heralds, 485 

Hercules, festival of, 373, 37.' 
381 

Herbs for sacrifice, 22S 

Holy rites, laws concernir 

those who assist in, 151 
Honours, laws concerning, 163 
Horse races, 416 
Human sacrifices, 221 
Hyacinthus, festival of, 405 
Hydromancy, 327 
Hymns sung during the sacr ; 

fice, 232 

I 

Idleness, to prevent, G65, n. 

Illegitimacy, 656 

Imports and Exports, law: 

about, 171 
Imprecations, 241 
Incantations of lovers, 603 
Infamy, punishment of, 135 
Infants, management of, Oi l 
Instruments of war in ships, 58 
Intelligence, mode of conven- 
ing. 520 
Interring the dead, 530 



INDEX. 



817 



Tenia, the colony of, founded, 1 
Isis, festival of, 3S2 
Isthmian games, 425 

J 

Judges, laws relating to, 164 

Judicial process, 120 

Judgment, mode of pronouncing 
hi civil courts, 1*5; laws re- 
ferring to, 165 

Judgments that are past, laws 
relating to, 167 

Juno, festivals of, 315, 363, 374 

Jupiter, oracles of. 258; festi- 
vals of, 357, 362, 364, 36j,3S9, 
401 

K 

King of the feast, 696 

Kings, most nations at first go- 
verned ')y, character of these 
primitive rulers were both 
king and priest, 7 and 207 
L 

Labyrinth of Crete, 9 

Lacedaemonians, their love Ot 
boys, 601 

Lachares, 21 

Laconian oracles, 2S6, 287 

Lamps, sepulchral, 594, n. 

Lands, herds, and flocks, laws 
regarding, 170 

Language of prayer, 240 

Lari-sa, oracle of, 277 

Latona, festival of, 364 

Laws of the Athenians, 142; of 
accusations, 182; of adultery, 
275; of arbitrators, 166; or' 
arts, 172; Altic laws, 149; 
of buying and selling, 170, 
Cecrops institutes laws, 8; of 
children, 155; of citizens, 154; 
of damages, 182; of decrees, 
154; the decree, 152; of divor- 
ces, 175: of dowries, 174; 
Draco's laws, 12; of duties 
and offices, 162: of entertain- 
ments, lt3; giving of evidence, 
124; of the Five Hundred, 
158; of guardianship, 178; of 
the gymnasia, 164; of holy 
rites, 151; cf honours, 163; of 
imports and exports, 171; of 
judges, 164; judicial process, 
120, judgment, how pro- 
nounced, 125; of judgment, 
165; of judgments that are 
past, 167; of the laws, 152; of 
lawsuits, 165; of love of cour- 
tezans, &c, 176; of magis- 
trates, 158; of management of 
affairs, 183; of marriages,173; 
military laws, 184; miscella- 
neous laws, 185; of the refu- 
sal of offices, 163; of orators, 
161; of physicians and philo- 
sophers, 164; of preparatories 
to judgment, 165; private 
judgments, actions, &c, 132; 
public judgments, actions, &c. 
129; of punishments, 167; of 
reproaches, 183; against ruf- 
fians and assassins, 179; of 
sepulchres and funerals, 178; 
sentence, how pronounced in 
the Areopagus, 114; of slaves 
and servants, 157; of socie- 
ties, 172; of sojourners, 157; 
Solon's institutions, 13; of 
theft, 182; of wills, 177, of 
witnesses, 166 

.Laws, law relating to the, 152 



Lawsuits, laws concerning, 165 
Leaping, exercise of, 412 
Leonidas, festival of. 387 " 
Lesbos, oracle at, 286 
Levies, pay, &c. of soldiers, 439 
Libations, 215 
Libations to the dead, 597 
Lightning, omens from, 311 
Limits and landmarks, laws 

about, 169 
Liver, omens thence drawn, 300 
Lots, divination by, 313 
Love, customs concerning, 60": 

potions, ib; of courtezans, &c. 

laws relating to, 176 
L.istral water, 598 
Lyceum, the, 44 
Lying on couches, 689 
M 

Magic and incantations, 325 

Magical arts, invention of, 325; 
hydromancy, 327; necroman- 
cy, 326; theomancy, 2S8 

Magistrates, laws concerning, 
158; of Athens, 77, 84 

Management of affairs, laws for, 
183 

Manner of opening the assem- 
blies, 102; of giving suffrages 
in the assemblies, 103; of sac- 
rilicing, 228; of praying, 236; 
of taking oaths, 246; of deliv- 
ering oracles, 257; of obtain- 
ing a prophetic dream, 296; of 
casting lots, 314 
Marathon, battle of, 14 
Markets, the, 39, 40, and n, 
Marriage ceremony, 622 
Marriages of the Greeks, 610; 
betroth men t, 615; bride, 623; 
chamber of the bride, 627; di- 
vorce, 618, 629; dowry, 615; 
Spartan marriages, 629; treat- 
ment of women, 640; women 
of Greece, 638; laws beloug- 
ing to, 173 
Mariners and soldiers, 541 
Massacre of the Helots, 74, 75, 

and n. 
Meals, ceremonies at, 674 
Meetings of the Areopagites, 

112 
Medon, 11 

Meteors, omens from, 311 
Midwives, 648 

Military laws, 184; punishments 
and rewards, ib. 

Minerva, festivals of, 337, 339, 
340, 341, 348, 372, 393; statue 
of, 31, n; temple of, ib. 

Minotaur, slain by Theseus, 9 

Miscellaneous laws, 185 

Mithridates, 23 

Months, Athenian, 433 

Monuments, &c, 586 

Mourning for the dead, 574 

Munychia, 33, 49 

Musaeus, the, 38, and n. 

Muses, festival of the, 390 

Music, warlike, 494 

N 

Names of slaves, 66 
Naming of infants, 651 
Naval officers, 545 
Navigation by Cecrops, < 
Necromancy, 326 
Nemean games, 425 
Neptune, festival of, 339 ; 352 

O 

Oaks of Dodona, 262 



Oath taken by the Ephebi, 155; 
taken by the Areopagites, 107; 
taken by judges, 165 

Oaths of the Greeks, 242; en- 
actment (regarding, 166; the 
god of, 242' 

Occupations of women, 641, and 

Odeium, the, 39, and n. 
Officers, military, 470 
Offices, refusal of, laws respect- 
ing, 163 

Ogyges, his contemporaries, 4 

Ointments for anointing, 685 

Olympic games, 417 

Olympiuni, the, 37, andn. 

Omens, various, obtained from 
sacrifices, 302; to avert, 324 

Oracles, 255, 283; of Abae, 277; 
of Apollo, 264; of the brazen 
kettles, 263; of Bura, 2S5; of 
Citlueron, 287; of Cirrha,274; 
of Cla.-os, 277; of Crete, 264; 
of Delos, 274; Delphic oracle, 
264; of Didyma, 276; extinc- 
tion of oracles, 2-38, n.\ of Ju- 
piter, 258; Laconian oracles, 
286, 287; of Larissa, 277; of 
Lesbos, 286; manner of deliv- 
ering oracles, 287; Oropian 
oracle, 284; of Patrae, 285; of 
Pharae, ib; temples whence 
oracles were issued, 254; of 
Troeiien, 286; of Trophonius, 
278; whether human impos- 
ture, or the revelation of de- 
mons, 256, andn. ; their source 
and origin, 259, and n, 266; 
by whom delivered, 260 

Oracular responses, their am- 
biguity, 272, n. 

Orations over the dead, 591 

Orators, laws respecting, 161 

Orders of priests, 210 

Oropian oracle, 284 

Ornaments used at the sacrifi- 
ces, 226 

Ostracism, 138 

Owls, their omens, 308 

P 

Palpitations of the heart, &c, 
divination by, 317 

Pan, festival of, 397 

Panathenaea, instituted by The- 
seus, 10; festival of the, 393 

Pandion, 8 

Pandion II., 8 

Panic terrors, divination by, 317 

Pantheon, the, 38 

Parnassus first drew omens from 
birds, 303 

Parsley used to deck tombs, 595 

Parthenon, the, 31 

Patrae, oracle of, 285 

Peace, declaration of, 483 

Perpetual banishment, 137 

Pharaj, oracle of, 285 

Phalanx, the, 476, and n. 

Phalerum, 33, 49 

Philip of Macedon, overcomes 
the Athenians, 18 

Physicians and philosophers, 
laws concerning, 164 

Piles, funeral, 582 

Piraeus and Munychia destroy- 
ed, 23 

Piraeus, the, 16, 48, 333 

Pisistratus seizes the govern* 
ment of Athens, 14 

Places of burial, 586 

Pleading in the courts, 124 

Poets, divination by the, 314 



818 



INDEX. 



Polygamy not suffered in 

Gieece, 611 
Pompeium, the, 35, and ?i. 
Porticoes, 33 

Postures and attitudes of prayer, 

23S 

Prayers, supplications a:;d im- 
precations, "236 

Preparatories to judgments, laws 
relating to, 1 65 

Presents to the gods, 235; to 
guests, 713 

Priests and their offices, 206 and 
n. 

Private judgments, actions. &c, 
132 

Privilege of place, 340 
Proceedings in the court of Are- 
opagus, 113 
Processions, funeral, 570 
Prophetic fury, 239 
Proserpine, festival of, 345 
Prytanes, election of the, 105 
Perjury, punishment of, 250 
Public assemblies 98; judg- 
ments, actions, &c, 12S 
Punishment of adultery, 632; of 

slaves, 68 
Punishments, laws respecting, 
167 

Punishments and rewards, 135; 
military, 517; naval, 555 

Purification before offering sac- 
rifice, 223 

Pvthian games, 422; priestesses, 
'269 

O 

Qualifications for the priesthood, 
208 

Quoit, casting the, 413 
R 

Ravens, omens relating to, 309 

Receivers of revenue, laws con- 
cerning, 169 

Religion of the Greeks, 187, 11. 
whence derived, ib 

Religious worship instituted by 
Cecrops, 8 

Reproaches, laws to restrain, 
183 

Revenues of Athens, 86, and n. 
Rewards, military, 517; naval, 
554 

Rewards and punishments, 135 
Rings, divination by, 328 
Rods, divination by, 315 
Ruffians and assassins, laws 

against, 1?9 
Running, exercise of, 412 
S 

Sacred groves, 201 
Sacrifices, sacred presents, and 
^ tithes, 213 

Sacrifices first offered, ib; na- 
ture and occasion of, ib; to 
the dead, 597; divination by, 
298 

Sacrilege, burial denied to those 
committing, 561 



Salamis, battle of, 14 

Sale of slaves, 76 

Salt used in the sacrifices, 218: 
offered to strangers, 71/ 

Salutation of guests, 666 

Sanctuary of slaves, 71 

Seats for banquets, 6S7 

Sea-water preferred for purifi- 
cation, 224 

Sepulchres and funerals, laws 
touching, 178 

Sepulchres, monuments, ceno- 
taphs, &c, 586 

Sepulchral ornaments, 583 

Senate and court of Areopagus, 
109 

Senate of five hundred, 104 
Sentence, manner of pronounc- 
ing in the Areopagus, 114 
Servants and slaves, 63 
Servitude, punishment of, 1S6 
Severus annoys the Athenians, 
25 

Shields, 458 
Ships, 621, and n. 530 
Sieges, 499 
Sights, ominous, 319 
Slaves and servants, laws re- 
garding, 157 
Slings, 467 

Sneezing, omens relating to, 318 
Societies, laAvs concerning, 172 
Sojourners, 61; laws relating to, 

157 
Soldiers, 442 

Solon— his wise institutions, 13 
Songs, 70r 

Spartan marriages, 629 

Spearmen, 443 

Spectres, divination by, 328 

Spoils, 512; naval, 554 

Sports after entertainment, 709 

Stadium, the, 43, and n. 

Statues, honorary, 140 

Statues of Demetrius the Pha- 
lerean destroyed, 20 

St Paul arraigned before the 
Areopaeites, 112 

Strangers, manner of entertain- 
ing, 714 

Streets of Athens, 35 

Suicides privately burifd, 561 

Sun, festival of the. 340, 377 

Swallows, omens drawn from, 
308 

Syila besieges Athens, and com- 
mits great slaughter, 23 



Table for banquets, 691 
Tackling of the ships, 534 
Temples, altars, images, &c, 
189 

Temples, whence oracles were 

issued, 254 
Theatres, 45, 47, and n. 
Theft, laws relating to, 182 
Theomancy, 288 
Thpseus slays the Minotaur — 

king of Athens, 9; temple of, 

36, and n.; festival of, 380, 

and n.\ pillar uf, 3 



THE END. 



Thrasybulus frees Athens. 17 
Throwing, exercise of, 412 
Times of praying, 236: ominous 

times, 324; times of sacrifice 

228 

Tithe offered to the gods, 235 
Tokens of hospitality, 718 
Tongues, offering of, 234 
Tortoise or testudo, the, 502 m 
Tivdes held in high esteem, 40 
Trances or ecstasies, 291 
Treasury, the, 32 
Treatment of women, 640 
Tribes, the Athenian, 57 
Tripod, the, 267 
Troezen, oracle of, 286 
Trophies, 515 
Trophonius, oracle of, 273 
Turrets or towers, 504 
Tyrants, funeral rites net paid 

to, 560; the thirty, 16 
Tyre, siege of, 553 

U 

Urns for the ashes of the dead, 

584 

Usury and money, laws apper- 
taining to, 171 
V 

Vases for libation, 567, n. 

Valerian is favourable to the 
Athenians, 25 

Venus and Adonis, festival of 
338, and n. 

Venus, festival of, 341,349,355; 
temples of, 36 

Verses, divination by, 313 

Vespasian reduces Attica and 
Achaia to be a Roman pro- 
vince, 24 

Vessels, drinking, 699 

Victims for sacrifice, 218 

Voyages. 549 

Vulcan, festival of, 376; temple 

of, 36, and n. 
Vultures, omens drawn from, 



Walls of Athens, 33, n. 
War, declaration of, 483 
Wars, &c. of the Greeks, 435 
Wills, &c, 661; laws touching, 
177 

Winds, temple of the, 38, and n. 
Wine, 675 

Witnesses, laws touching, 166 
Women, the Grecian, 638 
AVords, ominous, 322 
Words and things, divination 

bv, 316 
Wrestling, 414 

X 

Xerxes invades Greece, 14 
Xysti and Xysta, the, 43 

y 

Year of the Greeks, 428 



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